Easy Grilled Fish In Banana Leaf / Malaysian Grilled Fish Recipe

Online Class — Fish in Banana Leaves for a birthday in Canada

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Grilled Fish in banana leaves takes me back in time to the period when our Aunt was a newly-wed and loved experimenting in the kitchen. Her dishes always found ever willing adolescents ready to sample her culinary expertise. She was the one who showed us how to use banana leaves to cook fish- she did it in a pan on the stove- and left us gaping in surprise. Until then, all we did was eat whatever was put in front of us. We had no idea about the science of cooking and what went on in the kitchen. She had a large kitchen and a well-stocked larder and enough food for a tribe of hungry children. In fact, she is one of those special people who initiated and nurtured my culinary journey and I think of her whenever I make Fish in Banana Leaves. Finding similar recipes in Malaysia was literally the icing on the cake and I happily indulged my fancies with a variety of options. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did teaching it to a group of foodies on the other side of the world.

500 gms fish fillets

Banana Leaves: 3 large. Buy extra just in case

For Sambal: 2 fresh red chilies, cut into small pieces; 1 medium onion, cubed;1 tsp belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste);2 stalks lemongrass, cut into pieces;1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 3 tsp fish sauce; 1 tsp brown sugar or to taste; juice of 1/2 a lemon; pinch 1/8 tsp turmeric; 1 tbsp oil

Lime Juice and Onion Sauce

1 Red or Green Chilli; 1 onion sliced; 1 tbsp soy sauce; salt to taste

FISH SAMBAL:

Grind chillies, onion, belacan and lemongrass to a smooth paste.

Heat a pan, add oil and stir-fry the sambal paste until aromatic or till the oil separates and the mixture comes together in the centre of the pan. Add the salt, fish sauce, and sugar and mix well. Keep aside till required.

Lime Juice & Onion Sauce

Slice onions, add chillies, and lime juice with salt to taste.

To prepare the fish: Take an appropriately sized piece of banana leaf. Place ½ tbsp of sambal in the middle. Place the fish on it and top with more sambal. Gently fold the leaf into a parcel and secure it with toothpicks or tie with string.

Heat a shallow pan. Line it with a banana leaf. Place the fish parcels on the banana leaf and add ½ cup water. Bring to the boil. Lower heat to simmer. Cover and cook fish for 3 minutes. Gently flip over and cook for another 3 minutes. This is for a moist effect. Remove and serve hot with Onions and Nasi Lemak.

Alternately, heat pan. Lower heat to low and place fish parcels in pan. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes each side. The fish will have a charred smoky taste.

Pan Grilled Sliced Fish

You can also bake the fish, whole in the oven at 180 Celcius or 350 F for 40 minutes. It can be grilled over charcoal or on the barbeque. It’s all up to you. For the whole fish, I ground 2 medium tomatoes, 1-inch ginger, 5 cloves garlic, 1 medium onion, 1 tsp chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric and 2 tbsp vinegar with 1 tsp salt to taste. This is the usual way we make it.