Sour Chilli Stingray ( Asam Pedas )

This is typically Malay kampung dish but commercially it has gained some popularity in big cities as well. My sister took me to one Asam Pedas restaurant in KL, the last time I visited her, which specialises in Asam Pedas of all sorts ranging from fish, chicken, seafood, beef, etc. There were so many choices & tasted good too.

To obtain delicious Asam Pedas, it is important to balance salt, sugar & sour taste which not everyone can do (well at least to my taste). The best Asam Pedas I had is the one cooked by my sis-in-law's mother from Malacca.

This is how I cook my Stingray Asam Pedas and you can replaced the Stingray with any other type of fish, chicken, beef (preferably the fatty part) or seafood:

INGREDIENTS:
1 piece Stingray (roughly weighing 700g) - cut to pieces
½ bowl of Oil
1 Lemongrass - knocked
1 bowl of Chilli paste
6 Shallots*
2 cloves Garlic*
1 inch Ginger*
1 inch Galangal*
1 tbsp Fennel seed* (* blended)
1 bowl of Tamarind juice
1 sprigs Curry leaves or Turmeric leaf
Salt, sugar & MSG (optional)

METHOD:
1. Heat up oil in a pot and fry lemongrass (& curry leaves if used) for 2 minutes.
Add in chilli paste & blended ingredients and stir until fragrant and oil surfaced.
Add in tamarind juice and boil.
Add Stingray, turmeric leaf (if used skip curry leaves above) salt, sugar & msg.
Stir occasionally until Stingray is cooked.

2. Serve with white rice, Ulam & Sambal Belacan.