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Posted on Wed 2nd March 2022

Otak Otak

A grilled spiced fishcake encased in banana leaf which packs a punch of flavour!

Cuisine

Southeast Asian

Time

30 mins

Servings

4 people

Most popular
recipe

Ingredients

Curry Paste

  • 15g dried chili (soak in hot water for 30 mins)

  • 2 big fresh red chillis

  • 1 Bird’s eye chilli

  • 2 lemongrass (sliced)

  • 6pcs kafir lime leaves 250 g shallots

  • ½ Thumbsize piece of galangal

  • 10 candlenuts

  • 2 tsp belachan (shrimp paste)

  • 1 tbsp turmeric powder

Fish Meat Blend

  • 2 fillet of /mackerel fish meat

  • 100 g prawn meat

  • 100g white fish fillet

  • 40ml oil

  • 1 tbsp coriander powder

  • ½ tbsp sugar

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 2 eggs

  • 100 ml coconut milk

  • 1 - 2 packets banana leaves

Method

Preparation

.

Chilli paste 

Into a blender add a handful of the dry red chillies (soaked ) along with the chopped  fresh red chillies, chopped galangal, one chopped bird’s eye chilli, two lemongrass ( bashed and chopped), 6 kaffir lime leaves (cut off the  stalk and roughly chopped), a handful of candlenuts and  2 tsp belachan. Blend all ingredients to a smooth texture. Then pound in a pestle and mortar to get a smooth paste. 

Fish Paste

Set the curry paste to the side and pop the prawns and de-skinned, chopped  mackerel into the blitzer. Add 2 eggs, the coconut milk, coriander powder and sugar and salt and blitz. Take the white fish and chop into chunks. Add that  to the mixture and stir through 

Pan fry the curry paste with oil until it becomes a thick sambal sauce. Now mix the chilli paste with the fish mixture. 

Wrap

Lay the paste into the banana leaves. Roll up the leaves and skewer them closed.

 

Cooking

Grill for 4-5  minutes on each side on an oiled  griddle or bbq.  Add a little water once it has grilled for 3 minutes, this will make them cook all the way, you'll know they are ready when they bounce back to the touch. 

How to cook Otak Otak