Masterchef

For her second delicious. outing, MasterChef winner Diana Chan re-creates the classic barbecued Malay fish and sambal dish, ikan bakar.

Diana Chan makes hot and smoky Malaysian barbecued fish.

IKAN BAKAR, WHICH literally means ‘burnt fish’ in Malay, is a common dish in Malaysia. Popular among all the local ethnicities, it can be found in most hawker centres and street stalls around the country. It’s a simple dish that doesn’t need sophisticated tools to make. Follow the smoke trail in the streets and you’ll be sure to find it cooking away on the grill – little parcels loaded with sambal and fish, wrapped in banana leaves and barbecued to a wonderful smoky flavour from the hot charcoals. The most commonly used fish is stingray, but any white fish will work perfectly. Many

ikan bakar traders also offer a variety of other seafood, including grilled squid, cockles, prawns and clams. Ikan bakar is always served with a condiment made out of tamarind juice, light soy sauce, sugar, chopped onions and sliced chillies. The sourish and spicy addition complements the taste of the fish and the chilli sambal, and adds more zing compared with eating ikan bakar straight up.

My recipe this month replicates this delicious Malay classic at home. The aromas as it cooks will have mouths watering in anticipation of what’s to come.

IKAN BAKAR (BARBECUED FISH) SERVES 4-6

3 Asian (red) eschalots, chopped 3 garlic cloves, chopped 5cm piece (65g) turmeric, peeled,

chopped 5cm piece (25g) ginger, peeled, chopped 3 lemongrass stalks, white part chopped,

stems reserved 1 tbs belacan (roasted shrimp paste) 7 long red chillies, seeds removed from 1

1/ 2 cup (125ml) sunflower oil 2 tbs tamarind paste 1 tbs caster sugar 1 x 1.8kg whole snapper, cleaned 1 banana leaf (from Asian food shops) Juice of 1 lime, plus extra lime cheeks to serve 1/ 3 cup (80ml) soy sauce Coriander sprigs and cooked rice, to serve

To make the sambal, place eschalot, garlic, turmeric, ginger, chopped lemongrass, shrimp paste and 6 whole chillies in a food processor and whiz to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add sambal paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes or until golden and slightly curdled in appearance. Add tamarind, sugar, a pinch of salt flakes and 1/4 cup (60ml) water. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, for 4 minutes or until reduced slightly. Divide sambal in 2, reserving half to serve.

Place fish on banana leaf. Fill cavity with reserved lemongrass stems. Cover fish with remaining sambal. Loosely wrap fish in banana leaf, then wrap leaf tightly in foil.

Preheat a barbecue or chargrill pan to high heat. Reduce heat to medium and grill parcel, without turning, for 20 minutes or until fish is just cooked through. Remove and stand for 5 minutes to steam slightly.

Finely chop remaining seedless chilli. Combine with lime juice and soy in a bowl.

Open fish parcel and scatter with coriander. Serve with rice, chilli dressing, extra lime and reserved sambal.