- Otak - Otak
Otak-otak is a grilled fish cake made of ground fish meat mixed with tapioca starch and spices. It is widely known across Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where it is traditionally served fresh, wrapped inside a banana leaf, as well as in many Asian stores internationally being sold as frozen food. It can be eaten solely as a snack or with steamed rice as part of a meal.
Otak means "brains" in Indonesian and Malay, and the name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish somewhat resembles brains, being whitish grey, soft and almost squishy. Nevertheless, it was only otak-otak from Indonesia that has whitish color, while the otak-otak from Malaysia and Singapore has reddish-orange or brown coloring acquired from chili, turmeric and curry powder.
Otak-otak is found in certain parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In Indonesia, three cities are famous for their otak-otak; Palembang, Jakarta and Makassar, nevertheless most of coastal fishing towns in Indonesia are familiar with this dish. The southern Malaysian town of Muar in Johor is a popular destination for it people from surrounding states and even Singaporeans often visit to buy the famous otak-otak in bulk. It is commonly known in Singapore as otah.
Otak-otak is made by mixing fish paste with a mixture of spices. The type of fish used to make otak-otak might vary, mackerel is commonly used in Malaysia, while ikan tenggiri (wahoo) is popular ingredient in Indonesia. Other types of fish such as bandeng (milkfish) and the more expensive ikan belida (featherback fish) might be used. The ground fish and starch is seasoned with spices which usually includes garlic, shallot, coconut milk, pepper, salt and sugar.
In Indonesia, the mixture typically contains fish paste, shallots, garlic, scallions, egg, coconut milk, and sago starch or can be substituted for tapioca starch. In Malaysia, it is usually a mixture between fish paste, chili peppers, garlic, shallots, turmeric, lemon grass and coconut milk. The mixture is then wrapped in a banana leaf that has been softened by steaming, then grilled or steamed.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, one finds otak-otak being sold in small stalls near bus stops, especially during afternoon rush hour. Some of the best otak-otak can be found in Makassar; the main ingredient is fresh king mackerel fish, also called king fish or spanish mackerel.
In Malaysia, otak-otak is made from ground fish meat mixed with some spices such as chili, turmeric, and curry powder to add taste. The bones of fishes are first removed as only the fish meat is used, then blended using machine to make it softer. Chili, spices, salt, soy sauce and a little bit of flour are then added to the fish meat and are mixed well. Otak-otak is normally being wrapped inside the attap (Arenga pinnata) leaves and clipped using stapler or toothpick at both ends before being grilled or roasted on the stove.
The flavor combines the fragrance of burnt attap leaves, the softness of fish meat and chili spices. The degree of spiciness corresponds to the amount of chilies being used. Since otak-otak is boneless fishcake, it is also suitable for children. While fish otak-otak is most common, otak-otak is also made with prawns, often resulting in a more textured variety. In Muar, there is also otak-otak made from cuttlefish, fish head and even chicken.
Other than grilling, some otak-otak might be steamed instead.(citation needed) Steamed otak-otak is in rectangular shape without any attap leaves wrapping. Otak-otak are served best freshly hot, as a side dish with rice or as snacks during tea time.
There are different recipes of otak-otak originating from different regions.
In Indonesia, otak-otak commonly associated with Palembang, South Sumatra. However, other regions in Indonesia also popular for their otak-otak recipes, such as Jakarta and Makassar. In Palembang, people eat otak-otak with cuko (Palembangese sweet and sour spicy vinegar sauce). While in Jakarta, they enjoy it with spicy peanut sauce.
In Malaysia otak-otak is commonly found in a small town called Muar, located south of West Peninsular Malaysia, Johor. The otak-otak from Muar is particularly renowned in Malaysia.(citation needed) Nyonya otak-otak (Malay: otak-otak Nyonya), with Peranakan origins, from the northern Malaysian state of Penang, is steamed as a cake in banana leaf. The otak-otak from Indonesia, the south of Malaysia, and Singapore is wrapped up as a thin slice using banana or coconut leaf and grilled over a charcoal fire. As a result, it ends up drier and with a more distinct smoky fish aroma. The color of otak-otak from Indonesia is whitish, while the otak-otak from Malaysia and Singapore is reddish-orange. Other varieties of otak-otak do exist. Although otak-otak is traditionally made with fish meat, modern versions of otak may utilize crab or prawn meat or even fish head.
1.5kg Mackerel (Ikan Tengerri)
600g Prawns
Ingredients A
2 Large Red Onions, chopped
8 Candlenuts
1 1/2 thumbsize Galangal, sliced
15 Dried Chillies, pre-soaked in hot water
10 Chillies, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp Belachan
1 1/2 thumbsize Tumeric, sliced
100 – 200ml Water to get the blending process going
Ingredients B
2 Eggs
1 packet Coconut Cream
3 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp toasted coriander seeds, pounded into powder
2 Lime Leaves, finely sliced
4 Tumeric Leaves, finely sliced
For Wrapping
Banana leaves
Toothpicks
- Prepare fish meat. Fillet the fish. Scrape meat off the bones.
- Pound the fish meat (add water & salt) into a pulp / sticky paste. I will do this one day before and keep it in the freezer as it requires quite a bit of effort.
- Peel shell off prawns and chop up meat. Keep with fish meat in the freezer.
- Wash and clean banana leaves and cut into ready size for wrapping.
- Blend ingredients A in a blender.
- Add in ingredients B and the fish and prawn meat.
- Mix everything together.
- Spoon a high 1 tbsp of mixture onto the leaf.
- Fold in both sides into the centre, enclosing the otak filling.
- Secure with toothpicks on both ends. Snip of extra leaf at the end after securing.
- Place on top of grill bottom side first for 6-8 mins then flip over. Check and repeat till cooked (when firmed up).
Source :
http://munchministry.com/recipes/how-to-make-otak-otak/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otak-otak
- Lemper
Lemper is an Indonesian savoury snack made of glutinous rice filled with seasoned shredded chicken, fish or abon (meat floss). The specific lemper filled with seasoned shredded chicken is called lemper ayam (lit: chicken lemper). The meat filling is rolled inside the rice, in a fashion similar to an egg roll; this is in turn rolled and wrapped inside a banana leaf, oil paper, plastic sheet or tinfoil to make a packet ready for serving. If banana leaf is not available, corn husk can be used. Lemper are most often seen as snacks, but may sometimes be served as appetizers as well. Lemper usually have an elongated shape, similar to lontong.
Lemper is very similar to arem-arem and bakcang (Chinese zongzi), and also resembles Japanese onigiri.
The glutinous rice is soaked and cooked with coconut milk and salt. The filling is made of shredded chicken breast, chicken stock, garlic, candle nut, ground coriander, cumin, brown sugar, vegetable oil, minced shallot, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, salt and pepper. Other than chicken, shredded fish or abon (beef meat floss) might be used as filling. When the cooked glutinous rice is cool enough to handle, the chicken filling is placed on the glutinous rice and rolled in a banana leaf, wrapped and secured with biting or lidi semat, a small wooden "needle" made of coconut leaf mid rib or bamboo. Then these banana leaf packages are steamed or grilled. This releases a distinct pleasant aroma of toasted banana leaf.
500 grams sticky rice (glutinious)
550 ml coconut milk
2 pandan leaves
8 jeruk purut leaves (kaffir lime)
4 salam leaves
1 lemongrass
1 / 2 teaspoon salt
Lemper chicken filling
250 grams chicken fillets
4 tablespoons red onions
3 cloves garlic
1 / 3 fresh lemongrass – very finely chopped
2 / 3 fresh lemongrass – not chopped
1,5 teaspoons candlenut paste (kemiri nuts) or 3 roasted candle nuts
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (kunjit)
1/2 teaspoon coriander (ketumbar)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (jinten)
2 jeruk purut (kaffir lime leaves) finely chopped
3 jeruk purut leaves – not chopped
4 salam (Asian bay leaf) – not chopped
1 tablespoon of tamarind (asem) diluted with 3 tablespoons of lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2, 5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
100 ml coconut milk
It takes 1 hour and 10 minutes to make the sticky rice in total.
Put my rice in the bottom of my rice cooker. Together with the leaves (jeruk purut, pandan leaf, salam) and the lemongrass. hit the lemongrass with something heavy to loosen the juices. Now the coconut milk goes in with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.
Tip: One cup of rice is equal to one cup of coconut milk – if you do not feel like measuring the rice and coconut milk amounts
My rice cooker is basically a colander in a larger pan. The water goes in the lower pan to produce steam. You can easily make a steamer like this if you don’t have an original steam pan. Make sure that the colander hangs well above the water and has a fitting lid. If necessary, bind a towel around the colander to make it fit snuck to the bottom pan.
I heat the rice on medium heat and stir well until all the moisture is absorbedby the rice. Be careful not to burn the rice.
When all the liquid is absorbed, turn the heat off and let the rice rest with the lid on for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes I scoop the rice into the colander part of the pan and cover the bottom evenly. I leave an opening in the middle, so the steam can easily access the colander.
I remove the pandan leaves. They give off a green color and make the rice gray-green in color in the end. Not so nice. I leave the rest of the leaves in.
Steam 30 minutes
Now I heat up a sufficient amount of water (for 30 minutes of steaming) in the bottom pan. When it’s boiling I place the colander on top with the lid on. I turn down the heat just a little bit. Smoke needs to come out of the pan. I steam the rice for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes taste the rice. Are the grains tender all the way through? Take a small bite and make sure that is the case. If the core is still hard, steam another 10 minutes extra.
Keep the rice warm
Now the rice is done, I pour the water from the bottom pan and place the colander on top. I gently scoop the rice through. I try to get the rice from the bottom to the top. Do not overwork.
I leave the lid on. Now the sticky rice is ready to use. I leave the lid on as much as possible. This way the rice doesn’t dry out or cool down too much during lemper rolling; warm rice rolls easier.
If you have leftover rice? Keep in the refrigerator in an air tide container and warm up briefly in the microwave just before use.
Make chicken floss
First, I simmer the chicken fillets. To the water, I add a teaspoon of salt, 3 leaves of jeruk purut (kaffir lime leaf) and 2/3 of fresh lemongrass stalk.
When the water comes to the boil I let the fillets simmer for a couple of minutes. I check if the fillets are done (with two forks). If so, I immediately get the fillets out of the broth and cool them on a rack. Make sure not to overcook the chicken.
When the fillets are not too hot to handle, I shred the meat with my hands into thin pieces.
Chicken floss herb paste (bumbu)
I blend with my emersion blender the chopped up onions, garlic, the finely chopped lemongrass, the candlenut paste, turmeric (kunjit), coriander (ketumbar), cumin (jinten), shredded jeruk purut leaves, salt and sugar into a fine paste.
In a large pan or wok, I heat up two tablespoons of oil and fry this bumbu.
After a couple of minutes, I add the chicken floss. I make sure the chicken is well mixed with the bumbu.
Now the tamarind diluted tamarind (asem) can be added.
and the coconut milk.
And all the leaves. Stir on low heat and make sure the chicken does not burn. Keep mixing until all the moisture is gone.
Take a piece of kitchen foil that is suitable for the microwave. I place my kitchen foil on a bamboo mat. I use the stitches as a measuring tool; the width of my lemper.
At one-third of the foil, I form a rectangle of sticky rice. Tip: is the rice too sticky, dip fingers in some water. It works much easier.
For my lemper I use about 40 grams of sticky rice. But you can make them thicker too. Just what you like.
Fill floss
I place chicken floss in a straight line in the middle of the rectangle. I make sure there is enough uncovered rice left on the top and bottom.
Now I roll the lemper, as a sushi roll. I grab the bottom of the plastic and roll the rice over the chicken and close it.
I fold the right side tide and squeezes the left side as if emptying toothpaste. I push gently until my Lempers reaches the required size (the stitches in the bamboo mat are my marks) and fold the left side close too.
Now fold upwards quite firm. Until the kitchen foil covers the lemper neatly.
I fold the right side tide and squeezes the left side as if emptying toothpaste. I push gently until my Lempers reaches the required size (the stitches in the bamboo mat are my marks) and fold the left side close too.
Now fold upwards quite firm. Until the kitchen foil covers the lemper neatly.
Warm up
Warm up just before serving. From the fridge: 30 seconds in the microwave per lemper. From the freezer: 1 minute in the microwave.
Source :
http://pisangsusu.com/lemper-sticky-rice-snack/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemper
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