Malaysian Curry Fish Head

[hzrt8w]

I stopped by a Malaysian restaurant in Southern California last week. On their menu, they offered "Curry Fish Head" at US$24.95. Which is the most expensive item out of the whole menu. More so than crab (and even lobster in some other restaurants).

I had this delicacy in a Malaysian restaurant in Hong Kong a few times. Memory serves me... this is not a particular expensive entree on the menu.

I am wondering how much would one expect to pay for the "Curry Fish Head" dish say in KL or Penang, Malaysia. It seems to me that the ingredients used (primarily the head of a big fish) is not particularly hard to find or expensive. Why would such a dish call for what seems to me to be an out of range price. For comparison, a plate of satay (beef/chicken) appetizer is offered at US$5-6, and a chicken entree about US$9-10 in the same restaurant.

[Tepee]

Two weeks ago, hubby ta-paued a HUGE bag of delicious fish head curry from Madam Kwan's. When I say, huge, I mean this baby's head measured 1 foot long (you should see its teeth)....almost couldn't find a pot to fill it. His group couldn't handle this by the time it arrived because they were already stuffed and this was too heavy for them....my gain. Even here, it cost US$25, but it was very worth it, enough to feed at least 6 people. There was a lot of meat on the head and other veg/tau pok in the curry. I slurped up all the curry because it was really nice and thick, the way I like it. Good to eat with rice, bread or noodles. For smaller portions and in simpler restaurants, you can find fish head curry for half the price.

I'm drooling from the memory of it.

[hzrt8w]

How's Curry Fish Head measured against other dishes? Is it one that typically carries a higher price tag? For example, in the western world a lobster dish is typically much higher than other entrees. Is Curry Fish Head comparable to that?

[Tepee]

Lobster is definitely much more expensive, by weight.

[Pan]

Curry Fish Head at Skyway in Manhattan costs $15. The fish head isn't a foot long, though!

[XiaoLing]

My favorite fish head soup is not made with curry. It is made Shanghai style by a famous restaurant (one of my favs) on Queens Blvd in NYC.

It is made in a HUGE sand pot with a huge fish head (probably a carp) and filled with mushrooms, bamboos, mung bean sheets, etc.

The fish head is pretty big but it wasn't just the head. The fish head actually was cut like 2-3 inches from the head so there's plenty of meat. And I think the dish costs around $25 but worth every penny. *drool*................

[Pan]

XiaoLing, please post about that restaurant in the New York forum.

Some of us New York-area people (yes, even Manhattanites) do go into Queens from time to time for really tasty food. There's even a thread on Queens Boulevard, if you'd like to post the info about the restaurant there.

[XiaoLing]

XiaoLing, please post about that restaurant in the New York forum.

Some of us New York-area people (yes, even Manhattanites) do go into Queens from time to time for really tasty food. There's even a thread on Queens Boulevard, if you'd like to post the info about the restaurant there.

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I am horrible with names of restaurants and directions so I will have to do some research and find the actual addresses for my favorite restaurants in NYC.

I am currently living in Boston but I am going home to NYC for x-mas and will write down the names and addresses when I go there next week!

[hzrt8w]

I am really trying to assess the relative pricing of the Curry Fish Head dish to other dishes. In NY, a US$15.00 seems to be within the norm that I would expect. The place that I have been to, charging US$25.00, seems to be a bit out of place.

Some of my associates told me that in Penang, you can have a bowl of laksa or a plate of lasi lemak for lunch for RM 5 to 10, or US$2 to 3. In that rate, a dish of Curry Fish Head that costs US$25 would be an equivalent of 10 bowls/plates of laksa/lasi-lemak. I am trying to understand if and why there is such a big difference.

(These places typically charge US$6 to $7 for a bowl of laksa by the way.)

[XiaoLing]

Ah Leung - My favorite Boston Malaysian restaurant's PENANG CURRY FISH HEAD Clay Pot is only $16.95.

[peony]

I suppose it depends on the fish and its size used to make the curry...

if the head is kurau ( threadfin) or salmon, then the price is higher..

fish-head curry in Singapore cost between.S$12 - S$25.. and the fish is normally ikan merah...( sorry, dont know what's its eng. name )

[Tepee]

Went to ta-pau from this shop on the recommendation of a friend. RM20 (US$5.70) for the smallest portion available, more than enough for 2 adults; we had 2 other dishes. A bit too lemak (rich) for me, but had loads of stuff in it...lots of fish meat in the chopped portions of the head, fish lips , tomatoes, okra, eggplant, tofu puff, cabbage and long beans.

Edited January 7, 2007 by Tepee (log)

[hzrt8w]

Went to ta-pau from this shop on the recommendation of a friend. RM20 (US$5.70) for the smallest portion available, more than enough for 2 adults;

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This is killing me. The price and the picture.

The airfare to KL from SFO couldn't be that high, could it?