Rujak

Name: Rujak
Yield: Street Food for 4–6
Cuisine: Indonesia
Ingredients: ¼ tsp shrimp paste (it is worth the effort to source this); 1 tsp chilli paste (less if it just seems too weird for you); flesh of ½ medium coconut; 1 green apple, cored; 1 (200 g/7 oz) block of firm tofu; juice of 1 lime; 1 (pink-fleshed) sweet potato; 1 small mango, peeled and pitted; 1 guava (or pear), peeled and cored; 1 guava (or pear), peeled and cored; ½ cucumber; ¼ medium pineapple, peeled; 2 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar); 2 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar); 1 tbsp honey; 1 tbsp rice vinegar (or just use white wine vinegar); 1 tbsp rice vinegar (or just use white wine vinegar); 1 tbsp peanut butter; 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate; toasted sesame oil, for frying

Spicy Sumatran Fruit Salad

Preparation info

Street Food for
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Salmagundi

By Sally Butcher

Published 2014

About

This is a taste sensation: a nutty, spicy and yet undeniably sweet fruit salad. It is ubiquitous in the streets and markets of Malaysia and Indonesia, although every vendor seems to make it differently. It is a kind of sweet, Asian version of salmagundi. This is my (user-friendly, slightly Westernised) take on the dish.

Ingredients

flesh of ½ medium coconut
1 green apple, cored
¼ medium pineapple, peeled

Asia
Indonesia
Spicy
South East Asia
Street Food
Gluten-free

Method

Retaining a little of the coconut, cut all the ‘fruit’ except the sweet potato into 1–2cm/½–¾ cubes and mix in a bowl. Dress with the lime juice and set aside.

Grind the tamarind, peanut butter, vinegar, honey, sugar and pastes together in a pestle and mortar, then add just enough water to render it almost pourable.

Cut the tofu into 1–2cm/½–¾in cubes and fry it in hot sesame oi