Baked Otak Otak

The Otak Otak, a fish dish cooked in a blend of spices, thinly shredded limau purut(kaffir lime)leaves and coconut milk. My mum’s signature dish, I remember how she would fill banana leaves that have been folded into packages with the fish mixture for steaming. The waft of delightful spices and aroma filling the air would not fail to stir our appetites.

I have modified the recipe a little, using only the daun kadok(aromatic wild betel leaves), omitting the banana leaves to simplify the preparation a little. My mum would say, “not bad at all.”

  

Baked Otak Otak Recipe

Ingredients :

300 to 400 gm white fish meat (2 blocks of Red Snapper or Garoupa or other similar fish meat)

8 dried chillies (seeded for a mild flavour)

12 shallots

5 pips garlic

1 inch piece of fresh tumeric (about the size of your distal phalange of middle finger

1 lemon grass

½  inch piece of belachan (I do not like it too strong for this dish)

4 tabsp of fish curry powder, or 3 tabsp of wet curry fish paste(this can be bought from the market)

Some limau perut/kaffir lime leaves (thinly shredded)

Half grated coconut, to get half a cup of coconut milk

3 eggs

Sufficient 'daun kadok' or wild betel leaves(a type of aromatic ground creepers) for lining tray or pan

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation :

1. Grind the chillies, shallots, garlic, tumeric, lemon grass and belachan together.
2. Mix the ground ingredients with the fish curry powder or wet curry fish paste.
3. Add the beaten eggs, and mix well.
4. Add the thinly shredded kaffir lime leaves.
5. Add in the fish meat that has been thinly sliced.
6. Stir well, add salt and pepper seasoning.
7. Line a baking or steaming tray with ‘daun kadok’.
8. Scoop the fish meat and egg mixture into the tray, leave about ¼ cup of the gravy for spreading over the top of the top 'daun kadok'.
9. Cover the fish and egg mixture with a layer of ‘daun kadok’.
10. Pour the remaining gravy onto the ‘daun kadok’ and bake for about 30-35 minutes at at 180 deg. till sides of tray are slightly brown.

NOTES :

·              You could steam the Otak Otak in a plate/tray for about 15-20 minutes instead of baking it.

·              You can estimate the proportion of coconut milk used. It should be approximately 1.5 times the volume of eggs.

·              Some cooks omitted the curry powder and some do add some rice flour to thicken the gravy.