Goldfish Arsik (Ikan Arsik)

My mother is a Bataknesse. Batak People, is the indigenous tribe of North Sumatra Island. One of the significant tribe in Indonesia. They live on highland of Sumatra, precisely on Tapanuli. One of the traditional food is Ikan Arsik. This is one of my favorite food.

Ingredients:
1 goldfish, clean out the stomach and skin
1 lime
6 cloves of garlic
8 cloves of small red onion
chili paddy or bird's eye chili (as much as you like)
2 tsp Sichuan pepper (Andaliman)
6 candle nut
4 lemon grass, cut into 4 cm in length
2 tsp tamarind
6 cm galangal, cut into 3 (if you don't have you can just use ginger eventhough the taste is not really the same)
1 tsp ground turmeric

a bunch of basil leaves (daun kemangi)

1/2 pound of yardlong bean

1 bamboo shoot cut it into pieces salt
water

Cut lime in half and squeeze out the juice on top of the fish. Let it immerse for 15 min. Meanwhile, in a blender, blend garlic, onion, chili, Sichuan pepper, candle nut, salt and half of the lemon grass until smooth. Add some water as needed. Make tamarind juice by mixing the tamarind with 250 ml hot water, and then discard the pulp.

Fill up the fish stomach with smooth blended seasoning. Do not forget to add ground turmeric to the seasoning and mix it well just before filling up the stomach cavity. In a big pan, put yardlong bean and bamboo shoot. Arrange the remaining lemon grass and galangal and then place the fish on top of it. Pour the rest of the seasoning. Cook under medium heat. Add tamarind juice and stir it well (be very careful not to flip over the fish too many times). Cook until done in one side and then flip over the fish and continue to cook until both sides are cooked. You may cover the pan with the lid during cooking. At last add the basil leaves just before turning off the stove.

Serve it with warm steam rice.