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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Grilled snakehead fish with tamarind is a rustic fried dish that carries the flavor of the Mekong Delta. Let’s join the kitchen to showcase your skills with this delicious dish right from its name shared by TasteVN!
Ingredients for Grilled Snakehead Fish with Tamarind Serves 3 people
Snakehead fish 1 fish ( about 700 gr) Tamarind pulp 100 gr Raw peanuts 100 gr Garlic 2 cloves Chili 2 pieces Cooking oil 100 ml Vinegar a little Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Salt 1 teaspoon Sugar 2 tablespoons
How to choose fresh and delicious snakehead fish
- Choose snakehead fish that are of moderate size, not too big or too small. The fish should have a long, slender body, not too round, and feel firm to the touch, not mushy.
- Observe the fish’s anus to determine if it is still fresh: fresh fish will have a small anus, while a swollen one indicates that the fish is dead, beginning to spoil, and may sometimes be treated with chemicals.
- When processing, if the fish is soft, has a lot of fat in the belly, and has a foul smell, then it is not good fish.
Required tools
Pan, knife, cutting board, bowl, plate,…
How to make fried snakehead fish with tamarind
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Prepare the snakehead fish
Buy the snakehead fish and wash it clean, rinsing it with salt water and diluted vinegar to remove the slime and fishy smell. Next, make 4 – 5 cuts on the fish; this step helps the fish absorb the seasoning, makes it easier to fry, and results in a more visually appealing fried fish.
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Marinate the snakehead fish
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to evenly marinate with the fish so that when fried, the fish will have a salty taste; the salt also helps the skin of the fish become crispy when fried.
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Mixing and cooking tamarind sauce
Mix 2 tablespoons of fish sauce with 2 tablespoons of sugar. At this step, you can adjust the seasoning according to your taste for saltiness and sweetness.
Pour half a cup of water (boiling water is better) into the tamarind and mash to extract the juice. After obtaining the tamarind juice, mix it with the fish sauce and sugar mixture prepared above.
Roast the peanuts until they are crispy, the skins pop slightly, and they release a fragrant aroma. Be careful to roast over low heat to avoid burning the outside while the inside remains uncooked.
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Frying snakehead fish
Pour 100ml of cooking oil into the frying pan, add the fish to fry. Note, keep the heat low or add a little salt to prevent the oil from splattering and burning your face. Fry until the fish is golden brown, and the outer skin is crispy, then remove the fish to a plate to drain the oil. Pour out the excess oil into a bowl, leaving just a little oil, about 2 tablespoons.
Turn on the heat to make the remaining oil in the pan hot, add the minced garlic and chili to sauté until golden and fragrant. Next, add the prepared tamarind sauce and stir together, keeping the heat low.
Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and evenly coat the fish with the sauce. Finally, sprinkle roasted peanuts over the dish to enhance the flavor!
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Final Product
The fried snakehead fish with tamarind sauce has a savory flavor from good fish sauce, and a sweet and sour taste from tamarind that will surely be a great choice. You can eat it with rice, noodles, rice paper rolls,… or you can add starfruit and herbs if you like, it will taste much better.
See more
Grilled snakehead fish with tamarind is a flavorful dish that goes well with rice, and the preparation is quite simple, right? This is also a dish worth choosing, especially during the cold rainy season. Wishing you success!
*Refer to the recipe and images from the channel Huỳnh Phương Delicious dishes at home.
