You can’t keep a good recipe a secret, specially inSoutheast Asia; take fish fillet wrapped in banana leaves cooked with spices for example. Every SEA country has their own version: in Malaysia andIndonesia it’s known as Otak-Otak, in Thailand they prepare a similar dish called Hor Mok that includes an assortment of seafood–fish fillet, shrimp, and squid, and in Cambodia their variation is called Amok.
When it comes to preparing good Malaysian Otak-Otak, be picky about the fish you choose. Red snapper fillet is highly desirable, but you can also use Spanish Mackerel–actually just select your favorite white fish fillet. Otak-Otak could be steamed or grilled. I personally like the grilled version because the burnt smell of banana leaves enhances the flavor…
So what if I totally ignored the previous paragraph when I made some Otak-Otak a couple of days ago.
I reinvented this traditional dish to fit what was available to me. I made Otak-Otak Udang (Shrimp) instead of fish. As it’s almost impossible to get banana leaves from the market in Orange County, I improvised and used baking pan instead. I always like my food baked, and hence my Otak-Otak was baked in the oven instead of being steamed in the steamer or grilled over fire. About the spices, who has time to assemble, grind, and blend the rempah (spices)? So I cheated with a can of off-the-shelf red curry paste from Thailand. I was very happy with the end result.
This dish is very easy to make and you should try it too. You can use fish fillet, shrimp, seafood, or even add in some chicken. No matter what you choose, I assure you it will be great.
Otak Otak Recipe:
1 can (4 oz) of Maesri Thai red curry paste
1/2 lb. of shrimp /12 – 15 medium shrimp
1 small cabbage (cut into julienne strips)
2 Eggs
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves (cut into matchstick-sized strips)
2 teaspoons of lime juice
2 bird’s eye chilies (cut into tiny pieces)
1 small can of coconut milk
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
Method:
Peel and devein shrimp and mix the above ingredients (except cabbage) into a bowl. Mix well. Place the cabbage into a baking pan and pour the mixture on top of it and spread them over the cabbage evenly. Cover it with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Recently, a friend of mine in Hong Kong asked me about Penang Assam Laksa. She told me that she had it in Penang and has been craving it and requested me to give her the recipe. I told her that she will have to go back to Penang again if she really loves it as my recipe will not do justice to the real Laksa you get in Penang.
Laksa (as we Penangites call it) or Assam Laksa, is the staple of Penang hawker food. If you come to Penang and there is one dish that you can try, this is probably it as you can’t get anything close to the real taste outside of Penang.
My aunt and my mother used to cook Laksa a lot while I was growing up in Penang. Preparing this dish is no simple matter. I remember helping out in the kitchen for hours; picking flesh off little Ikan Kembong (Mackerel Fish), cutting cucumber, lettuce leaves, red onions; plucking mint leaves off their stems and slicing little bird’s eye chilies…
Cooking this dish starts with boiling the main ingredient, Ikan Kembong, in a pot of hot boiling water. Once the fish is cooked, you scoop them up and leave the broth for later use. Pick the flesh off the fish, then put them back into the broth and add in the special blended chili paste made of fresh red chilies and dried chilies, belacan (dried shrimp paste), shallots, and a little garlic. To get the sour taste of Laksa, add in generous doses of tamarind juice into the broth. Leave the fish broth simmering for at least an hour and then you serve them over a bowl of Laksa Noodle and the freshly chopped vegetables plus some dark “Heh Ko” (liquidy prawn paste) and you have Laksa.
For the best Laksa in Penang, click here for “My Insider Guide to Penang Hawker Food“–a comprehensive food guide to the best of Penang hawker food. For my recipe of Penang Assam Laksa, please click here.
Enjoy!
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