Nyonya Acar Fish

Nyonya acar hu

I love this dish a lot, normally in Penang, the fish used is belanak, over here in France, I have used sardine and mackerel.  Today, I use mackerel, and the recipe is from my penang nyonya cookbook.

Ingredients :
1 kg fish fillet or small, whole fish
2 tsp salt
1 cup oil for frying

30 gm (5cm) fresh tumeric root, sliced thinly
4 tbsp cooking oil
100 gm young ginger, sliced thinly
100 gm garlic, sliced thinly
30 gm (3) red chillies, seeded and quartered
30 gm (3) green chillies, seeded and quartered
250 ml vinegar
8-10 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt, or to taste

1 tbsp sesame seeds, roasted

Method:
1  Clean and gut fish and season with salt.  Deep fry the fish until golden.  Drain on paper towel and set aside.
2.  Fry the tumeric in 4 tbsp oil until the oil turns yellow.  Discard the tumeric.  Lazy cook does not have tumeric root, she omits this step.
3.  Using the tumeric oil, lazy cook adds 1/2 tsp tumeric powder into the oil, fry the ginger and garlic till golden brown.  Leave aside to cool before adding the red and green chillies, vinegar, sugar, salt to taste.
4.  Lastly, add the fried fish.  Serve garnished with ginger, garlic and sesame seeds.
Best served the next day as the flavours will develop overnight.  If not consumed immediately, keep it submerged in the vinegar solution in a clean glass jar,  it keeps well for about a week at room temperature and longer in the refrigerator.