Pepes Ikan (Indonesian Steamed Fish)
Pepes is cooking method of steaming the ingredients (fish, chicken, tofu, or mushroom) wrapped in banana leaves until it becomes tender, then grilling the packets. In this recipe any fresh water fish or salt water fish can be used as substitute. In restaurants serving West Java cuisine, where Ikan Pepes is always on the menu, the use of carp fish is very common.
- Prep
- 24 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 19 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Grind together all the ingredients for the spice paste.
Procedure
Scale and clean the fish. Take out the intestines but not the eggs.
Procedure
Make three diagonal slashes on each side of the fish for spice paste flavor to immerse.
Procedure
Marinate the fish with salt and tamarind for 15 minutes then wash the fish with a bowl of water to remove excess salt.
Procedure
Add cooking oil to the spice-paste, mix.
Procedure
Coat fish with spice paste.
Procedure
Put kemangi leaves, salam leaves and sliced lemon grass for the flavor.
Procedure
Wrap the fish in banana leaves or aluminum foil.
Procedure
Steam over medium heat for 30 minutes. Use pressure cooker for faster cooking time and better taste.
Procedure
Let it cool and grill the wrapped fish over charcoal fire.
Photo: Sakurai Midori · CC BY-SA 3.0 · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 10 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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