Ikan Bakar: The Indonesian Grilled Fish Tradition

Ingredients

• 1 (approx. 600–800 g each) whole fresh fish, gutted and scaled, caught that day
• For the bumbu marinade
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 red chillies, finely chopped
• 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised and finely sliced
• 2 tbsp kecap manis
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp salt
• To serve
• 1 quantity fresh sambal, prepared fresh

Method

1. 1
   Light the charcoal grill — coconut-husk charcoal preferred. Allow the coals to burn down to a steady, ash-covered glow before cooking begins. The grill is ready when you cannot hold your hand 10 cm above the grate for more than two seconds.
2. 2
   Combine the shallots, garlic, red chillies, lemongrass, kecap manis, coconut oil, and salt to form the fresh bumbu marinade. Score each fish with three diagonal cuts on each side to the bone. Coat the fish thoroughly on all surfaces and inside the scores with the bumbu. For three-star results the bumbu is made immediately before use.
3. 3
   Secure the fish in a jepitan (wire grilling cage) for ease of handling and to protect the skin. Place over the coals. This step is where the dish lives or dies: the fish must be cooked through without the flesh becoming dry and chalky — the interior should remain just opaque and yielding to gentle pressure at the thickest point, and the skin should be charred and caramelised from the kecap manis without burning to carbon. Turn once during cooking, basting with any remaining bumbu.
4. 4
   Remove the fish from the jepitan. Serve immediately — within 2 minutes of leaving the grill — alongside fresh sambal. A fish left to cool loses the volatile smoke character that defines the dish.