RSS
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Spotlight
Curry Fish Head
March 29th, 2011Recipes, Malaysian Recipes, Recipes, Nyonya Recipes, Recipes35 Comments
My two-month vacation here in Penang, Malaysia is coming to an end. Before I leave, I wanted to share a very delicious recipe with you (a specialty of my second sister who is an excellent cook )—Curry Fish Head. For sure, I am going to miss this dish when I return to the United States because some of the key ingredients such as bunga kantan is not available. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find very fresh fish head to prepare this dish…
This Curry Fish Head recipe is essentially a Nyonya ikan tumis recipe, but made with Garoupa fish head so I would call this a Nyonya Curry Fish Head as there is no curry powder and curry leaf used. Regardless, it’s a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice, and this is just one example of the type of dishes we eat in Malaysia. Please take note that this recipe is in metric measurement for easy reference. Enjoy!
(Click Page 2 for the Curry Fish Head Recipe)
Pages: 1 2
Get More Delicious Recipes Below:
Grilled Fish with Banana Leaf
This is the grilled fish recipe that I am reluctant to share. Why? Because it’s so darn good and perfect. I secretly wanted to stash my hand written Malaysian grilled fish recipe somewhere and hoping that one day, a mega chef like Jean-Georges Vongerichten would pay me $10,000 for this precious recipe. But I am a nice person; I love…
Chicken Curry Recipe
Chicken curry has always been my favorite, but I hardly make chicken curry from scratch. But this past weekend, I felt motivated and wanted to make chicken curry properly, without cheating with instant curry paste. And so I did. There are many different varieties of chicken curry available in Malaysia: Indian, Muslim-Indian (Mamak), Chinese, Malay, and Nyonya. There are many…
Chicken Curry with Potatoes
There are many variations of chicken curry in Malaysia: Indian, Chinese, Nyonya, Malay, but chicken curry with potatoes is possibly the most common chicken curry in Malaysia. Everywhere you go where curries are served, you will probably find this type of chicken curry. For the Nyonyas in Penang, chicken curry is especially popular and often served with nasi kunyit (coconut…
Beef Massaman Curry Recipe
I would like to introduce you to a dear blogger friend Syrie of Taste Buddies. Currently based in Canada, Syrie is of Thai descent but spent a lot of times in Australia. Her culinary skills span across various cuisines: Thai, Australian, New Zealand, French, and more. Syrie is also a food guide on About.com. Please welcome Syrie of Taste Buddies…
Get New Updates by Email:
PREVIOUS POST: Mango Chutney
NEXT POST: Nyonya Acar Fish
My mouth is watering looking at your picture…must have curry fish head tonight!!
how come your are using laksa leaves to cook curry i/o of curry leaves?
just curious
This is a Nyonya version of curry fish head so we used laksa leaves which makes the curry very aromatic. This is not the Indian-style curry fish head.
I believe the laksa leaf is called “chien hong” in hokkien.
Im a penangnite away from home for quite sometime and start to forget all the wonderful taste and smells of the herbs and spices used in malaysian cooking
it really bring back memories
btw the laksa leaves are called daun kesum back home or vietnamese mint in the asian grocer here in australia
keep up the good work!
Hmm…this is mouth-watering indeed! Yummy!It’s very similar to my mom’s version.
Wow, 2 months already?! Time flies! Looks so delicious!
Hi, what is Garoupa fish ?? Will we be able to find it in the states here ?? I live in Southern California, Orange County to be exact. If not, what other fish should I substitute it with ?
Thank you.
You can substitute with red snapper or any other big fish head but not white pomfret. I cooked barracuda head curry before and everyone loved it. While the name is fish head curry it doesn’t have to be all fish head. You can add in chunks of fish/skate meat as well.
Be bold and experiment.
Drooolingggggg…….!
Thank you, thank you, thank you and your sis for the recipe, Bee.
I know i will love that dish. I am from eastern part of India and we eat fish head and tail .. and everything :D Hubby darling will not eat that for sure :( may be i will make in small quantity just for me :P
You can add barracuda fish meat (or any other pieces of big fish meat or even ray fish meat if you want) so both you and your husband can enjoy the curry.
That just looks unbelievable, especially with the small flowers on top. When I can get access to a kitchen, I’ll be making some curry fish head!
Just looking at the photo makes me salivate! I miss fish head curry!
yum yum. love those bunga kantan and laksa leaves.
My mum would love this. She loves fish curry of any kind!
Fantastic looking curry!
I love fish head curry casserole. It’s my favorite dish to order at Malaysian restaurants. I have no idea how to make it. And depending on my dining companions – I often can’t order it. :) Thanks for sharing, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe.
I thought your vacation will be for 6 mths? I miss curry fish head – any style! I usually get my fix whenever I am in Singapore. Just love rice soaked in curry fish head gravy!
Hm… from the reddish colour of the gravy, it looks more like asam pedas rather than a curry.
You are so right that the fish head is one of the best parts of the fish (and my favorite are the cheeks!)…This curry looks so delicious! Asian cuisine really rocks, and you are such a good ambassador of it :)
Hi BY, I was scrolling my back posts and I thought of you. I have not been surfing blogs much so I decided to check you out. Hahaha, lo and behold! my favourite curry. BY, you are amazing. Do keep in touch. I didn’t know you came home. Wanna home-stay with me the next time you’re in KL? Maybe we can have a cook out!
In West Bengal they cook a wonderful Fishhead Dal called Macher Muro Dal.
Love your website! I have had the pleasure of visiting Malaysia twice. Eating was such a joy. I wrote about my experiences in trying to find good local food that wasn’t made for the Western palate. I was staying at the Hotel Impiana and the concierge sent me to the wrong place:
http://inthekitchenwitheva-eva.blogspot.com/2010/07/food-notes-from-kuala-lumpur-malaysia.html
I figured out what I needed to do after that!
Keep up the great work!
Best,
Eva
Looks delicious… thanks for the authentic recipe (not the “easy” one).
fish head curry is looking so colorful and adding laska leaves will definitely bring out the flavours
fantastic
I can practically taste this – looks spicy and flavorful!
WOW, this looks so delicious! I wish I could eat more Malaysian food, I’ve had a few samples at my friends house, but I love the spicy-ness of everything.
Love fish head curry even though I don’t know how to eat it like most Asians! I only eat the cheeks and meaty areas. There was a wonderful beach cafe that served this at Betu Ferranghi, we HAD to order every time. We ate there nearly every day, the BEST! Maybe I’ll make with just fish.
Actually your recipe is Masak Asam Pedas not Fish Head Curry…
As I said in my post, it’s Gulai Tumis fish, and it’s Nyonya style curry fish head, not the curry leaves curry fish head.
Hi Bee, looks as good as any Curry Fish Head you can get in Penang. I’m curious now if they sell good Curry Fish Head at Malaysian restaurants in the US.
I tried this for my lunch today. It’s really very yummy! Thanks a lot for sharing such a great recipe.
This curry looks very much like a red fish curry we make in Kerala (south Indian state), which is also eaten with white/brown rice. But the recipe is quite different. The Kerala fish curry uses red chili powder, garlic, ginger, shallots, curry leaves, mustard seeds, coconut oil and sun dried and smoked gamboge. Will be blogging about it soon.
Finding fresh fish heads is not a problem for me. I can walk out in the back yard and just catch them. Now the bunga kantan is a different story.