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Curry Fish Head

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Curry Fish Head recipe - a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice. | rasamalaysia.com

Curry Fish Head recipe - a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice. | rasamalaysia.com

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…

Curry Fish Head recipe - a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice. | rasamalaysia.com

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!

Curry Fish Head recipe - a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice. | rasamalaysia.com

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My Sister's Famous Curry Fish Head Recipe

Curry Fish Head recipe - a mean pot of curry and goes very well with steamed white rice. | rasamalaysia.com

Ingredients

  • 600 g Garoupa Fish Head chopped into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp + 1/2 cup water
  • 3-4 tablespoons oil
  • 2 cups water
  • Bunch of polyganum leaves laksa leaves
  • 4-6 okras cut into halves diagonally
  • Salt to taste
  • Sugar to taste optional

Spice Paste:

  • 1-2 stalks lemongrass white part only, cut into small pieces
  • 1 small turmeric skin peeled, sliced into pieces
  • 20-25 g dried red chili paste
  • 50 g peeled shallots
  • 5 g belacan shrimp paste

Garnishing:

  • Bunga Kantan Torch Ginger Flower, sliced into small pieces
  • Bunch of mint leaves optional

Instructions

  1. Prepare the spice paste by using a mortar and pestle. First, pound the lemongrass and turmeric together until they become a paste.
  2. Deseed a big handful of dried red chilies. Soak in warm water for about 10 minutes. Pound the dried red chili into a fine paste. You will need about 20-25g depending how spicy you like. Save the unused chili paste in the refrigerator.
  3. Pound the shallots and the shrimp paste together.
  4. Mix the tamarind pulp and water using your fingers, extract the juice out of the tamarind pulp, discard the tamarind pulp and the seeds and save the tamarind juice.
  5. Heat up a pot on medium heat and add the oil. Saute the turmeric and lemongrass before adding the shallots and belacan paste. Continue to stir-fry until aromatic before adding the chili paste. Stir until the oil separates from the spice paste and become red.
  6. Add the tamarind juice into the pot, follow by the water. Bring it to boil before adding the polyganum leaves (laksa leaves) and okra. After the okra is half-cooked, add the fish head. Cover the pot and let cook for a few minutes until the fish is cooked. Add salt and sugar (if using) to taste. Garnish with the bunga kanta and mint leaves. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Use one lemongrass if it's a big lemongrass and two if the lemongrass is thinner. Fish head might sound intimidating to many of you, but it's definitely one of the best parts of a fish—it's fleshy, tender, and absolutely delicious. Curry Fish Head is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore.

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50 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

        • 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!

          Reply

  5. 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.

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  7. 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

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  13. 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.

    Reply

  14. 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!

    Reply

  16. 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 :)

    Reply

  17. 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!

    Reply

  23. 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.

    Reply

  24. 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.

    Reply

  26. 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.

    Reply

  28. 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.

    Reply

  32. This looks amazing. I’ve seen fish heads being sold in the supermarket before and always wondered what they are used for. Do you think any type of fish would be okay? I do not have the same type of fish available here as in the US…
    And forgive my ignorance, but is the head actually eaten?
    I have a laksa plant in my back garden that I’ve been wanting to learn to use. Or I did, before my gardener ran a weed whacker into it. Hopefully I can nurse it back to health.

    Reply

  33. Hi, I just got back from Malaysia and we purchased 3-4 packets of curry mixes to bring home. One is Nyonya Asam Kari Segera Pedas (Instant Curry Nyonya Assam Mix (Spicy) by Singlong.

    I know this is a fish curry – but just curious – could we use the same sauce on chicken? Or would it be really awful?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  35. I live in Sydney, Australia. Today, I am going to cook it with Ling Fish head. I believe it should taste better than Garoupa. We shall see.

    Reply

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