I’m smiling with so much joy as I write this blog! Last October, I had the honour of hosting California-based Singapore Chef Nora Haron in my studio kitchen! Click here to read my interview with Chef Nora as we get to know her and more about her new restaurant, SanDai and Kopi Bar, opening soon in California.
For those of you who are new to Asian cuisine, otak-otak is a dish that is much loved by the locals in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. It’s kind of a fish pâté dish that is normally wrapped in either banana or coconut leaf and then grilled or steamed to perfection! Fish, such as mackerel, are cut into chunks and mixed with coconut milk and Asian spices such as turmeric, chillies, and lemongrass into a rich paste! When these are being grilled, you can smell the fragrant aroma from miles away!
The Malay word “otak” directly translates to brain 🧠 (there is no literal brain substance in this dish!). As the name suggests, the otak-otak has to have a soft texture and creamy flavour! Ask anyone who’s ever eaten goat brain before, THAT is the texture you are looking at! You just need to take one bite to fall absolutely in love with it! Otak-otak is a side-dish and can be eaten on its own as a snack or to accompany your rice (think nasi lemak!) or noodles such as laksa!
To be honest I have never attempted to make otak-otak and usually buy them from Geylang Serai Market. It’s the place with the very long queue all the time (because it’s just everyone’s favourite!). But thanks to Chef Nora, I had the opportunity to make them from scratch! And let me just say I was swept off my feet by the festival of flavours. From the aromatic and rich otak-otak with a creamy salmon belly to the tangy cucumber pickle with cubeb peppers and the crunchy toasted sourdough bread that was generously topped with Californian triple cream cheese! It was just phenomenal!
Nuff said, let’s start cooking!
I made the cucumber pickle a day before which you can follow here. These pickles are tangy, crunchy and an absolutely perfect side-dish to have with sandwiches such as Banh Mi or even rice!
Otak-otak
Starting with the otak otak paste, prepare all your paste ingredients and cut them into smaller pieces.
P.S. For the makrut lime leaves, remove ribs and julienne the leaves.
Once cut, place all the ingredients into a blender with some olive oil and blend into a paste. When you’ve achieved a paste, scoop out the spice paste into a large bowl and set aside. Now you should know that you can adjust the spice level according to your liking, so go ahead and add more chilli padi if you like!
In another bowl, crack 2 eggs and beat. Pour in coconut cream and dried shiitake dust.
Now, you’re probably thinking, what is dried shiitake dust? According to Chef Nora, the aroma and tasting notes of this ingredient is similar to belacan which cannot be easily found in California. And true enough, when I had a whiff of this, it had the same umaminess or bacin* of a belacan!
Now, back to the recipe,
Crumble some gula jawa and squeeze some calamansi juice into the spice paste. Mix and pour this mixture into the bowl of coconut cream. Mix until well combined and there you have it, otak-otak paste!
Cooking otak-otak
Prepare your steamer so that the water will be boiling when you are ready to steam.
Now, usually, otak-otak is grilled atop charcoal but for this recipe, we’ll be steaming it. The method of steaming otak-otak is more commonly used in the Northern Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, such as Penang and Malacca.
Grab 2 banana leaves and cut them to fit the width of your loaf pan. As for the length of the banana leaf, let the ends overflow out of the pan. Place the banana leaf over the fire one at a time for about 30 secs on each side. This will bring out the aroma of the banana leaves and also soften and make them more pliable and easy to work with.
Lay one banana leaf at the bottom of the loaf pan and arrange the salmon belly. Pour in the otak-otak mixture and cover the paste, making sure the paste moves down and in between the salmon belly pieces. Cover with a second banana leaf. Transfer the pan to the steamer and leave it to cook for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and leave it to cook further with the residual heat and cool down for another 15 minutes. Remove the loaf pan from the steamer and remove the otak-otak out by lifting the two ends of the banana leaf onto a flat plate.
Peel open the banana leaf and you’ll be greeted with a golden turmeric otak-otak, oozing with divine flavours!
Assembling the otak-otak tartine
Finally, it’s time to assemble!
Pan-fry your favourite sourdough bread slices with some olive oil till nicely charred JUST the way you like it! Generously spread some triple cream cheese or cream cheese!
Scoop some otak-otak and place it on the bread. Top with some pickled vegetables like carrots and cucumbers for crunch and added tanginess. And there you have it, Salmon Belly Otak Otak Tartine!
I love the fragrance of the otak-otak paste, its sweetness and spiciness and when mixed with salmon belly, it really knocked our socks off!!
When I had a bite of it, I was brought straight to otak-otak heaven! Just the combination of all flavours from each ingredient made it so nostalgic but also fresh!
It was so delightful making otak-otak one of Singapore’s favourite savoury snack from scratch! I highly encourage you to do so too!
The Best Salmon Belly Otak Tartine
Ingredients
- Pickled Cucumbers
3 cups distilled white vinegar
2¼ cups cold water
2 ½ tbsp kosher salt
3 tbsp mustard seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp cubeb peppercorns
2 lime leaves
450g of Japanese Cucumbers
3 spring onions (chopped)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
5 sprigs of dill
Mason jars
- Otak-otak
450g of Salmon Belly (sliced into 3-4cm thickness)
Banana leaves
- Paste ingredients
2 Red Fresno Peppers
2 Chilli Padi
2 stalks lemongrass
5 cloves of garlic
5 candlenuts
1 large onion
1 inch galangal
1 inch turmeric
6 lime leaves (remove ribs, julienne)
Olive oil
- Seasoning ingredients
1 tbsp dried shiitake dust
1 tsp gula Jawa
1-2 calamansi
100g coconut cream
2 eggs beaten
Salt to taste
- Tartine
8 slices of sourdough
Olive oIl
Triple cream cheese or Cream Cheese
Sprouts
Directions
- Slice the spice paste ingredients into small pieces.
- Add spice paste into a blender with some olive oil. Blend until a smooth paste.
- Scoop out the paste into a large bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, crack 2 eggs and beat them together. Add in the seasoning ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour the seasoning mixture into the spice paste and gently mix until well combined. Now, you have the otak-otak paste. Set aside for later.
- Cut 2 pieces of banana leaves following the width of the loaf pan. The length of the leaf must be about 2″ longer on both ends of the loaf pan as we will be using the leaf to lift the otak-otak out of the pan later.
- Grill banana leaf over a fire till leaves are soft and pliable
- Line the grilled banana leaf at the bottom of the loaf pan and arrange the salmon belly in rows. (You can stack them up!)
- Pour in the otak-otak paste and use a spatula to allow the paste to flow between the salmon belly. Cover the loaf pan with the other banana leaf.
- Place the loaf pan into a steamer and let it cook for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and leave in the steamer for another 15 minutes, until cooled.
- In the meantime, toast your sourdough with a drizzle of olive oil. Spread a layer of cream cheese onto the bread.
- Remove the loaf pan from the steamer by using the ends of the banana leaf, pull out the otak-otak onto a flat plate.
- Cut a slice of the otak-otak, ensuring to take some of the salmon bellies and spread it onto the toasted bread.
- Top with pickled cucumbers and sprouts. Drizzle some olive oil over the top.
- And enjoy!
