Indonesian food series: Pepesan ikan recipe (Indonesian steamed mackerel in banana leaf)

Pepesan ikan is a popular Indonesian dish consisting of spicy mackerel steamed in banana leaf. While this recipe is traditionally cooked with mackerel, you can tweak it in many ways, like substituting the fish for chicken or for tofu or vegetables if you want to make it vegan. In this post, I will show you the pepesan ikan recipe that we learned from Chef Hero on our cooking class in Warung Sunny in the beautiful tropical paradise island of Gili Air. It is a very easy and healthy dish that you can prepare to surprise your guests with your Indonesian cooking skills!

Warung Sunny Cooking Class review: our experience in an Indonesian cooking class in Gili Air

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Indonesian Pepesan Ikan recipe ingredients

1. Pepesan Ikan ingredients

• Mackerel filets
• Bumbu putih
• Chili
• Lime
• Page-sized banana leaves (1/portion). Alternatively, you can use aluminium foil.
• Toothpicks

Cooking tip: you can steam the full fish marinated with the bumbu putih. Alternatively, you can mix diced fish filets with steamed rice or with egg to make a pudding of sorts.

2. Bumbu putih ingredients

• 250g Shallot
• 125g Garlic
• 50g Candle nut
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• + galangal, ginger, lemongrass, coriander and cumin to taste

Instructions

1. Cut the mackerel filets in cubes.
2. Roughly mix mackerel, bumbu putih and sliced chilis. You can add rice here.
3. Squeeze lime juice over the mix.
4. Place two tablespoons of the mixture onto a banana leaf and roll until the mixture is completely wrapped. Take a toothpick and fasten it to each end of the package (if you use aluminium foil, just fold it to fasten it).
5. Steam the packages for ten minutes.

Closing statement

This simple pepesan ikan recipe can make you look like such a traveled chef when you have guests over. It is a healthy dish that can also be a fun activity with children (and a great way to make them eat fish!). We learned this recipe at our cooking class in Warung Sunny in Gili Air, Indonesia. You can check out our experience in the class here:

Warung Sunny Cooking Class review: our experience in an Indonesian cooking class in Gili Air

If you’re in the Gili islands, you’ll probably find these helpful:

Quick Gili islands guide: a starters kit for paradise seekers in Indonesia

The chill Gili: Gili Air

The party Gili: Gili Trawangan

The honeymoon Gili: Gili Meno

Also, if you’re in Indonesia, have a look at these:

Perfect 3 days itinerary in Ubud, Bali

Hiking Mt. Bromo and Mt. Ijen in Java, Indonesia

Perfect 3-day itinerary in Nusa Penida, Indonesia

What to do in North Sumatra, the secret Indonesia keeps from you

Perfect 10 days Flores itinerary in Indonesia

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