Mango Sambal Over Broiled Tilapia

In Surabaya, there’s this incredible sambal mangga or chili pepper condiment that is mixed with thin-sliced mango. (In Bahasa Indonesia: sambal refers to crushed chili peppers mixture and mangga means mango.) The condiment is usually served with grilled fish, squid, or prawn, and steaming hot jasmine rice. It is simply to die for, as my sister would say. This sambal and the grilled seafood are my must-haves when I return to my homeland. Here’s what the condiment looks like. Whenever I look at this picture, I experience a Pavlov’s dog moment. Ding!

Mango Chili Pepper Condiment at Asia Baru Restaurant in Surabaya
Thin-sliced mango in chili peppers: A condiment at Asia Baru Restaurant in Surabaya (Picture by Harini, 12/12)

Inspired by mango sambal at a local seafood restaurant in Surabaya, I created something similar to accompany my broiled Tilapia.

Tilapia covered by Mango Sambal
Tilapia covered by Mango Sambal by Harini

Here is how I do the manggo sambal (My recipe for the broiled Tilapia is right below it.)

Warning: Spicy!

We will need:

  • 1 mango (I find one that is ripe but not too soft)
  • 3  Thai peppers
  • 5 hot finger peppers
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 garlic
  • 1 small tomato (or 4 grape tomatoes)
  • Salt

Steps:

  • I peel the mango and gently slice it into thin cuts (lengthwise). Then stack the mango meat together and start slicing them into skinny cuts. Plate them and set aside.
  • Make the sambal in a food processor by mixing and chopping: Thai peppers, tomato, hot finger peppers, shallots, garlic. Add salt.
  • Mix the mango and sambal together.

Mango sambal by Harini

For the broiled Tilapia: (or your preferred mild-tasting fish), we’ll need:

  • 4  fillets (thawed)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Ginger powder (a pinch)
  • Turmeric powder (a pinch)
  • Coriander powder (a pinch)
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
  • 1 Lime (lemon works too)

Steps:

  • In a bowl, mix vegetable oil, salt, pepper, ginger powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, lime juice from half of lime 
  • Coat the fillets with the marinade and let them sit for 15 minutes. Make sure they are coated evenly on both sides.
  • Heat the oven broiler
  • Grease the oven tray and place the fillets on it.  Broil for 8-12 minutes (no turning) until the fillets turn golden brown, crispy on the outside, and flaky in the inside. Give at least 6 inches of distance between the broiler and the tray.

Broiled Tilapia by Harini

Plate the fish and top with the mango sambal. Serve with hot jasmine rice. Add some more lime juice from the other half if necessary.

Ding!

Serve with rice by Harini

More Tilapia recipes:

Crispy Baked Tilapia

Spiced Up, Steamed, and Broiled Tilapia

Have a great weekend!

Harini Riana1 Comment

Crispy Baked Tilapia

(Author revised on April 12, 2013)

I like a variety of white fish like snapper, halibut, and tilapia. In my opinion, tilapia happens to have a very mild taste suitable for Indonesian cooking, which normally uses a lot of spices. For readers in Indonesia, I imagine dori, gurame, or red snapper fillets would work great for this recipe.

So here’s what we’re going to need (feel free to adjust the spices to fit your preference):

  • 4 Tilapia fillets (medium size)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of ginger powder
  • 1 teaspoon of black pepper powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder (substitute with chili or paprika powder if you prefer it to be milder)
  • A pinch of dried oregano (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (optional)
  • 1 lemon

Steps:

  • Spray or grease the oven tray with a little bit of olive oil or canola oil.
  • (Optional) Mix the white vinegar with a little bit of water in a small bowl and give the fillets a quick rinse. And then rinse with water. (I do it to lessen the fishy aroma a little bit.)
  • Place the fish on an oven tray.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the salt, ginger, black pepper, cayenne powder.
  • Heat the oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit.
  • Sprinkle and coat the fish with the mixed spices. Let the fillets sit for about 10 minutes.
  • Cook for 12-13 minutes.  Do a longer bake time if the fillets are bigger/thicker.
  • For more crisp, turn the oven broiler (after baking) for about 3-4  minutes. Leave the oven door slightly (like 2 inches) open to avoid charring.
  • When it’s done, the fish will have that light golden color and crispy texture on the outside but fluffy in the inside.
  • Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Serve 2-3 people

Harini Riana7 Comments

Spiced Up, Steamed, and Broiled Tilapia

Super delicious Tilapia!  This spiced-up Tilapia dish offers this wonderful lemony aroma. The presence of tomatoes and shallots provide a little sweetness while the thick chilies gives a wonderful punch to the dish.

Harini’s Version of Pepes Ikan, Origin: Java Island, Indonesia

I love seafood. As a big fan, I enjoy trying and learning about the different cooking methods that enhance seafood’s delicious taste.

The other day I felt like preparing something light. I grabbed a bag of frozen Tilapia fillets from the market and started to think about ways to prepare them. Tired of grilling and pan-searing, which I often do, I decided to do something different with the fillets. I covered the Tilapia fillets with chilies and spices, wrapped them in foils, steamed, and then broiled them. In Indonesia, this cooking method is simply called Pepes (while Ikan means fish). Traditionally though the method calls for wrapping a spiced-up whole fish in the aromatic banana leaf, steaming, and then grilling it on top of a charcoal grill. (Aside from serving as a wrap to let the fish cook well with the spices without falling apart, banana leaf also adds its sweet aroma to the fish.) Then to serve, simply unwrap and discard the banana leaf and enjoy the fish.

My sister and I made this dish for the first time when she visited a while back. I remembered her copying a recipe she found online and walking me through it while I cooked. The rest of the family was arriving that night so we wanted to welcome them with several of our favorite native cuisines. We successfully filled the apartment with an amazing cooking aroma and the dining table with delicious food. Everyone was delighted.

This time I went with a few tweaks to simplify the method: I used fillets instead of a whole fish, I went with aluminum foil (since I already have this available) instead of banana leaves to wrap the fillets, and instead of grilling the fish on a charcoal grill out in the snow, I simply unwrapped the fillets and broiled them.

I adapted my version below from two recipes I found at Merry’s Kitchen of Indonesian Cuisines: Pepes Ikan Mas (In Bahasa Indonesia, not available in English. Use translate.google.com to see translation.) and Steamed Fish Wrap in Kemiri Nut Sauce.

Here’s how I do mine.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tilapia fillets (I am sure light and fluffy white fish like Halibut, Sea Bass, and Red Snapper would work great too. But those could get very expensive if you cook fish as often as I do. So Tilapia gets to be a great and an economical alternative for me.)
  • 1 lemon

Prepare the chilies in a food processor:

  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 7 shallots
  • 2 tablespoon of minced garlic
  • 10 hot finger peppers (I actually used 15 and it was very spicy! So please adjust accordingly.)
  • 1 inch of ginger (peeled)
  • 6 Candlenuts (they make a wonderful thickening agent for chilies or sauces)
  • Salt

For the aroma, cut and halve

  • 1 Lemongrass (I cut into two sections and then halved. I also threw away the very top and bottom part of it.)
  • 4 Bay leaves
  • 1 inch of Galangal root (peeled and halved)

Add:

  • A cup of grape tomatoes (halved) or 1 medium size tomato (diced)

Preparation:

  • Place your steamer on top of a pot of boiling water.
  • Prepare two sheets of aluminum foil (maybe like 12 X 17)
  • Place two fillets on each foil. Drizzle and coat with lemon juice.
  • Cover the top of the fillets with the chilies from the food processor. Add the cut up tomatoes.
  • Divide Lemongrass, Galangal root, and Bay leaves into equal amount for each sheet and place them on the fillets
  • Wrap them up (chili-covered side facing up), place the two packages in the steamer, cover with a lid, and let them steam for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, set the oven to broil and unwrap the packages (don’t remove the fillets).
  • Put the opened packages on a larger tray (to make it easier to handle) and then place it into the oven to broil for about 5-10 minutes.
  • Leave the oven door slightly ajar (a couple of inches) to allow moisture from steaming to escape and also to avoid burning the spiced up fish.
  • Take the tray out once the spices on the top of the fish and the edges of the fillets get dry and turn brown.
  • Let the fillets cool down a bit before serving.
  • Best served with white jasmine rice.


Serve 2-4 people


Harini Riana2 Comments