Ikan Bakar

Ikan bakar is a generic term to refer various kinds of Malaysian dish of charcoal-grilled fish or other forms of seafoods. Ikan bakar literally means "burned fish" in Malay. The fish is usually marinated with the mixture of sweet soy sauce and coconut oil or margarine, applied with brush during grilling. The spices mixture may vary among regions and places, but usually it consists of combination of ground shallot, garlic, chili pepper, coriander, tamarind juice, candlenut, turmeric, galangal and salt. Ikan bakar usually served with sambal belacan (chili with shrimp paste) or sambal kecap (sliced chili and shallot in sweet soy sauce) as dipping sauce or condiment and slices oflemon as garnishing. There are many variants of ikan bakar, differ from the recipes of marinate spices, dipping sauces or sambals, to the species of fishes being grilled. Almost all kind of fish and seafood can be made into ikan bakar, the most popular are freshwater gourami, patin (pangasius) and ikan mas (carp), to seafood tongkol or cakalang (skipjack tuna), bawal (pomfret), tenggiri (wahoo), kuwe(trevally), baronang (rabbitfish), kerapu (garoupa), kakap merah (red snapper), and pari (stingray). Some of the popular forms of seafood besides fish include sotong (squid), and udang (shrimp).