Grilled Fish With Sambal Chilli

This is a modest attempt to replicate the grilled fish you eat in Singapore and Malaysia. The secret lies in the chilli that I used - "Glory" Nonya sambal chilli. I came up with this short-cut version, inspired by another grilled fish recipe.

1 piece of banana leaf

2 pieces of fish fillets (barramundi, ling, basa, etc)

1 lemon, sliced (optional)

salt

"Glory" nonya sambal chilli (or any sambal chilli that you enjoy)

Lightly salt the fish fillets. You do not want to put too much salt. The chilli has some salt too. Smear chilli on the fish. Place lemon slices on top.

Place banana leaf in a fry pan and spread some cooking oil onto the leaf. Place the fillets on the leaf (see photo below) and cover the pan. This will create a steaming effect too. After about 8 mins, remove and place the lemon slices aside and turn the fish onto the other side and smear with more chilli and top the fish with the same lemon slices. Continue to cook for another 8 mins or so, until the fish is opaque when cut in the centre.

If you cannot find banana leaves (I bought them in a frozen pack at Yuen's grocery), just pan fry the fish. I am sure it will turn out great too!

For the faint-hearted, don't worry, this chilli is not too spicy. I am quite hopeless in the amount of chilli I can tolerate and this chilli is just a tad spicy, enough for me to simply enjoy it :)