When it comes to petai, you either love it or hate it. Colloquially called stink bean, the petai bean (parkia speciosa) is so pungent, those who do not like it may even find it offensive to be near those who eat it.
With the circuit breaker period, this is the best time to cook this dish and enjoy it in the privacy of your own home, unless your family or housemates hate it. If they protest, you could try convincing them to give it a try.
Petai has a bitter edge and is an acquired taste. Its characteristic flavour is due to cyclic polysulphides, one of the bean's major compounds.
At some eateries where I have had this dish, the petai sometimes turn out a little too raw and hard for my liking.
Some people like it that way; not me though – I prefer the petai beans to be a little more tender. For my version of petai fried rice, I blanch the beans.
Some petai lovers may be outraged at this but, well, one of the perks of home cooking is that you get to adjust the taste and texture of a dish to your liking.
PETAI AND SALTED FISH FRIED RICE[hhmc]
INGREDIENTS
2 rice cups of raw long-grain rice (280g)
250ml water (for rice)
1½ litres water (for petai beans)
2½ tsp salt
300g petai, each bean split in half
6 Tbs cooking oil
50g raw ikan bilis
70g raw salted fish, cut into 3cm by 2cm pieces
2 red onions (260g), sectioned
5 garlic cloves (30g), chopped
3 eggs (55g each), beaten
3 Tbs dried chilli paste
2 tsp belacan powder 1 tsp turmeric powder 1½ tsp sugar
METHOD
1. Place the rice and 250ml of water in a rice cooker and cook. Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the cooker and allow it to cool to room temperature.
2. Bring 1½ litres of water to a boil and add 1 tsp of salt.
3. Add the petai into the boiling water and blanch for two minutes. Remove from the water and drain excess water.
4. Heat 2 Tbs of oil in a frying pan. Place the ikan bilis in the pan and fry for five minutes over medium heat until the ikan bilis is crispy. Remove from the pan and place on kitchen paper to drain excess oil.
5. Heat 2 Tbs of oil in a frying pan. PlRead More – Source
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