Thursday, September 16, 2010

Kitchen DIY #1: Jeruk Petai (Preserved Bitter Beans)

Parkia speciosa (petai, bitter bean, sataw, twisted cluster bean, yongchaa, yongchaak, zawngtah or stink bean) is a plant which bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to that added to methane gas.

~Wikipedia

I just felt like sharing a random recipe today. Not everyone can tolerate the nasty smell of petai. The whiff of it when it's been cooked in the kitchen, the smell of it in your mouth while you're eating it, and the aftermath bloat (for certain people) and how the toilet smells like after you do your business few hours after.

However, since it's Malaysia Day and all..lets appreciate what our country has in its forests and what our nenek moyangs like to eat, be it any race at all- malay, chinese or indian. Got this recipe from my mom who got it from her nenek (who is my moyang) all the way from Perak. it's a malay dish, eaten with rice. some may find it smelly but it's yummy anyways. kalau takut, makan la activated charcoal right after. helps absorb the smell somehow:P

You'll need: 
some petai (choose nicer ones please. these were given to me by ma-in-law the day before. forgot to put in fridge:)
some chilli padi, to be smashed/ketuk/lenyek
some garam kasar, to be rinsed and set aside
a container to preserve your beans in. preferably a nice glass jar cuz it will look prettier when it's done.
Since this recipe is age old, there's no precise measurement of all the ingredients. add more chillis if you want it spicier, more salt if u think it's too little. orang melayu kate, agak-agak je.

Step 1: Peel away skin, set the beans aside.

 Step 2: Combine all ingredients in container, add water and stir with spoon to mix everything up. 
Level enough to rendam all the beans.
 Step 3: Put on the container cover and set aside (~2 weeks..the longer the better).

So that's 3 easy steps and you're done! best eaten with rice and your favourite masak asam or masak kicap or steam fish or curry or everything else:)

After 2 weeks the colour of the beans might change to a dirtier green but no worries...they r meant to be like that. nama pun preserved. right?:)
Musings by Sabby at 5:16 PM
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