Prepare the fish steaks by washing and drying them. If they are very large cut them into smaller pieces.

Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic over a low heat until the onion goes soft and starts to colour, which will take about 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Lift out the cooked onion onto a holding plate.

Then add the pepper, nutmeg, chillies, ginger, laos and kenchur powder, and fry for a few minutes until the spices become fragrant. Add the fish and fry it for a few minutes on each side.

Add the lemon juice, soy sauce and sugar, return the onions, cover the pan and simmer gently until the fish steaks are cooked, but not over done. This will take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the fish pieces. If the liquid starts to dry up add a small amount of water. When the fish is cooked there should be a small amount of thickened sauce around it.

Serve the fish with this sauce together with white rice and a vegetable dish.

I substituted cumin and coriander for the laos and kencur powder, and I used more onion and added capsicum.

Laos is Alpinia galanga or galangal
Kenchur is Alpinia officinarum - lesser galangal

Taylor, Peter. Food from Far Away - an Ethnic cookbook