January 16, 2007
Otak-Otak - Fish Cakes In Banana Leaves
I promised myself I will make Otak-Otak (also called Otah, both pronounced as “o-tar”) one day and before that day came, I sat around sulking surfed the internet for a recipe. I actually have an Otak-Otak recipe in my new recipe book: Singaporean, Malaysian And Indonesian Cuisine. However, that recipe was only for the non-spicy Otak-Otak. I wanted the orangey spicy one!
So I continued to sulk hoped and prayed and continued to browse the net and finally oh-so-wonderful Melting Wok made her Otak-Otak Asian Frittata and shared her recipe!
However, I met with obstacles. I couldn’t find all the ingredients she listed.
1. Tumeric powder - the spice section in Ranch 99 did not have this.
2. Kaffir lime leaves - Can I pluck these off a lime? She asked for 6 stems. The limes sold in supermarkets are leafless. Dang!
3. Lemongrass powder - I have lemongrass, but not the powder. Am I supposed to pound the grass into a powder?!?
4. Fish granules - If this is the same as fish sauce, then I have it. Since Melting Wok said “a dash of fish granules” I reckon this is the same as fish sauce, cos I can dash the fish sauce too!
5. Belacan powder and chili paste - I guess these can be substituted with belachan paste.
The tom yum paste already has kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass as its ingredients, so I bravely omitted those ingredients and hoped and prayed *again* that all would turn out well.
Below is the abridged version of my Otak Otak, which literally pales in (color) comparison to Melting Wok’s because I read “tbsp” as “tsp” and got the portion of tom yum paste and chili paste (which I substituted with belachan paste) wrong. LOL!
I have the corrected ingredient portions below (I estimate 2 teaspoonful is equivalent to 1 tablespoonful) and the portions are according to the 4 servings of Otak-Otak that I made. Each serving is about 6″ by 2″.
Ingredients (Serves 4):
- 1/2 lb fish paste (I bought dace fish paste)
- 60 ml coconut milk (about 1/5 cup)
- estimated 1/3 beaten egg
- 1 1/2 tsp tom yum paste
- 2 tsp belachan paste
- 2 pcs dried shrimp
- 1/2 small shallot
- 1 pc ginger (about 1/3″ thick)
- 1 pc fresh galangal (about 1/3″ thick)
- 1/3 tsp sugar
- dash of fish sauce
Wrapper:
- 4 pcs banana leaves, cut into 8″ by 5″
- wooden toothpicks, pre-soaked in water
Preparation and Cooking Method:
1. Put dried shrimp, shallot, ginger and galangal into a blender to mince them together.
2. Add all the ingredients to the fish paste. Mix thoroughly until it becomes a smooth and sticky mixture.
3. Place 2 heaped tbsp of mixture in the center of a banana leaf. Fold the banana leaf and flatten paste, then insert a toothpick at each end to create a small “packet”.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degF (230 degC) and bake the fish cakes for 15-20 minutes. Note: If you are using an open grill, bake each side of the fish cake for 15 minutes.
5. Serve with rice, nasi lemak (coconut rice) or as a sandwich filler.
Otak-Otak Conclusion:
Apart from the fact the my Otak-Otak fish cake looked paler than normal and taste-wise not as spicy as it should have been, the texture of this Otak-Otak fish cake was surprisingly quite good! I attribute this to the minced mixture of shallot, ginger and galangal.
It took me quite a bit of effort to get all these ingredients together and I was worried that I would not be able to finish using them. However, my fears were allayed when I found another recipe - Tom Yum Soup - which used similar ingredients like galangal, fish sauce, shallot and tom yum paste. *phew!*
Otak-Otak Otak-Otak! I’ll definitely make this again!
Bite This!
More recipes:
Tom Yam Goong (Prawns) Soup To Spice Up Your Life
The Rapper Cook’s Preview Into Her 2007 Menu
Subscribe to feed
January 16th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I am amazed you get to cook all these in the States!
BTW, thanks for updating the link ;)
January 16th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Finding all the stuff in the recipe is really hard for me. I take the list with me to the store and I struggle to find all the ingredients.
January 16th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Looks good…I have a huge pack of frozen banana leaves in my freezer, what to do what to do…maybe ikan panggang / ikan bakar??? Hehe. Stay tuned. :)
January 16th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
PabloPabla - You are welcome. Congrats on your new blog home. Some of these ingredients are new to me. I am still exploring.
DF - It took me a while to comb the shelves of Ranch 99 and I still couldn’t find everything!
RM - Ikan panggang / ikan bakar? Sounds like another fish dish? Hurry hurry!
January 17th, 2007 at 12:02 am
I would eat it as a sandwich filler coz after so much work in the Otak Otak, too tired to cook nasi-lemak…roti easier ;P
Maybe can add some curry powder for the orange color and added spice ? I can be the guinea pig for you first, coz if I try making, I will put in some curry powder ;p
January 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Tiga! Make a simple Nasi Lemak - coconut rice with anchovies and an egg. I also won’t have energy to make RM’s sophisticated Nasi Lemak after making this Otak Otak! My Otak Otak looks pale becos I added too little tom yum paste and belachan. You sure you want to add curry powder?? Let me know how that works out!
January 17th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Sims, I did the rolling thing after tired of making those circles of banana leafs hahaha, looks good :)By the way, I did not made it clear on the fish granules, I used Bonito Fish granules, the japanese kind coz we don’t have anchovie granules here like back home. Cheers :P
January 17th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Allo… thanks for clarifying. I gotta make this Otak Otak again. It was very nice, even without the stuff that I couldn’t find.
January 18th, 2007 at 8:39 am
i really salute you all, gathering all the ingredients that’s not readily available. i am sure the ones eating them will feel so so touched.
i am a lazy (i would say busy) guy. prefers the easy way. my mum or aunt gets them for me, or sometimes they makes them for me, and i freeze them. then heat up and eat them while watching HK/Korean/Jap serials on cable tv.
talk about otah. just now walking home, someone was selling otah, cooking it over the charcoal while I am walking home. aiyo. immediate hunger.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I miss the times I just watch TV and food is served to me! But it’s also quite fun now… experimenting with new recipes and learning more about ingredients, herbs, spices etc cos I tend to want to read up a bit more since I am maintaining the food blog.
Sometimes the roadside Otah (3 for S$1.20 or so) smells good but tastewise and texture not so good. Melting Wok’s Otak tastes like the 1 for $1.50 or so - the big type of Otak. Very nice!
January 25th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Ever since I left Singapore for the states after High School I have yearned for some traditional Singaporian recipes. This is one! I remember being at the chalets near east coast eating this fresh off the grill. They dun make it liddat stateside for sure lah!