Sayang Melaka: Melaka Cuisine: Asam Pedas

Asam Pedas is a Malaysian fish stew where fish is cooked in tamarind (asam) fruit juice and chili paste. 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 brinjals (Indian eggplants), okra and tomatoes are added. Fish (such as mackerel or red snapper) or fish heads are also 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).

There are various ways of cooking asam pedas based on districts and ethnic community in Melaka. The Malays like to add vegetables and shrimp paste. Baba Nyonya and Chitty always put 'buah kluak' in their asam pedas while Portuguese community like to add more chillies. In Melaka, there are a lot of restaurants served asam pedas everyday such as:

1. Hajjah Mona Asam Pedas

Jalan Laksamana 2

Taman Kota Laksamana, 75200 Malacca, Melaka.

2. Restoran Mahligai

Basement, Tourism Information Centre,

Jalan Kota, 75000 Melaka.

3. Restoran Alihar19, Jalan Melaka Raya 13