Place your tamarind pulp in the bowl and pour the hot water over it. Leave to soak while you get the other ingredients ready and fry the fish.
Halve, then slice the onion thinly.Chop the garlic widthwise.Halve the chillies, lose the seeds and membrane, and slice in thin, long strips.Slice the garlic in thin, long strips too.
Mash the taucheo up roughly with a fork.
Quarter the tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes, make a small cut on each one to allow them to soak up the sauce later.
Fry the Fish
Clean and dry the fish, and make 2-3 shallow diagonal slashes across the body, to allow the fish to cook quicker and the flesh to absorb the sauce later. I forgot to do it, as you can see!
Heat the oil over medium-high heat and fry the fish for 6 minutes, turning over halfway. If your wok isn't big enough, do 1 fish at a time. When done, take the fish out and place on the plate lined with kitchen paper, to absorb excess oil.
Air Frying the Fish
Preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F for 5 minutes. Place your fish and air fry for 15 - 17 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
Cooking Ikan Chuan Chuan
Pour out all but about 1 Tbsp of the oil in the wok and heat on medium heat. Fry the onions for 1 minute.
Add the garlic, chillies and ginger and fry for 30 seconds.
Add the mashed taucheo and cook for a minute.
Remember the soaking tamarind? Mash it up well with your fingers (should be cool by now). Fish out the seeds and large bits of pulp and discard, and pour everything else into the wok, along with the water. Stir to mix.Lower the heat right down and simmer the sauce for 3 minutes.
Now add the fried fish and tomatoes to the sauce. Baste the fish by scooping sauce all over it. Cook for 2 more minutes to allow the fish to heat right through.
Finish off with some ground white pepper and serve with whole coriander leaves scattered over.