Otak Otak

I can promise you that Otak Otak tastes a lot better then it looks in this photo. In fact, when I make this dish again, I will take a better photo and post it here.

I’ve already written about my day at the cooking school located inside the Tropical Spice Garden in Penang, and chances are you’re here because you’d read that post. So, I’m not going to bore you with more words about how much I love Otak Otak. Instead, I’m going to share the recipe with you!

Items with an ‘*’ beside them indicate there are substitute options listed at the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients

600g of White Fish (or Shrimp)
2 Limau Purut (Kaffir Lime Leaf)
20 Daun Kado (Peper or Betel Nut Leaf)*
1 Egg, beaten
500g Pati Santan (Coconut milk)
1 Whole Banana Leaf*
4 Dried Chilies (8 if you’re cooking with shrimp)
1 Lemongrass stalk
20g Shallots
2 cloves of Garlic
10g of Ginger
20g Turmeric Powder or 2″ piece of fresh Tumeric
A pinch of Belachan (Shrimp Paste)
1Tbsp Glutinous Rice Flour
1/4 tsp White peper
1 tsp Salt
1/3 tsp Sugar

Soak peper leaf, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger and fresh Tumeric in cold water. Peel and slice shallots, then smash the garlic cloves with a knife, peel off skin and shop fine. Slice ginger (leave the skin on) finely and then cut the slices into thin strips. Slice the nub (bottom) off the lemongrass stalk and slice the lemongrass thinly (and diagonally) until the purple colouring on the inside is gone. Slice the Tumeric (don’t peel) the same way as the ginger. Place the garlic, shallots, ginger, lemongrass, and tumeric inside a blender. Snap dried chilies into large pieces and add to the blender. Blend on high until everything is finely blended.

Mixing spices...

Pour the spice mixture into a bowel and be sure to scrap out every ounce from the blender -you don’t want to waste anything. Once the spice mixture is in a bowl, add the coconut milk, egg, glutinous rice flour, pepper, salt and sugar . Thinly slice the Kaffir Lime leaves and place on top. Mix everything together until it becomes thick (mixture should be smooth). Count how many strips of fish or pieces of shrimp you have and then add to the mixture and coat well.

Bring water to a boil in a large wok or pot. Cut your banana leaf into 4 (make sure you slice the stem off) large sqaures and 4 3″ to 4″ strips. Place the 4 large squares (one at a time) into the boiling water. Boil for a few seconds to soften them, then take them out and ‘shock’ them by placing them in cold water. Be careful not to over-boil them. You’ll know as they will start to turn black. Take each leaf out of the cold water and wipe with a clean rag until dry.

Place your 4 large banana leaf squares on your work table or counter. Place 2-3 peper leaves along the center of the banana leaf and put an even amount of fish in the center of each leaf (this is why you were counting). Fold the leaf in half horizontally (long side, not short). Hold the bananda leaf together with one hand, then fold one end in with the other, wrapping the corners around the front and back of the banana leaf (photos of this are coming, I promise!). This will leave an opening on the other end. Hold the banana leaf in your hand with the opening slanted upward and scoop some extra sauce inside. Then fold the end in the same way as the other one. Take a small banana leaf strip and place it around the bundle. Staple together and snip off the excess leaf. Your bundle should look like this…

Otak Otak bundle/pocket

Basically, you are making a banana leaf pocket to hold the Otak Otak mixture. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds. Once you have wrapped and stapled all of your Otak Otak bundles, place them in a steamer and steam for 20 mins.

This dish is best served with non-fragrant rice (long-grain or sticky).

Substitution suggestions

Banana Leaf -fresh Banana leaf is very difficult to find in North America unless you live near a banana plantation. As an alternative, you can use dry corn husks instead. If you’re going to use the corn husks, then you need to use at least 2 layered together to hold in the mixture.
Duan Kado – Pepper or Betel Nut leaves may be hard to find in North America. Pearly suggests using basil leaves instead.

The other ingredients should be fairly easy to find. For the shrimp paste and fresh tumeric you may need to visit an Asian market.

This recipe was given to me by Pearly Kee and published with her permission. If you’re traveling to Penang and wish to take a Nyonya cooking class, contact Pearly and she’ll be more than happy to teach you.