To a mathematician, this might make for an appetising dish because it makes for a perfect S3. A perfectionist might want to add in yet another ‘S’ – Sweet and Sour Sambal Snapper!
This is a ‘not-so-traditional-nonya dish’ because I did not add a very important ingredient that was indicated in Chef Shirley Tay’s recipe – garlic paste (Sunday Times Special – July 2009). Thence the use of red onion as a substitute. In addition, it is spicier than the usual piquant standards of Peranakan dishes, by three notches, at least.
Ingredients:
- Corn oil: 2 tbsp
- Ginger: 1 finger length, finely chopped
- Red Onion: finely chopped
- Tomato sauce: 3 tbsp
- Glory Nonya Sambal Chilli sauce: 2 tbsp
- Sambal belachan: 1 tsp
- Fresh chilli: 1 sliced horizontally (for cooking); 1 sliced vertically (for garnishing)
- Water: 1 cup
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 2 tsp
- Vinegar: 1 tbsp
- Red snapper fish: 200g, chopped into serving slices
- Spring onion: 1 stalk, sliced
- Small lime: 1
Method:
- Heat oil in frying wok.
- Stir fry ginger and onions 1min till fragrant.
- Add in tomato sauce and stir fry evenly.
- Stir in chilli sauce, sambal belachan and fresh chilli.
- Add water and bring to boil.
- Add in salt, sugar, vinegar and stir 1min.
- Add in snapper and stir. Let simmer for 10min.
- Dish snapper and sauce onto plate. Garnish with chilli slices and spring onion.
- Top it off with freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Serve with hot rice or baguette.
Tricks:
- Variants of the Nonya sambal chilli sauce can be used, as seen in the Google Image via the above link.
- Do not overcook as the fish meat will fall apart too easily and look messy.
- The lime juice plays an important part in bringing out the sourness, as well as enhancing the sweetness, of the sauce!
- Add in garlic at step 2 to create the authentic Nonya dish (Ikan Masam Manis).
Serving:
2 persons
Fiery rating:
😈 😈 😈 😈
