Nyonya Acar Fish

Name: Nyonya Acar Fish
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients: 1 piece turmeric, peeled and sliced into thin pieces; 600 g silver mullet or red snapper fish fillet, cut into 1-inch thick pieces; 1 piece ginger, peeled and cut into matchstick strips; 2 piece garlic bulbs, peeled and sliced into thin pieces; 3 piece fresh red chilies, sliced diagonally; 11 piece bird's eye chilies; 480 ml oil, for frying and stir-frying; 480 ml water; 240 ml Chinese rice vinegar; 2 tbsp salt; 200 g sugar; 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds

A traditional Peranakan dish of deep-fried fish pickled in a tangy turmeric-vinegar marinade with ginger, garlic, and chilies. Best made a day ahead so the flavors have time to soak into the fish.

4h 20m 4 servingsRasa Malaysia Source

Extracted by chinwei271Extracted 1 Jul 2026

Nutrition· per serving · estimated

343

Calories

31g

Protein

55g

Carbs

116g

Fat

Scale recipe

4 servings

Original recipe

Ingredients12 items

Produce

🫚turmeric, peeled and sliced into thin pieces1 piece

🫚ginger, peeled and cut into matchstick strips1 piece

🧄garlic bulbs, peeled and sliced into thin pieces2 piece

🌶️fresh red chilies, sliced diagonally3 piece

🌶️bird's eye chilies11 piece

Seafood

🐟silver mullet or red snapper fish fillet, cut into 1-inch thick pieces600 g

Pantry

🛢️oil, for frying and stir-frying480 ml

🍶Chinese rice vinegar240 ml

🍬sugar200 g

🌾toasted white sesame seeds1 tbsp

Spices

🧂salt2 tbsp

Other

💧water480 ml

Instructions

1
Dry the sliced turmeric, ginger matchsticks, and garlic slices in the sun for a few hours (or dry them quickly in a low oven) until most of the moisture is gone — this concentrates their flavor before frying.
2
Rub the fish fillets with a little salt and let them sit briefly before frying.
3
Deep-fry the fish in hot oil until golden brown and crispy on the outside.
4
Transfer the fried fish to a deep pot.
5
Add the ginger, garlic, fresh red chilies, and bird's eye chilies to the pot with the fish.
6
Heat the remaining oil in a wok.
7
Stir-fry the dried turmeric in the hot oil until the oil turns yellow.
8
Strain out and discard the turmeric with a colander, keeping the yellow-tinted oil in the wok.
9
Add the water and rice vinegar to the wok and bring to a boil.
10
Season the boiling liquid with the sugar and salt, stirring until dissolved, adjusting to taste.
11
Pour the hot marinade over the fish and aromatics in the pot, making sure everything is fully submerged.
12
Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the top.
13
Cover the pot and let the fish pickle for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight, so the flavors fully develop.
240:00 timer
14
Serve the acar fish the next day for the best flavor, once the turmeric-vinegar marinade has fully soaked into the fish.

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CuisineMalaysian