Passport & Plate - Spicy Rujak - Indonesian fruit salad
Indonesia | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Ingredients – serves 4
Fruit selection – for example:
1 mango, sliced
1 pineapple, sliced – hard centre removed
1 apple, sliced
Rujak:
2 small red chillies, chopped with seeds!
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 tablespoons tamarind pulp ( either bought as pulp or as a block. If using a block you will need about 100g soaked in warm water, then mashed and sieved to remove the seeds)
6 tablespoons palm sugar
1-2 tablespoons of water to loosen dressing
How to prepare this recipeMethod:
Put the chillies, shrimp paste and salt in a mortar and pound until the chillies are a shadow of former selves.
Add the tamarind pulp.
Stir in the palm sugar and stir until a glorious glossy brown dressing with flecks of chilli.
Serve with sliced fruits
The story behind this recipeI was cycling from Hong Kong to Sydney, leaving Lombok for the island of Sumbawa.
I sat on the deck of the small passenger ferry and soon a very dry sparse landscape began to appear on the horizon. Against the vivid blue sky - a huge bare mountain bore the white capital letters of Selamat Datang Sumbawa. I wheeled the bike off the ferry – no danger of getting on the wrong road – there only was one and started pedalling along the coast. It was very hot and the heat bounced off the well tarmaced road which ran parallel to the coast and occasionally rose up to offer cliff views then dipped to sea level. It was incredibly beautiful with azure blue sea and palm trees but with gnawing pangs of hunger their sweet sap only stoked my hunger. By 4 pm, I was starving and to my joy saw a rough shack by the beach with rows of coke bottles – signifying a restaurant - and two people sheltering from the sun beneath the dried grass roof.
“Maakhan?” (food) I asked hopefully. The couple shook their heads, then I saw a large papaya; ”rujak?”? I asked and the woman nodded and disappeared. After what seemed like an eternity, she produced a plate of glistening orange papaya slices, topped with a brown chilli-flecked dressing. It was utter bliss to bite into the cool seductive orange flesh – then wow , it was unbelievably hot – chilli hot . I gasped with pain and couldn’t stem the tears which flowed down my cheeks, luckily hidden by my sunglasses. I finished the plate – and 2 litres of water. On a chilli high I literally flew round the coast to Sumbawa Besar, my destination for the night.
I love this recipe for its use of sour, sweet, hot and salty flavours which is such an instant passport to Asian food. I vividly remember the contrast of pain of chilli and pleasure of the papaya and how gradually the two melded into a supreme eating experience against the backdrop of fear of hunger and thirst and relief at finding sustenance on this beautiful tropical island.
