Barbecued stingray is a relatively inexpensive and oh-so-tasty dish that is available at just about every hawker center in Singapore. I love the combination of sambal chili and flaky flesh enveloped in the fragrance of banana leaf. Perhaps because of its ubiquity in food stalls, stingray is not as commonly found in the grocery stores. This is a shame since it is surprisingly easy to cook and freezes well. While it had never crossed my mind to either cook or process a stingray, one recent weekend found me and M on a “field trip” to the Jurong Fishery Port (JFP) that led to a better appreciation of cooking this funky flat fish.
JFP serves as both a dock for fishing vessels and a wholesale market for seafood, like a mini-Tsukiji. This is where supermarkets, restaurants, fish mongers etc… come for locally-caught seafood, fresh off the boat. Individuals can also make purchases here in bulk quantities. The best time to venture over is early in the morning, around 1-2 am. While I wasn’t expecting a large variety of fish, I was still a bit disappointed in the selection. It was mostly fish, more fish, some prawns and squids, and more fish.
What did catch our attention however were the stingrays, tail and all, small, medium, and big. Since M and I had made the trip with the intent of buying fresh seafood, we concluded that stingray would be a great buy, despite having never cooked them before. Late nights are rarely the best times for good decision-making. As if buying stingray wasn’t enough, we also ended up with live large prawns and agreeing that we should cook the weekly family dinner the following evening.
Our (mostly) edible dinner for eleven isn’t that exciting of a tale (a quick shoutout for A’s sherried tomato soup recipe- the broth turned out great). Between me and M, we are at least capable of preparing a meal without worrying about causing food poisoning. These days it’s more about the challenge of creating meals that G’s finnicky family will enjoy. If that ever happens, I will for sure write about it 
Back to the main story – the care and filleting of two medium-sized ‘rays, each about 2 kg. Since neither M nor I had processed a ‘ray before, we did a bit of googling and reading. Separating the not so edible body from the tender meat is quite easy (video guide). First, you remove the stinger. Then you take a knife and trace around the hard edges of the body. We each filleted a stingray with no problems.
Our two stingrays yielded 8 steaks, 3 of which we cooked that evening, and the rest ending up in the freezer or with friends. Cooking the filets were a snap. Some sites recommend removing the leathery skin, but skipping that step saves you the aggravation of skinning and helps to lock in moisture, keeping the meat incredibly juicy. After cooking, the soft underbelly skin can also be eaten.
As to what to cook it with, that’s up to you. Here’s a great recipe for those looking to do sambal stingray at home. I prefer coating mine with lao gan ma chili and throwing in a few slices of onions. Mmmmm. If you don’t have a grill, bake for approx 25-30 min at 230C for a 4-5cm thick filet. Grilling/baking in aluminum foil will work, but if you have banana leaf handy, it really makes a difference.