Entree: Cocos (Keeling) Islands – Central Culinary Region – Ikan Bakar dengan Sambal (Grilled Fish with Sambal)

Food safety reminder: Follow safe food-handling practices and use a food thermometer to verify safe internal cooking temperatures.

Serving Size: 2

Approximate Time

Prep 20 min

Cook 15 min

Additional 2 min

Total 37 min

Ingredients

1 whole cleaned and gutted reef fish, 680 g gross (snapper used as an explicitly labelled catalog example); estimated cooked edible flesh: 300 g, assuming about 44% of gross weight remains as cooked edible flesh.
Vegetable oil, 30 ml (about 28 g).
Ground turmeric, 5 g.
Salt, 5 g, plus an unmeasured amount to taste.
1 lime, cut in half (about 67 g edible portion, estimated).
Fresh red chilies, 45 g (6–8 chilies; bird’s-eye or red Thai).
Shallots, 60 g (about 3).
Garlic, 2 cloves (about 6 g, estimated).
Fresh turmeric, 1 g (½-inch piece; selected from the alternatives listed).
Belacan (shrimp paste), 15 g.
Lime juice, 15 ml (about 15 g).
Palm sugar, 5 g.
Vegetable oil for sambal, 30 ml (about 28 g).
Banana leaf or foil, optional for grilling; quantity as needed.

Instructions

1. Pat the cleaned and gutted fish dry. Rub it inside and out with 5 g salt and 5 g ground turmeric, then coat it with 30 ml vegetable oil. If desired, place some lime in the cavity.
2. Roughly chop the chilies, shallots, garlic, and fresh turmeric. Pound or process them with the belacan to make a coarse paste.
3. Stir the lime juice, palm sugar, and 30 ml vegetable oil into the paste. Adjust seasoning with salt to taste if desired.
4. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat, or heat a grill pan until very hot. If desired, wrap the fish in banana leaf or foil, leaving the top partly open for charring.
5. Grill the fish for about 6–8 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until the flesh flakes easily and reaches about 60–63°C. Brush with oil during cooking if needed.
6. Remove the fish from the grill and rest for 2 minutes.
7. Serve the fish with the sambal spooned over it or on the side. Steamed rice and cucumber or greens may be served alongside.