Sambal stingray

Step 1: Check 1 ½ lb stingray wing before you buy or cook it: it should smell clean, like the sea. Rays can turn quickly, so discard any piece that smells of ammonia. Rinse, pat dry and rub with ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground turmeric; keep it in the fridge.

Step 2: Blend the drained 15 dried red chillies, 3 fresh red chillies, 8 shallots, 3 garlic cloves, 3 candlenuts, 1 lemongrass stalk and 1 tbsp shrimp paste (belacan) to a smooth paste, adding a splash of water only if the blade sticks.

Step 3: Heat ½ cup neutral oil in a wok over a medium heat and add the paste. Fry, stirring and scraping, until it darkens to brick red, smells sweet rather than raw and the oil separates and pools at the edges.

Step 4: Stir in 1 tbsp tamarind pulp, 1 tbsp palm sugar or sugar and 1 tsp salt and fry for 2 minutes more, until thick and glossy. Taste: it should be hot, sweet, sour and salty at once. Set aside half of the sambal for serving.

Step 5: Score the thick part of each wing in a few places, almost to the cartilage, then spread the rest of the sambal over the top and push it into the cuts.

Step 6: Heat a large, heavy frying pan or griddle over a medium-high heat and lay 2 pieces banana leaves in it, shiny side up. Place the fish on the leaves, sambal side up.

Step 7: Cover the pan with a lid or foil and cook for 10–14 minutes, depending on thickness, until the leaf chars underneath and the flesh is opaque all the way to the cartilage and flakes away easily in strands. For a smoky finish, slide it under a hot grill for the last 2 minutes.

Step 8: Serve on the charred leaves, topped with the reserved sambal, with 4 calamansi or lime to squeeze over, 2 shallots and 2 tbsp chinchalok (fermented shrimp relish) on the side.