A thick, meaty slab of stingray grilled to perfection and served with tangy, spicy sambal chilli. Tender, moist meat that simply melts in your mouth. Heavenly. That is why my husband and I often head to Chomp Chomp Food Centre (read my earlier food post) for this delish dish.
It’s a pity I don’t have a BBQ grill at home (since I live in an apartment) but it doesn’t stop me from making grilled stingray over my stove top with my handy Happy Call Pan. Even though it lacks that charcoal grill flavour, it’s still a tasty one so long you use a good sambal chilli to go with it.
BBQ Sambal Stingray Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 stingray fillet approx. 400g (sliced half horizontally if too thick)
2 heaped tbsp sambal chilli (I use Glory brand Nonya Sambal Chilli) + 1 tsp extra for stir-frying
1 large red onion, peeled & sliced
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 banana leaf cut to the size of your frying pan, rinsed & patted dry
1 extra banana leaf for serving the fish, rinsed & patted dry
2 calamansi limes
cincalok
Instructions
1. Smear one side of the stingray fillet with sambal chilli.
2. Heat oil in pan and lay a banana leaf in it. Place the stringray fillet on top of the leaf (smeared side down) and pan-fry for 5-6 minutes till slightly charred.
3. Flip the fillet and pan-fry for another 3 minutes. (2-3 minutes more if meat is thick)
4. Remove the stingray and transfer on top of a new banana leaf.
5. Briefly stir fry the onions in the same pan with extra sambal chilli and spoon mixture over the stingray once done.
6. Serve with cincalok and calamansi limes.
If you like, you can also prepare a cincalok (fermented shrimps) sauce to go with it. Just mix cincalok with diced red chilli, diced onions and lime juice. This soury, salty sauce will add a kick to the dish and whet your appetite.
Though the stingray fillets were thick and firm, the inside was really moist and tender. It’s so easy to eat them as you don’t have to watch out for small bones. Also, it’s so affordable to make this at home as stingrays are really cheap to buy but if you eat this outside, it’d probably cause you more than S$20 for 2 thick slabs.
Bon appetit!