Thursday 15 December 2016

Fried Stuffed Cencaru


I did mention before that I am hopeless with fish. If I want to eat fish, I eat out. I have cooked fish before but I don't do it often.

One day, I was hankering for stuffed ikan cencaru. So I bought two from Aeon. In the kitchen, I played fish surgeon. Why fish surgeon? Because I had to make incisions on the back of the fish. To me, it was no easy task. Maybe my knife is not sharp enough. But I managed.


I have done this before and somehow I felt that I did a better job the first time. My second attempt in 3 years was rather pathetic. But at least the fish was still in one piece 😛


As they say, practice makes perfect and I reckon I should fry fish more often. It's a nice change from eating chicken. Yes, I want more fish.

Fried Stuffed Cencaru
Recipe source : Adapted from Sajian Istimewa Shariah Abdullah (page 20)

Ingredients : 
- 2 ikan cencaru, make 2 slits at the back

Spice paste (pounded) :
- 6 shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp chili paste
- 1 lemongrass
- 2 candenuts
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 1 tsp belacan

Method :
1. Stuff pounded spice paste into the slits at the back of the fish. Stuff remaining spice paste into the abdominal cavity.
2. Fry fish until cooked.

30 comments:

  1. I usually buy from fishmongers in wer market and get them to clean and cut for me. No need to perform "surgery" at home. I hate the mess and smell. Haha.

    I love fish. I do cook fishes quite regularly at home.

    Love the way you cook your fishes. Fresh and simple. I like it.

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    1. Yes, I also got the staff at Aeon fish section to do that for me. But I still had to cut the back of the fish to put in the stuffing.

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  2. Not too sure about Malaysia supermarket, nowadays, over here at the supermarket, if you buy fish, can get them to clean the fish...

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they cleaned it for me because I don't know how to do it...

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  3. Yes I believe your knife is not sharp enough. I have eaten fish done this way bought from chap fan stalls. Very tasty!

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    Replies
    1. I have not seen it sold at chap fan stall, only at Malay stalls.

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  4. OMG, you know I love stuffed ikan cencaru to death, right? But would never dream of making it at home because of the splattering oil. That's because I like the sambal belacan in the fish to be well darkened and to achieve that I think the fish has to be fried in lots of oil! ^o^ Luckily, I have a shop near me that does this beautifully (and I've blogged about the place).

    Looking at your previous post, I think I like this cencaru more as I can see the sambal stuffing is well fried (and not as wet) rendering it more fragrant I'd assume :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yes, I know you love this :) And yes, the sambal has to be well fried together with the fish in order for it to taste really good. I just need more practice because I can't get fish done this way around here.

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  5. I love this fish!!! Like kembong and all the rest in the family. I can clean fish but I do not enjoy doing it, will get the fishmongers to do it - that is why I hate it when my missus goes and buy fish from the nearby shop, all not cleaned yet, such a nuisance. Never have a problem deep frying fish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My dad is good at cleaning fish but I never learnt from him. That's why I get the people at the fish section to do it for me. If I did it myself, the fish would be in tatters :D

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  6. this dish actually brings back memories for me ... my grandmother and aunts used to cook cencaru a lot, stuffed with sambal ... i enjoyed it at least a couple of times a week after coming home from school for lunch. and after eating hundreds of this, i can say your version looks good! :D

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    Replies
    1. Oh, you are very familiar with this then. Well, thank you for the compliment. I shall now be more motivated to cook stuffed cencaru :D

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  7. Hai PH kaknoor dh ada ikan cencaru ni mmg beli utk buat ikan sumbat jugak tpi belum lgi terdaya nk buat hehe, trngok yg PH punya ni teruslah terhingin sngt2 mesti tk lama lepas kaknoor pulak tayang ikan cencaru sumbat ni haha

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    Replies
    1. PH tunggu nak tengok yang Kak Noor punya. hee..hee..

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  8. I love to eat any type of fishes and that's my top favourite meat too. Just tell me what fish you need and I will deliver. Kekekeke

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  9. That sure looks good!

    For me, I always wonder how people can fry boiled sardines and the fish can still remain intact, head and all. Mine will be all hancur! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! I used to be like that too. But after some practice, got improvement lah.

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  10. Cincaru is the best fish to put stuffings inside.. my kids love this dish ever since they were young, they called it lak lak yue (spicy fish) and their grandmother used to do this very often, appetizing too, if tumbuk the ingredients sendiri, the taste definitely comes out different from those sold outside...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, the tumbuk ingredients taste better than ones made using blender.

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  11. I am quite picky about fish, I very scare those fish with very fishy and muddy taste

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    Replies
    1. Me too. I also don't like those with many bones.

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  12. Me whole family prefer fish than ayam, i bought ciken once a month, tu pun sekor boleh masak dua kali, my hasben tak suka ayam.
    Ikan cencaru goreng then cicah sambal kicap, perghhh..

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh ye ke? Mostly PH makan ayam. Fish sekali sekala aje, ticer Azimah. Tapi sekarang berazam nak makan more fish.

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  13. Hai PH
    Yes I think you can ask the fishmonger to cut the fish to your instructions..after cleaning you cakaplah dengan dia suruh potong belakang sekali..they can cut for you even 'butterfly' cut..:)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ayu! Oh...I did not think of asking the pakcik to do that. OK, next time I request hee..hee..

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  14. Ikan caru ni pun my faveret juga tau. Apa ni PH? Semua menu u masak, my faveret....Gemuklah i sorang sorang kalau macam ni haha....
    Tapi selalunya kalau i masak, jarang sangatlah i operate belakang ikan tu. Operate depan cukup hihi.... Kesian pulak ikan tu kena operate depan belakang haha.....

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    Replies
    1. Hi Hainom! Pandai lah you, ikut depan jer. Lagi senang just sumbat rempah tu ke dalam perut ikan hah..hah..

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  15. I will only choose salmon, grouper or Ma Yao whenever I buy fish because I don't like boney fish :P

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