Assam Pedas

Assam pedas is the sour, fiery fish curry that defines Malay home cooking, served at nearly every family dinner table in one form or another. The name translates to sour and spicy, and the dish delivers both at full volume: tamarind for the sour, chilies for the heat, and every Malay family has a slightly different spice paste, because the version you grow up with is always the best one. It is the kind of food that makes you sweat a little and reach for seconds anyway.

Sour, spicy, and impossible to stop eating

Mackerel steaks hold up beautifully in the brisk sauce, and the okra and tomatoes soften into a tangy, spoonable mess, while the galangal and lemongrass add a floral warmth beneath the heat. The palm sugar rounds off the edges, and the fish cooks in minutes, so the sauce is always made first and the fish slipped in at the very end. It is meant to be eaten with lots of rice, because the sauce is the real point of the whole plate.

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