Otak-Otak (Spicy Fish Mousse)
By Mable Tan • Aug 26th, 2008 • Category: What's Cooking
For those who have never had Otak-Otak before, you might think it’s rather strange to associate fish with mousse. I don’t blame you. I’ve judged many things by name and appearance myself, and sometimes I remain adamant that somethings cannot taste good together no matter how fancy it sounds. Like for example, veal and chocolate.
I was at Peter Doyle’s food demonstration last night and I thought I heard something quite strange. Apparently it is almost tradition to have veal and chocolate together. Gourmet it might be, but my brain cells cannot comprehend how it is possible. But. I’m sure a chef like Peter must know what he’s talking about. After the lovely dishes he’d whipped out last night, I’d believe anything he says. Ahh… gourmet is like a slice of heaven.
Anyway, back to Otak-Otak, I’ve been pining for this delicious Malaysian dish. This is the shortened and probably not-very-authentic version as I’d cheated with red curry paste. I am quite happy with it. However, if you’re really in the mood to explore true authentic cooking, there are recipes of Otak-Otak on the net for you.
Otak-Otak (Spicy Fish Mousse)
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- 400g white fish fillets
- 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) of red curry paste
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- mint leaves
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons of lime juice
- 1 cup of coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon of fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
Method:
- Chop fish into small pieces or to make into a paste, work it in a food processor.
- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Marinate for 20 – 30 minutes.
- Steam it on medium-high heat for 15 minutes until cooked and set.
Variation:
- Make an aluminum foil envelope or a loaf tin and bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 170C till skewer comes out clean.
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Interesting to hear that we can cook Otak-Otak by baking it and without banana leaf. In Malaysia, we wrap the fish ingredients with banana leaves and steam it.
i love indonesian otak otak version because of the spicy saos kacang more than the otak otak itself, but this is a brilliant idea! well done!
Spicy fish mousse? That looks gorgeous. And oh, I’ve tasted duck and chocolate together (a family friend’s restaurant in Bologna) and it was lip-smacking…though now I’m wondering what veal would taste like with chocolate…..
Hui Yee,
The banana leaf is to give it a fragrance. I love it when you can just steal a leaf from a neighbour or something (which is what my mom does) but over here you have to get it from Asian grocers and it doesn’t smell as good.
Rita,
Is the sauce similar to satay sauce? I must try that when I go Indo again (been there 3 times already and still loving it!).
Amrita,
What was duck and chocolate like? That’s something I cannot gastronomically comprehend either. However, I believe that there are a lot of contradictions that works fairly well together. Can’t think of examples now.
I absolutely love otak otak. Keep meaning to make it too, but never manage to get round to getting banana leaves for the dish. I don’t know why I never thought to make it without the banana leaves..
I never knew otak otak was a fish mousse. I had fried fish with otak otak before at a restaurant and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing this.
I’m from singapore so I love otak otak! i would really like to have it grilled in banana leaves, but your version sounds like a great alternative here in London, where traveling to chinatown to get a bunch of overpriced banana leaves isn’t the best option most of the time! (: