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Perut Ikan (Nyonya Stewed Fish Stomach with Vegetables)
May 11th, 2010Main Dish, Recipes, Soup or Stew14 Comments
(Recipe and the photographs are courtesy of Madam Kwong.)
Perut ikan is one of the most requested recipes on Nyonya Food. It’s also one of my favorite Nyonya dish. Even though it’s a Nyonya recipe, I believe it’s mostly found in Penang, and not Melaka and Singapore.
All my family members love a great serving of perut ikan, or Nyonya stewed fish stomach (previously salted and preserved) with various vegetables and exotic herbs, including daun kadok (betel leaf) and bunga kantan (ginger flower). It’s a very tedious dish to make but the taste structure is so deep and complex. Each sip of the gravy reveals an exciting layer of flavor. Perut ikan is utterly delicious!
I remember vividly my childhood days when I watched my late grandmother pickled and preserved fresh fish stomach. In Southeast Asia, many authentic and unique dishes are prepared with the “unused” part of the ingredients, and in this case, it’s fish stomach. The fish stomach, or perut ikan in Malay, are extracted from fresh fish. They are cleaned thoroughly, rubbed with salt before being preserved inside a glass bottle. My late grandmother always paid special attention to the sealing process, enclosing the bottle with a cork tightly to facilitate the fermentation. The fish stomach are then left out in the kitchen at room temperature until the cork is slightly popped out on its own—a clear indication that the fermentation process is complete as it releases the fermentation gas that forces the cork to pop…
A couple of years ago, I was lucky to learn how to make perut ikan from my aunt, but I didn’t do a good job in the exact measurement. My aunt taught me to make a lemak version, with a little coconut milk added. For the sour perut ikan, I refer to Madam Kwong and am so glad that she has a well-written recipe for us. If you are a fan of perut ikan, please try out this fabulous recipe. I could really use a bowl of savory and pipping hot perut ikan now. Slurp!
(Click Page 2 for Perut Ikan Recipe)
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yummmm everything with ginger flower!
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Yummmm………slurp…….
I LOVE Perut Ikan!! Can’t make it in Perth though. Haven’t found daun kadok anywhere :(
Delicious looking photo. Love how Madam Kwong managed to make this dish looks so tasty :)
@kl_changs – there’s none in Perth? There’s plentiful in Melbourne.
Groan… my perut is rumbling at those photos! What I wouldn’t give to have a bowl of that right now. How are we ever going to find those ingredients here in the US? :) Need to start an import business here for all that stuff!
Dear Bee and Madam Kwong – I first tasted this dish in Singapore back in 2002 at a Nyonya restaurant. It was so wonderful we went back the next night for more. I am really excited to find this recipe and want to try it myself as I can source all the ingredients, except one, in Sydney. Some great Indonesian shops here carry extended lines of Malaysian products and the staff are usually very helpful. Can you please explain what blue ginger powder is? I have never heard of this before and if I can’t find it, is there a substitute? Thanks so much. Peter
Hi Peter – blue ginger is lengkuas. Good luck and let us know how you went :)
Thanks so much for the tip – sounds like this might be Laos powder -
i.e. ground galangal. Am heading out to the market now!
The Perut Ikan tasted wonderful but mine wasn’t as photogenic as yours! Thanks to you all for your kindness and generosity and willingness to share and teach. I am very glad to be a student on this great forum. Am off to Singapore and provincial Thailand tomorrow so am looking forward to tasting and learning more.
i miss this, i have had it before but its quite hard to find it as many places simply don’t cook it, maybe becos of the tedious process…
Dear Madam Kwong,
Where can I find daun kadok and pickled fish stomach in Melbourne please?
Thanks,
May
Hi May, answered your same question on my blog too~
We substitute the purut with canned sardines and it tastes just as good. We always make a big pot of it and eat it the whole day. We get our daun kadok from relatives from Penang when they come down to Singapore.
Hope you can find some in Melbourne ! Happy cooking :)
Dear Madam Kwong, please teach me how to ferment the fish stomach. I don’t know how to do it so I used fresh fish stomach instead. It’s a bit fishy though. I will be grateful if you teach me how to pickle the fish stomach and also, can I use the stomach of the red snapper? Thanks and regards, Monica Lim