How to Make Fragrant, Delicious, and Simple Grilled Snakehead Fish

How to prepare Grilled Snakehead Fish

• 1

  Prepare the accompanying vegetables

  Green onions trimmed, washed, and finely chopped. Pineapple peeled, washed, half diced finely, half sliced thinly.

  Quick pineapple peeling tip:

  How to peel a pineapple:

  • Step 1: Cut off both ends of the pineapple, it will stand upright.
  • Step 2: Use a double-edged knife to peel from top to bottom or place the fruit on a cutting board and cut away the outer skin.

  How to remove pineapple eyes:

  • Use a knife to cut diagonal grooves along the body to remove the eyes. You can also use a specialized tool to remove these eyes.
  • Note that you should cut shallowly; if you cut too deep, there won’t be much fruit left, which is very wasteful.

  Fresh vegetables should be picked to remove damaged leaves, washed thoroughly, and then drained. Cucumbers washed and sliced thinly.

  Green bananas sliced thinly, soaked in water with squeezed lemon to prevent browning, and drained before serving.

  Tamarind cut to remove edges, sliced thinly like bananas. Peanuts shelled and crushed.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Preparation and skewering of snakehead fish

  For the grilled snakehead fish dish, when you buy the snakehead fish, leave it whole without scaling or gutting. Use salt to rub on the fish’s body, then rinse it with clean water to reduce the fishy smell.

  You can also use vinegar, lemon, or rice washing water to better eliminate the fishy smell!

  Then use a long stick to skewer from the mouth of the fish to the tail, and stick it into the ground, or you can use lemongrass to skewer from the mouth to the tail, which will help the fish become fragrant and less fishy.

  

  
• 3

  Grilling snakehead fish

  After inserting the fish into the ground, take a sufficient amount of straw to cover it, making sure to cover the snakehead fish completely, then light a fire.

  When the fire has burned through the straw, continuously add more straw and burn for about 8 – 10 minutes until the ashes are left. If you feel the fish is not yet cooked, you can burn it for another 5 – 10 minutes!

  After the fish is cooked, remove the burnt straw, take out the fish, and use a knife to scrape off the burnt parts on the outside of the fish.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Making Scallion Oil

  Place a pan on the stove, add about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up, then add the finely chopped scallions and turn off the heat immediately, then pour the scallion oil into a bowl.

  Note:

  • Add a little salt to enhance the flavor of the scallion oil.
  • Do not keep the heat on while frying the scallions as it will cause the scallion oil to burn, resulting in an unpleasant taste and unattractive color.

  After finishing, use a spoon to scoop the scallion oil and sprinkle the roasted peanuts evenly over the fish.

  

  
• 5

  Making dipping sauce for grilled snakehead fish

  Making fermented fish sauce

  • Add to a bowl minced lemongrass, 50g minced garlic, 50g minced chili, minced pineapple, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, and 5 tablespoons of fermented fish sauce.
  • Mix well so that the ingredients blend together.

  Making tamarind dipping sauce

  • Put the tamarind into a bowl, then add about 4 tablespoons of hot water, use a spoon to mash the tamarind to extract the juice. After mashing, use a strainer to remove the pulp, keeping only the tamarind juice.
  • Add the tamarind juice to the bowl, 4 teaspoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 50g minced chili, and use a chopsticks to stir well to complete the delicious bowl of tamarind dipping sauce.

  Note:

  • You can replace white sugar with brown sugar or palm sugar to make the tamarind fish sauce sweeter.
  • If you want the fish sauce to be thicker, you can put the fish sauce in a pan and heat it, adding a little cornstarch, stirring until it reaches the desired thickness.

  

  
• 6

  Final Product

  The grilled snakehead fish dish is fragrant with the smell of straw, with tender and sweet fish meat, rich in peanut and onion oil flavors that are incredibly tempting. When eating, use rice paper to wrap the fish with vermicelli and various fresh herbs, then dip it in flavorful fish sauce or tamarind sauce for an amazing taste!