A true Malay classic, ikan panggang/ikan bakar (grilled fish wrapped in banana leaves) is very popular in Malaysia. Marinated with dollops of spice paste, the fish is wrapped in banana leaves and grilled to perfection over charcoal fire.
The smell of burnt banana leaves imparts the fish with a smoky flavor and the spice paste infuses the fish fillet with layers upon layers of spicy taste.
Ikan Panggang/Ikan Bakar is usually served with sambal belacan with sliced shallots. I love the sambal as it adds that extra kick to this wonderful street snack.
The key ingredient of ikan panggang/ikan bakar is the chili paste. I used dried chilies, turmeric, shallots, galangal, lemon grass, and a little bit of belacan as the marinate. For the fish, stingray wings/skate wings are ideal, but I substituted it with a sole fillet (you can also use any flat fish).
Preparation might take some time; you will need to pound the spice paste, wrap the fish with banana leaves, marinate it overnight (preferably), and make the sambal condiment. But as you open up the banana leaves and the inviting aroma of the grilled fish fills your kitchen, you will realize that the end result is well worth the effort.
Don’t you agree?
Note: I grilled the fish with a Wolfgang Puck indoor grill because it’s cold now and I do not want to set up an outdoor grill. You can buy the indoor grill here.
Recipe: Ikan Panggang/Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish Wrapped in Banana Leaves)
Ingredients:
1/2 - 1 lb of fish fillet
Spice Paste
1 clove garlic
3 shallots
6 dried chillies
1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon of toasted belacan
2 inches of lemon grass (white part only)
1 inch of galangal
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Tamarind Juice
8 tablespoons of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)
Sambal Belacan and Sliced Shallots Condiment
3 red chilies (deseeded)
2 bird’s eye chilies (deseeded)
1 teaspoon of toasted belacan
2 shallots (thinly sliced)
1/8 teaspoon of sugar
Method:
- Using a mortar and pestle or food processor, blend the spice paste.
- Clean the fish and pat dry. Coat the fish with the spice paste evenly and wrap it with banana leaves. Use toothpicks to hold the banana leaves so the fish is wrapped tightly. Leave the parcel in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.
- For the tamarind juice, soak the tamarind with water for 15 minutes and extract the juice.
- In a mortar and pestle or food processor, pound/blend the red chilies, bird’s eye chilies, and toasted belacan.
- Add tamarind juice and sliced shallots to the sambal. Stir well.
- Heat up your grill and grill the fish parcel for 5 minutes on each site (or until the banana leaves are burnt).
- Serve hot with the sambal condiment.
Related Posts:
- Grilled Shrimp with Green Papaya and Mango Salad
- Banana Pancakes Recipe
- Sambal Udang (Prawn Sambal) with Roti Jala Recipe
- Tamarind Prawn (Assam Prawn)
- Mee Siam (Spicy Rice Vermicelli) Recipe
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
The pictures are gorgeous! Although I barely understood the ingredients you mentioned. It looks so tasty and I love food that is cooked on charcoal.
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Almost wish monitor enable scratch&sniff. Almost because it’ll b dangerous. Dun think monitors digest well.
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Salut ;-)
Wouaw, it looks great !!! I have not tested that during my journey in malaysia…too bad. But I will try to do that by myself ! Yours pictures are like always so nice !!! you’re an artist ;-)
Cheers
Claude
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RM, it looks scrumptious. Banana leaves must be easily available near you. Can’t wait for the recipe.
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ok, where is that recipe already?! not sure my keyboard can cope with my salivating much longer ;) great blog btw, and tummy growling food …
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Wow! Looks sooooo delicious! This is one of my favourite! A must have when I’m back in KL! Still prefer it with Stingray!
Yummy!!!
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i miss the ikan panggang place behind istana negara.
btw, did u grill them inside ur house? charcoal is the way to grill! ;)
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yummy yummy :p~~~~~~(u know what are ~~~~~ hor?)
after u “air-freshened” your kitchen with smell-friendly hors’doeurves, you are inviting this aroma back again! Prefer this kind of food lah, the peng kang(grilled) fish in banana leaves…MmmMmmmMmmmMmmmMmmm
(the top-right corner of 5th pix…may invite imaginative wildest thoughts that it look like something though…just like how the omelet look like brain thingy…heh heh)
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Can use tilapia fillet or not? They are easily found.
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I can’t believe that you weren’t a “natural” cook when you first got started! Well, it is clear that you are a fast learner, the fish looks wonderful.
You definitely have skills!
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Wow sedapnye. For me this and hot rice will do. No need for other thing.
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wow, i would never do this myself, seems like too much work. guess when its readily available in shops, there’s more tendency toward laziness. looks fantastic as always.
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tummythoz : Wait till you see the ‘gnaw’ marks on my monitor. It’s a flat screen, but you r right, still hard to swallow.
Bee : *closes eyes, breathes deeply* Know what? I can almost smell it..almost.
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Hi Bee, long time no see, just an out-of-topic comment, I’m terribly busy with work lately, just joined a new company, a BIG company. I’ve missed so many delicious posts by your good self. Lemme settle down 1st and I’ll be back soon.
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Sue - I love anything grilled over charcoal or BBQ…it’s just the best…the burned taste and smell…mmm.
Tummythoz - I wonder if the new Windows Vista will be able to do that. :P
Claude - thanks! I hope you will try this out…I think this is one of the must-try in Malaysia. I once took some American friends to try this dish and they almost ate everything, including the banana leaves!
Dr. Ve Thru - correct, I bought a pack of frozen banana leaves for my nasi lemak dish so I used them for this dish. They are almost like fresh. Smells good!
Pip - thanks and welcome. Recipe is up. :)
Tricia Lee-Chin - exactly, a must have.
Malaygrill - yeah, I cheated with an indoor grill…shhh, don’t tell. :P
Tiga - Smell-friendly food is good, but tak puas hati after eating…have to eat stinky food again…well, can’t help it. What does that picture look like? Tell me tell me?
Simcooks - Sure, but I don’t like Tilapia, it has that fresh water muddy taste. You should be able to get frozen sole in 99 Ranch or you can also use red snapper fillet.
PE - thanks and yes, I didn’t learn everything by observing my mother and my aunt in the kitchen, it takes a lot of practices and dedication. I will write a post about how I learn cooking soon! :)
Flower - correct, and dollops of sambal belacan…best sekali!
FBB - no need to cook lah, just go out at hawker center can get oredi, what for make at home? Hehe.
Unka - First you drool, now you gnawl, perhaps you are going to jilat your LCD next…I kesian your monitor! LOL!
Chris - welcome back and congrats about the new job. Do pop in soon okay? :)
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WAH WAH WAH….DROOLZZZ!!!
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looks lovely! nice pictures.
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You keep cooking like this, then no need to come back Malaysia liao. Applause! Applause!
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RM, you really wan to know? Look again and think hard. :O
No wan to say lah…you will know it when you know it! ;p
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Looks as tempting ( as you ). Issit ah ?
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That fish looks fabulous! I’m sure that it also tastes wonderful…
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Yum! Thanks for posting this… we obviously grew up eating the same type of food. Every time you post something, I get a craving and have to call my mum to make it. She’s always asking where these cravings are coming from all of a sudden…
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i love ikan panggang - chinese style or malay style. the sambal condiment should be nice… then the fish will be nice!
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Oh gosh…..
I usually steam my banana wraps, I’ve never tried to put it on a barbecue… I’ll try this as soon as it stops raining over here…
That ikan panggang looks gorgeous,as usual…
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Precious Pea - :)
Budding Cook - Are you going to make it?
PabloPabla - Mine is still not as good as those found at home!
Tiga - aiya tell me lah…izzit something very geli? I think it looks like 1 slab of fish eggs.
Karen - cool. Can you share your mom’s recipes with me? ;)
Team BSG - Not as tempting as Melting Wok I must say. :P
Rosa’s Yummy Yum - I like your name. Very cute. Hehe. :)
Lucia - You’re spot on. If the sambal is good, even the fish is not marinated well, it will still taste good.
Vero - I like mine grilled…steamed is good, but it won’t get rid of the fishy smell sometimes. :P
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aiyoyoyo..tak boleh tahan! ikan bakar satu! tambah pedas!
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OK taukeh Jackson, ikan bakar satu tambah pedas, mo mun tai!
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It looks soooOooo good.
Two questions:
1. Which indoor grill do you have?
2. Where do you get toasted belacan and the banana leaf?
TIA
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Wie, I used this, you can buy it from my Store.
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Wie - for the toasted belacan, I just bought Malaysian belacan at Asian store, and then pan roast it. For the banana leaves, I got them from the Asian store too, in the frozen food section.
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Thanks for the info….
Okay.. what does Malaysian belacan looks like the in the store? For what I know, they comes in blocks and usually wrapped with paper and maybe plastic too.
Are we talking about the same thing?
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Wie - correct, good luck finding it. I do not like Vietnamese or Thai shrimp paste…they are overly pungent for my taste plus they come in this gooey wet form…Malaysian one is dried and in block and wrapped with paper and plastic.
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Wie, here is the picture of Malaysian belacan
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OMG! looks delicious! thanks for the tips!
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I have been searching for this recipe for a friend who lived in Malaysia years ago and she loved the “curried” skate wing in banana leaf that was grilled.
When we were in Penang and KL last year I tried to find the recipe for her without success-so I know she is going to be excited to see this!
I kept finding recipes for Otak Otak which is a bit like Amok in Cambodia and Haw Mok in Thailand-but each uses a varying group of spices.
Love this type of food and I a delighted to have found your site.
Just returned from our first trip to Cambodia and my 32 or so trip to Thailand. Love learning of these cultures via cuisines. BTW I m the Thai Food Editor on Bellaonline.com-so if you ever need help on things Thai-let me know!
hanks again for potingthis recipe.
Mary-Anne
San Francisco Bay Area
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Oh my. This grilled fish in banana leaves looks delicious. My family dont eat bone-in fish but with your grilled fish in banana leaves recipe, they will.
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