Friday, September 26, 2008

Super Spicy Indonesian Pineapple Sweet Salad - Rujak Nanas Super Pedas


I used to be a hot food snob. I used to be dead proud that not only I could handle tongue numbingly hot food, I even LOVEDDDD them. A meal was not a meal without a huge dose of sambal or chilli of any kind.

It started when I moved to Sydney. Back home in Indonesia, being able to handle hot food is nothing.
Everybody love hot food. So what? It's not a big deal, it was probably even cool if you can't handle hot food, according to the law of the non-mainstreamers ;) But in Sydney? Boy! The first few months were really challenging, a trip to any eatery was often accompanied by a bottle or packs of Indonesian chilli sauce (sambal ABC)...and classmates from other countries always ooohed and aaahed, looking at you in awe, admiring eyes when you nonchalantly downed pieces upon pieces of hot chillies, without even blinking or breaking any sweat.

But that was then.

A few years living outside Indonesia seemed to have tamed the hot bitch in me. Nowadays, I don't even drizzle a drop of chilli oil into my wonton soups...my eyes get all teary, my nose runny, my face turns steamed lobster red while gasping for air when I went to have Sze Chuan hot pot (which even Tony Bourdain could handle, wat the??!!!)...and...I regret to announce that these days, I order the lowest level of heat for my noodle soup base (head down, tail between legs, so ashamed) instead of the hottest of hot that I used to love T_T sob sob sob. I've become heat intolerant. Arrrrggghhhhh!!!

So, it was a silly decision for me to remake this Super Spicy Indonesian Pineapple Sweet Salad (Rujak Nanas Super Pedas) and thought that I could still handle it. Duh!

Recipe
- 1 ripe pineapple, cut into bite sized chunks (you can use many different tropical fruits, such as jicama, young mango, guava, etc, but I particularly love ripe pineapple)
The Super Hot Sauce/Dip
- 3 small red chillies, chopped (I didn't remove the core and the seeds. You can adjust to meet your level of heat tolerance, I recommend put as little as possible and add more later if you need)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup palm sugar
- 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (toasted)
- juice of 1 lime
- a bit of hot water

Blend everything into a paste (traditionally, we use stone mortar and pestle), add a bit of hot water to blend everything better. Pour sauce over pineapple or dip pineapple into it ^_^

I am sharing this with Waiter, there's something in my....Indonesian by Spittoonextra.


Again, the whole sniffing and crying episodes happened upon me when I consumed this childhood favorite treat of mine. Sad. Sad. Sad.

...and to make it even worse...sous chef ate most of the thing nonchalantly like there was no heat at all. SOBBBBB. I guess my palate is now more "refined", eh? Hehe (denial, denial)

20 comments:

Unknown said...

wow... something very different, yet do challenging for me to try... :)

Anonymous said...

I was never able to handle hot until I got pregnant, then I loved it. After I had the baby I went back to not being able to eat things that are too spicy, a little I can handle now, but not too much. I have always admired people that can handle it, I always feel like I'm missing out on something.

Anonymous said...

We would usually add plain salt to a sweet spicy pineapple to enhance the taste. Adding chillies?!? Wow! very interesting! I wonder if I will get the courage to try...

CECIL said...

Rujak!! Waduh..*glek* love it!! :) Jadi pengen. I have to agree with you with eating hot stuff. I still eat quite a bit of it, but it's nothing compared to the ole' golden days.

Jin Hooi said...

I am the same, used to love super hot food, but ... not now !!I guess.. we just need more prctise to get back on track !! Go.. spicy food ;-)))

Anonymous said...

Hahah me too but after buying a 2nd bottle of Blair's After Death chilli and overdosing on it one crazy night I think I scared the chilli-ability out of me :S but your salad sounds tasty ^^!

Kana said...

Anything pedas would be good this time of the year!

sefa firdaus said...

Ritaaaaaaaaaa... kau membunuhku dengan rujakmu, huhuhuhu

gilingan, gue sampe nelen ludah Rit :D
pastinya itu pedesssssssss yak *pencinta sambel*

Little Corner of Mine said...

Wow, sweet, sour and spicy, must be refreshing! Btw, I have a meme for you!

SIG said...

Oh yes, eating chilli needs to be a thing you do regularly else from what I know, most people who go abroad often become chilli-intolerant. My sis too. The pineapple looks oh-so-good (salivating already). ;) And sambal ABC?? We love it too! Actually there's Indofood chilli (I think) but you can hardly find it in Singapore now.

pam said...

I'd heard that you could build a tolerance to hot foods, I never knew that you could lose it!

Beachlover said...

it's look like Msian spicy fruit rojak but ours have soy sauce and peanut.Friends of mine,hongkies have culture shock when they see we eat pineapple fruit rojak with soy sauce!!lol!!.I don't mind have yours too:))The spicy the better!!

Cakelaw said...

This looks delicious - although I would definitely tone down the heat. I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to hot stuff.

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I have also become less heat-tolerant these days, to my shame. Boo hoo hoo.

This salad looks great: I love tempering the sweetness with heat -- or is it the other way around for me now?

daphne said...

Train it up again!! U can do it mocha!

Certainly pineapple and chili goes so well together. Nice touch with the photo!

Jagungmanis said...

waaaah... ngiler aku, Rit!
aku snenge jg nanas tok sg dirujak...pedes... wuenak... syeger.. wkwkwkwk

Anonymous said...

your blog always makes the most excellent (n hilarious) reads! XD Yes I am like you too ... now I can't take that as much heat as b4 ;) But still I like the sound and look of your SUPER SPICY salad ;D

A.G said...

iso marke meler kiy mæm rujake tp syeger :D

Wibowo Kosasih said...

Yummy, enak banget dimakan pas sore sore ...

Hm ... makanan Indo banget ...

Andrew said...

I cant do hot chili - not since a rather nasty encounter with some specimens in Thailand... never recovered ;-)

Many thanks for the entry to waiter; when I get around to trying this it will have to be on the milder side I think!