Easy 20-minute Kam Heong Fish Fillets
Salty, mildly spicy, super fragrant and full of umami-ness: this Kam Heong Fish Fillets dish is fancy yet super simple to make. The fish fillets are tender and soft, while the homemade Kam Heong sauce is tasty and aromatic. As the sauce is pre-made, this dish takes only 20 minutes to cook.
Serves 5 adults with some rice and vegetables for the perfect family meal.
Ingredients
Fish fillets, or any white-fleshed fish. I used Brackish Freshwater fish, but other fish, like Tilapia, Catfish, Seabass, Cod and Snapper can be used as well. The fresher the fish, the better the texture will be.
Salt, to season the fish fillets.
Unscented cooking oil, to deep fry both the curry leaves and fish fillets.
Crispy flour, to coat the fillets. This both absorbs excess moisture from the fillets, makes the exterior crispy and stronger for stir-frying and enables the sauce to stick better to the fillets. I made my own, but you can use Gogi Tempura flour, or any tempura flour to substitute.
Curry leaves, which add a lovely fragrance to the frying oil and the overall dish. Pre-frying also adds a sweet, aromatic crispy texture in between bites. If it is not available, omit it as there is no substitute for curry leaves.
Kam Heong Sauce is the main flavour of this dish. It adds saltiness and umami-ness with a little spiciness in each bite. It also adds an intense curry-like fragrance to this dish. Mine is homemade, but you can also purchase store-bought as well. Just be sure to adjust the salt according to taste.
And lastly, some water to heat up and dilute the Kam Heong sauce a little before adding in the fish fillets.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to make Kam Heong Fish Fillets dish:
- Heat up the oil.
- Marinate the fish.
- Fry the curry leaves and remove from the hot oil.
- Coat the fish fillets in flour.
- Fry the fish fillets until golden brown.
- Heat up the Kam Heong sauce with water.
- Stir the fish fillets and curry leaves in Kam Heong sauce.
- Dish out and serve.
Tips
- Any white-fleshed fish fillets can be used for this recipe: dory fillets, tilapia fillets, seabass fillets, etc.
- Seasoning the fish fillets twice ensures that the salt is evenly distributed.
- Make sure that all the curry leaves are dry before adding them to the oil to prevent major oil splashes.
- If space is limited in the pan, the fish fillets can be fried in batches. Only coat the fillets just before adding to the hot oil.
- Adding a little water to the Kam Heong sauce helps to dilute it so that it’s easier to mix with the fish fillets.
- As the fish fillets had been deep-fried before stir-frying with the Kam Heong sauce, it’s not recommended to freeze them as the texture may be affected.
- It can be kept in the fridge overnight, to be reheated thoroughly the next day.
- The nutritional information does not include any servings of rice.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
While this recipe is best enjoyed immediately after cooking, any leftovers can be kept in the fridge overnight to be reheated the next day.
Do note that the aroma may not be as fragrant, and the fish fillets may not be as tender as well when kept overnight.
I do not recommend freezing this recipe as the ice crystals formed may affect both the texture of the fish fillets and the Kam Heong sauce.
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Kam Heong Fish Fillets
Equipment
- Frying Pan
- Non-Stick Frying Pan
- Turner
- Large strainer
Ingredients
- 500 ml cooking oil, unscented, for deep frying
- 300 g white fish fillets, fresh, or thawed
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 3 stalk curry leaves, strip the leaves from the stem, ensure fully dry
- 3 tbsp crispy flour, homemade, or gogi tempura flour
- 180 g Kam Heong sauce
- 150 ml water, 50ml is optional
Instructions
- Add cooking oil to a deep frying pan and switch on the heat to medium.
- Marinate the fish with 1/4 tbsp of salt and rub to evenly distribute it. Sprinkle the rest of the salt and repeat. Set aside.
- Submerge dry wooden cooking chopsticks and observe if tiny air bubbles are formed in the oil. This indicates the oil is ready for deep-frying.
- Strip all the curry leaves from the stem and add them to the cooking oil. Fry for 20-30 seconds, and remove them all with a strainer.
- Coat each fish fillet with crispy flour completely, shaking off the excess. Immediately add it to the hot oil, repeating with the rest of the fillets.
- Fry them for 3 minutes without turning or moving the fish. When the bottom has completely cooked, it will detach from the pan itself.
- After 3 minutes, turn the fillets to the other side and fry for another 3 minutes. After that, turn the fish every minute or so, until fully golden brown.
- Remove the fillets with a strainer, and rest it in a bowl to drip off the excess oil. Set it aside. Switch off the heat.
- With a clean pan, heat up the Kam Heong sauce over medium heat.
- Add all the Kam Heong sauce to the pan, and spread it evenly.
- Add 100ml of water and stir until slightly thinned. If the consistency is too dry, add another 50ml of water (optional). Continue stirring for about 1 minute, until fully hot and runny.
- Add all the fish fillets and stir until well coated with the sauce, for about 1 minute.
- Add the curry leaves and give it a light toss. Switch off the heat.
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve with some rice.
Video
Notes
- Any white-fleshed fish fillets can be used for this recipe: dory fillets, tilapia fillets, seabass fillets, etc.
- Seasoning the fish fillets twice ensures that the salt is evenly distributed.
- Make sure that all the curry leaves are dry before adding them to the oil to prevent major oil splashes.
- If space is limited in the pan, the fish fillets can be fried in batches. Only coat the fillets just before adding to the hot oil.
- Adding a little water to the Kam Heong sauce helps to dilute it so that it’s easier to mix with the fish fillets.
- As the fish fillets had been deep-fried before stir-frying with the Kam Heong sauce, it’s not recommended to freeze them as the texture may be affected.
- It can be kept in the fridge overnight, to be reheated thoroughly the next day.
- The nutritional information does not include any servings of rice.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!