Batagor: Bandung's Fried Dumpling

Ingredients

• 500 g tenggiri (Spanish mackerel) fillet, minced to a smooth paste
• 200 g firm tofu skin (tahu kulit), cut into pocket squares
• 12 wonton wrappers
• 1 litre neutral oil, for deep-frying
• For the peanut sauce
• 200 g roasted peanuts, ground to a coarse paste
• 60 ml kecap manis
• 2 limes, halved, for serving
• 250 ml water, hot, to loosen the sauce

Method

1. 1
   Work the minced tenggiri into a uniform paste. It should be tacky and hold a clean impression when pressed with a finger.
2. 2
   Pack the fish paste firmly into each tofu skin pocket and fold each wonton wrapper around an equal portion of paste, pressing the edges to seal. No filling should be visible at the seam.
3. 3
   This is where the dish lives or dies: lower the filled pieces in batches into oil held at a steady deep-frying temperature and fry until the exterior is a deep, even amber and the casing is rigidly crisp — any pallor or give in the shell means the paste inside has not set and the structure will collapse under the peanut sauce.
4. 4
   Lift the fried pieces onto a rack. The casing should knock with a hollow tap when flicked with a fingernail.
5. 5
   Thin the ground peanut paste with hot water, stirring until the sauce runs slowly from a spoon and holds a pale tan ribbon. Stir in the kecap manis and taste for balance between salt, sweet, and the raw richness of the peanut.
6. 6
   Arrange the fried pieces on each plate, drench with peanut sauce, and finish with a squeeze of lime at table. The sauce should pool visibly around the base of each piece.