Asam Pedas

Asam Pedas (Indonesian: Asam Pedas, Malay: Asam Pedas, Minangkabau: Asam Padeh, English: Sour and Spicy) is a Minangkabau and Malay sour and spicy stew dish popular in Indonesia and Malaysia. The main ingredients (usually seafoods or freshwater fishes) were cooked in asam (tamarind) fruit juice with chilli and many other spices. The cooking process involves soaking the pulp of the fruit until it is soft and then squeezing out the juice for cooking the fish. Asam paste may be substituted for convenience. Various vegetables such as terong or brinjals (Indian eggplants), okra and tomatoes are added. Fishes and seafoods (such as mackerel, red snapper, tuna, gourami, pangasius or cuttlefish) either whole body or only fish heads are added to make a spicy and tart fish stew. It is important that the fish remain intact for serving so generally the fish is added last.

In Bengal, India this dish is called macher tak (sour fish).