Pepesan Ikan (Indonesian steamed mackerel)

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Pepesan Ikan

Name: Pepesan Ikan (Indonesian steamed mackerel)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 2 fresh mackerel; 1 large shallot; 3 garlic cloves; 5 candlenuts (kemiri nuts); 3 cm fresh ginger root; pinch of salt; 1 teaspoon tamarind paste (assam); 1 stalk lemongrass; 4 lime leaves; 1 red chilli; 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon ground galangal; a small splash of sunflower oil

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Pepesan Ikan is a well-known fish dish from Indonesia; delicately spiced and full of herbs. Delicious steamed mackerel with a homemade bumbu (Indonesian spice paste).

50 minutes

2 persons

Main course

Nutrition balance score

Unbalanced

5.5/10

Glycemic Index

Glycemic Load

14.98 (Low)

2.12 (Low)

Nutrition per serving

Kcal

568.01 kcal

Carbohydrates
Of which sugars

14.14 g
4.59 g

Total fat
Of which saturated fats

44.14 g
9.45 g

Proteins

30.29 g

Fiber

3.82 g

Sodium

342.98 mg

View all nutrients

Recipe pepesan ikan

Recipe pepesan ikan allergens

This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.

Nuts

Fish

Made by Véronique

Published at 2021-09-09, this recipe is for 2 persons and takes 50 minutes.

Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.

Updated at: 2025-10-05

Let's get started

Preparation time

15 minutes

Time cooking

35 minutes

Total time

50 minutes

Preparation – 15 minutes

First, make sure that the mackerel is cleaned, you can have this done by the fishmonger. You can also use a whole mackerel but remove the entrails.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Heat a small frying pan and roast the candlenuts in the dry frying pan for a few minutes. Transfer the roasted nuts to a small blender or mortar.

Peel the shallot and garlic cloves and roughly chop them. Peel the ginger root and roughly chop it too. Heat a little oil in the frying pan over high heat and fry the shallot, garlic, ginger and chilli for a few minutes.

Make a bumbu by puréeing the shallot, garlic, ginger, red chilli and roasted candlenuts. Then add the tamarind paste, a pinch of salt, coriander seeds, turmeric and galangal.

Finish the Pepesan Ikan – 35 minutes

Spread the bumbu on the inside and outside of the mackerel. Place half a lemongrass stalk in each mackerel and then sprinkle the lime leaves over the fish.

Transfer the mackerel to a piece of aluminium foil, or banana leaf, and fold it into a parcel. Make sure not to close the parcel too tightly.

Place the parcels in a large baking dish and bake the mackerel for about half an hour. The exact cooking time will depend on the size of the mackerel.

Remove the lemongrass stalks and lime leaves, serve with, for example, rice, prawn crackers and acar (indonesian pickle). Enjoy your dinner!

Tips!

Can I also use smoked mackerel to make Pepesan Ikan?

Traditionally, Pepesan Ikan is made with fresh mackerel, but you can use smoked mackerel. This then needs to be steamed for less time than fresh mackerel.

How do I clean a whole fresh mackerel?

Carefully cut open the abdomen first, then remove all the entrails. Cut off the head behind the gill with a sharp knife. Rinse the mackerel inside and out under cold running water.

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Nutritional values

Per 1 serving / piece:

Pay attention! These indicated nutritional values are based on standard tables and are therefore an estimated total. No rights can be derived from the data in the nutritional value table.

General

Kcal

568.01 kcal

Carbohydrates
Of which sugars

14.14 g
4.59 g

Total fat
Of which saturated fats

44.14 g
9.45 g

Proteins

30.29 g

Fiber

3.82 g

Sodium

342.98 mg

Show vitamines & minerals

Minerals

Iron

4.45 mg

Calcium

112.47 mg

Magnesium

99.04 mg

Potassium

99.04 mg

Phosphorus

366.88 mg

Copper

0.37 mg

Zinc

1.70 mg

Iodine

82.68 µg

Selenium

63.39 µg

Vitamins

Vitamine C

118.46 mg

Vitamine D

12.00 mg

Vitamine A

15.32 mg

Vitamine B1

0.22 mg

Vitamine B2

0.54 mg

Vitamine B6

0.51 mg

Vitamine B12

12.75 µg

Folic acid

59.63 µg

Vitamine E

0.20 mg

Vitamine K

7.02 µg

Vitamine K1

0.00 µg

Handy! Scroll this table horizontally to see all nutritional values per ingredient

Amount		Ingredient	Allergens	Kcal	Carbs	Carbs of which sugars	Fat	Fat of which saturated	Protein	Fibers	Sodium	Iron	Calcium	Magnesium	Potassium	Phosphorus	Copper	Zinc	Iodine	Selenium	Vitamin C	Vitamin D	Vitamin A	Vitamin B1	Vitamin B2	Vitamin B6	Vitamin B12	Vitamin B11	Vitamin E	Vitamin K	Vitamin K1
1		fresh mackerel	fish	387.00	-	-	31.05 g	7.35 g	27.00 g	-	130.50 mg	1.50 mg	24.00 mg	45.00 mg	405.00 mg	300.00 mg	0.15 mg	0.90 mg	82.50 µg	63.00 µg	-	12.00 mg	1.50 mg	0.15 mg	0.45 mg	0.30 mg	12.75 µg	12.00 µg	-	-	-
0.5	large	shallot		6.40	1.46 g	-	0.04 g	-	0.36 g	0.52 g	-	0.30 mg	14.40 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3.76 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1.5	clove	garlic		6.30	1.26 g	0.04 g	-	-	0.27 g	0.09 g	0.18 mg	0.06 mg	7.65 mg	0.90 mg	27.00 mg	5.85 mg	0.01 mg	0.05 mg	0.07 µg	-	0.63 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	-	0.02 mg	-	0.18 µg	-	-	-
2.5		candlenuts	nuts	50.48	0.98 g	0.29 g	4.94 g	1.17 g	1.15 g	0.28 g	0.30 mg	0.28 mg	10.88 mg	22.28 mg	48.82 mg	36.68 mg	0.09 mg	0.26 mg	-	0.21 µg	0.08 mg	-	-	0.02 mg	0.01 mg	0.04 mg	-	1.65 µg	0.03 mg	0.06 µg	-
1.5	cm	fresh ginger root		1.86	0.35 g	-	0.03 g	-	0.04 g	0.04 g	0.15 mg	0.06 mg	0.60 mg	1.20 mg	7.80 mg	0.90 mg	0.01 mg	0.07 mg	-	-	0.15 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.5	pinch of	salt		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	200.00 mg	-	0.05 mg	1.45 mg	0.03 mg	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0.5	teaspoon	tamarind paste		5.98	1.56 g	1.44 g	0.02 g	0.01 g	0.07 g	0.13 g	0.70 mg	0.07 mg	1.85 mg	2.30 mg	15.70 mg	2.83 mg	0.02 mg	-	-	0.03 µg	0.09 mg	-	0.75 mg	-	-	-	-	0.35 µg	-	0.07 µg	-
0.5	stalk	lemongrass		9.90	2.53 g	0.17 g	0.05 g	0.01 g	0.18 g	0.18 g	0.60 mg	0.80 mg	6.50 mg	6.00 mg	72.30 mg	4.40 mg	0.02 mg	0.07 mg	-	0.07 µg	0.26 mg	-	5.00 mg	0.01 mg	0.02 mg	0.02 mg	-	7.50 µg	0.05 mg	2.18 µg	-
2		lime leaves		0.66	0.10 g	-	0.01 g	-	0.03 g	0.03 g	0.10 mg	0.01 mg	5.00 mg	0.60 mg	4.00 mg	0.80 mg	-	0.01 mg	-	0.01 µg	0.60 mg	-	8.00 mg	-	-	-	-	0.20 µg	0.03 mg	0.01 µg	-
0.5		red chilli		19.50	3.38 g	2.63 g	-	-	0.75 g	1.50 g	7.50 mg	0.30 mg	15.00 mg	7.50 mg	262.50 mg	3.75 mg	0.02 mg	0.19 mg	-	-	112.50 mg	-	0.07 mg	0.02 mg	0.05 mg	0.11 mg	-	37.50 µg	-	-	-
0.5	teaspoon	ground coriander seeds		4.47	0.81 g	-	0.27 g	0.02 g	0.19 g	0.63 g	0.53 mg	0.24 mg	10.64 mg	4.95 mg	19.01 mg	4.48 mg	0.02 mg	0.07 mg	-	-	0.32 mg	-	-	-	-	0.01 mg	-	0.15 µg	0.04 mg	4.65 µg	-
0.5	teaspoon	ground turmeric		3.75	0.44 g	0.02 g	0.22 g	0.02 g	0.18 g	0.11 g	1.68 mg	0.66 mg	9.31 mg	3.66 mg	17.88 mg	4.99 mg	0.01 mg	0.05 mg	0.11 µg	0.04 µg	0.08 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	-	-	-	0.10 µg	0.03 mg	0.05 µg	-
0.5	teaspoon	ground galangal		5.64	1.27 g	-	0.02 g	0.01 g	0.08 g	0.33 g	0.74 mg	0.16 mg	6.60 mg	3.20 mg	27.00 mg	2.20 mg	0.01 mg	0.04 mg	-	0.03 µg	-	-	-	-	-	0.01 mg	-	-	0.01 mg	-	-
0.5	splash	a small of sunflower oil		66.08	-	-	7.48 g	0.87 g	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
				568.01	14.14 g	4.59 g	44.14 g	9.45 g	30.29 g	3.82 g	342.98 mg	4.45 mg	112.47 mg	99.04 mg	907.04 mg	366.88 mg	0.37 mg	1.70 mg	82.68 µg	63.39 µg	118.46 mg	12.00 mg	15.32 mg	0.22 mg	0.54 mg	0.51 mg	12.75 µg	59.63 µg	0.20 mg	7.02 µg	-