Spicy Grilled Fish

Name: Spicy Grilled Fish
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: 500 g fish fillet; 170 g fresh red chilies; 120 g shallots; 1 tbsp toasted belacan (shrimp paste); 2 stalk lemongrass; 4 tbsp oil; 0.25 tsp salt; 2 tsp fish sauce; 2.5 tsp sugar; 0.25 tsp turmeric powder; 0.5 piece lime; 30 g tamarind pulp; 8 tbsp water; 3 piece fresh red chilies (for dipping sambal); 2 piece bird's eye chilies; 1 tsp toasted belacan (for dipping sambal); 0.5 tsp sugar (for dipping sambal); 0.25 tsp salt (for dipping sambal); 2 piece shallots (sliced, for serving)

Fish fillet wrapped in banana leaves with a spicy Malaysian sambal marinade, grilled until tender and aromatic, and served with a tangy tamarind sambal belacan dipping sauce.

20 min 3 servingsRasa Malaysia Source

Extracted by chinwei271Extracted 1 Jul 2026

Nutrition· per serving · estimated

388

Calories

39g

Protein

23g

Carbs

22g

Fat

Scale recipe

3 servings

Original recipe

Ingredients19 items

Produce

🌶️fresh red chilies170 g

🧅shallots120 g

🌿lemongrass2 stalk

🍋lime½ piece

🌶️fresh red chilies (for dipping sambal)3 piece

🌶️bird's eye chilies2 piece

🧅shallots (sliced, for serving)2 piece

Seafood

🐟fish fillet500 g

Pantry

🦐toasted belacan (shrimp paste)1 tbsp

🛢️oil4 tbsp

🍶fish sauce2 tsp

🍬sugar2½ tsp

🟤tamarind pulp30 g

🦐toasted belacan (for dipping sambal)1 tsp

🍬sugar (for dipping sambal)½ tsp

Spices

🧂salt¼ tsp

🟡turmeric powder¼ tsp

🧂salt (for dipping sambal)¼ tsp

Other

💧water8 tbsp

Instructions

1
Seed the fresh red chilies and chop into small pieces, peel the shallots, and thinly slice the lemongrass.
2
Place the chopped red chilies, shallots, toasted belacan, and sliced lemongrass into a food processor and grind until you have a smooth, well-blended sambal paste.
3
Heat a wok and add the oil.
4
Add the sambal paste to the hot oil and stir-fry until fragrant, or until the oil begins to separate from the paste.
5
Stir in the salt, fish sauce, and sugar, and stir-fry quickly to combine.
6
Dish out the cooked sambal and set aside.
7
Soak the tamarind pulp in the water for 15 minutes, then squeeze and strain to extract the tamarind juice.
15:00 timer
8
Pound or blend the seeded red chilies, bird's eye chilies, and toasted belacan for the dipping sambal in a mortar and pestle or food processor until combined.
9
Stir the tamarind juice, sugar, salt, and sliced shallots into the pounded chili mixture to make the tamarind sambal belacan dipping sauce; set aside.
10
Lay a few sheets of banana leaves on a work surface and grease the surface lightly with oil.
11
Place the fish fillet on top of the banana leaves (stingray or skate wing, a white fish fillet such as sole or swai/basa, or a whole fish like red snapper all work well with this marinade).
12
Rub the turmeric powder over both sides of the fish.
13
Spread about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the cooked sambal paste evenly over the top of the fish.
14
Drizzle the lime juice over the fish.
15
Place the fish on the upper rack of the grill over indirect heat and cover the grill.
16
Grill for about 8 minutes, depending on the heat of your grill, then flip the fish over to the other side.
8:00 timer
17
Spread another 2 to 3 tablespoons of sambal over the other side of the fish.
18
Cook for another 8 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked through.
8:00 timer
19
Transfer the fish and banana leaves to the lower rack and grill for a couple of minutes over direct heat, until the banana leaves are lightly charred and give off a sweet aroma.
2:00 timer
20
Transfer the fish to a serving plate and serve immediately with the tamarind sambal belacan dipping sauce and sliced shallots on the side.

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CuisineMalaysian