Siomay Bandung

4.9 from 7 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: One Dish Meal

Cuisines: Indonesian

Ingredients: Nuts and Seeds Seafood Vegetables

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• Fish paste
• 300 gram Spanish mackerel (Indonesian: ikan tenggiri) fillet
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 egg
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pinch of pepper
• 50 gram tapioca flour/starch
• 100 ml water
• Siomay (fish dumplings)
• 2 bitter melon
• 1 block / 450 gram / 1 lb firm or extra-firm tofu
• Accompaniments
• 4 / 600 gram / 20 oz potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 / 900 gram / 2 lb cabbage, cored and cut into chunks
• 8 hard-boiled eggs
• 8 kaffir limes (Indonesian: jeruk purut), or 2 regular limes cut into a total of 8 wedges
• sweet soy sauce (Indonesian: kecap manis)
• Peanut Sauce
• 300 gram dry roasted peanut
• 4 garlic cloves
• 5-15 red chilies such as Fresno, cayenne, or bird-eye chilies
• 2 tablespoon coconut palm sugar/regular sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• enough hot water to make a thick peanut sauce

Instructions

• Fish paste
  1. Pulse Spanish mackerel fillet in a food processor, then mix it with the remaining fish paste ingredients.
• Siomay (fish dumplings)
  1. Stuffed bitter melon: Cut bitter melon into 2-inch rounds, scoop out the fibrous center, and stuff with fish paste.
  2. Stuffed tofu: Cut a block of firm/extra-firm tofu into four rectangles, and each into two triangles. Scoop out the middle part of the tofu, mix it with an equal amount of fish paste, and stuff the mixture back into the hollowed-out tofu triangles.
  3. Plain fish dumplings: Shape the remaining fish paste into round balls. I use a medium-size cookie or about 1 1⁄2 tablespoon of fish paste per fish ball.
  4. Steam siomay: Prepare a steamer over medium heat. Line the steam basket with parchment paper or cabbage leaves so nothing sticks on it. Arrange fish dumplings, potato wedges, and cabbage chunks in a steamer basket. Steam for 10-15 minutes or until everything is cook and a toothpick comes out clean when you stick it in the dumplings.
• Peanut sauce
  1. Toast garlic and chilies in a frying pan over medium heat without any oil until slightly charred and very fragrant.
  2. Grind peanuts, garlic, and chilies in a food processor. Transfer peanut mixture to a bowl and season it with salt and sugar.
  3. Add enough hot water to the peanut mixture to make a thick paste. Start with 1/4 cup of hot water and add more until the peanut sauce is thick but pourable.
• To serve
  1. Serve one to two plain fish dumplings, stuffed bitter melon, stuffed tofu, steamed potatoes, steamed cabbages, and one hard-boiled egg per person. Cut each of these items into bite-size pieces.
  2. Pour about 1/2 cup of peanut sauce, 2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce, and a wedge of fresh lime. Let people squeeze the lime and stir everything together right before enjoying it.