# Malay/Indonesian: Ikan Masak Kuah Pedas



## dez

Hello! I'm tranlating a recipe of Singapore and I don't know how to translate the name of the recipe, I have supposed that I must translate it as in the English text:


IKAN MASAK KUAH PEDAS
Fish in hot gravy (pescado con salsa picante)


I will be very happy if you can help me with this translation problem. Thanks!




dez

^^


----------



## samanthalee

"Fish in hot gravy" isn't wrong. But you may like to consider " Fish in spicy gravy" too.


----------



## theo1006

dez said:


> IKAN MASAK KUAH PEDAS
> Fish in hot gravy (pescado con salsa picante)


 
When I read English gravy I think of an essentially fatty liquid.  Whereas *kuah* in Indonesian/Malay refers to a watery liquid.  So my translation would be: Spicy fish soup.
See the recipe to decide which translation best describes the dish.

Regards,
Theo


----------



## smamat

*sauce* is another alternative translation for *kuah*


----------



## MarX

smamat said:


> *sauce* is another alternative translation for *kuah*


I don't know about its usage in Malaysia, but as Theo said, *kuah* in Indonesian is used to refer to low viscosity liquid, like in a soup.

_Sauce_ in English could be of any viscosity, although it's usually thicker.

In Indonesian, *saos* is used to refer to thick liquid (of a higher viscosity) like _tomato sauce_, for example.


----------



## smamat

Indonesian *saos* = Malaysian *sos*

I hope we'll agree to disagree there is no one word to translate *kuah*, won't we?
I guess you could use whatever tickles your fancy, *soup* or *sauce* (or even *gravy* although we all know it is the fat and juices you get when cooking meat, not fish)


----------



## smamat

Actually, I thought of the word *sauce* (NB not *sos* or *saus*) as the equivalent of *kuah* because my English friends use the word *sauce* to describe the different *kuah*s that I make them when cooking Malay food.

But then my English friends could be wrong/imprecise.


----------



## avok

But I reckon Dez already used the word "salsa" which might mean "sauce". I think s/he needs to translate the text from English to Spanish (whether it is gravy or sauce)


----------



## MarX

@smamat:
I never said that_ sauce_ would be a wrong translation for *kuah*. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.


----------



## smamat

No worries MarX, I hadn't thought that you said I was wrong.
I'm just thinking that my English friends were not good enough LOL

We still agree that there's no word for *kuah* in English. Hey, maybe we should incorporate it into the English vocabulary!


----------



## MarX

You're right. There seems to be no exact translation for *kuah* in English.
I'll incorporate it to my English language use from now on.


----------



## ibroe

Hi,

I agree that there is no specific english word to describe Kuah. Some would say gravy, sauce or soup. But to me, soup is not accurate though.


----------



## smamat

I also find using *gravy* very strange for *kuah*.

That is only a matter of personal opinion/experience since the first time I came across *gravy* was in a boarding school Sunday roast lunch (ah, the memories - beef, Yorkshire pudding, crispy potatoes and *gravy* - and double chocolate cake for *pudding*!)

p/s but then in Essex everything is strange; *tea* means *dinner*, and *pudding* means *desert*.


----------



## MarX

I guess _watery sauce_ would be the closest translation?

I really am going to use *kuah* in English from now on.


----------



## rasserie

its not entirely correct

ikan is fish that is correct

but gravy is not kuah at least to my understanding.

out of context, u can apply kuah to gravy but in context, u can never say fish in a gravy because a gravy is a thick sauce

and if a fish is cooked in thick sauce, almost always, in malay, u never use the word KUAH to mean thick sauce

for example

IKAN MASAK MERAH is essentially fish in chilli gravy


ikan = fish
masak = to cook
merah = red

but u dun translate it to mean fish cooked in red.

it is realli fish in chilli gravy. notice the complete absence of the word KUAH.


however, if u go to any SATAY stalls, and u asked for extra KUAH SATAY, what u will be getting is super thick peanut sauce. sometimes its so thick its like glue. notice here in context, KUAH does not mean WATERY SAUCE

interesting now that u mention it. i didnt realise it before.





dez said:


> Hello! I'm tranlating a recipe of Singapore and I don't know how to translate the name of the recipe, I have supposed that I must translate it as in the English text:
> 
> 
> IKAN MASAK KUAH PEDAS
> Fish in hot gravy (pescado con salsa picante)
> 
> 
> I will be very happy if you can help me with this translation problem. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> dez
> 
> ^^


----------

