Ingredients
Salad
- 1large jicama or turnip, julienned
- 2cucumbers, julienned
- 200 gbean sprouts, blanched
- 2potatoes, boiled and sliced
- 4hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- 200 gfirm tofu, fried and sliced
- 100 gcuttlefish, boiled and sliced, optional
Fritters
- 150 gplain flour
- 50 grice flour
- 1 tspturmeric
- 1 tspsalt
- 200 mlwater
- 200 gsmall prawns
- oil, for frying
Sauce
- 200 groasted peanuts, coarsely ground
- 1sweet potato, boiled and mashed
- 6dried chillies, soaked and blended
- 3 tbsptamarind paste in 200 ml water
- 100 gsugar
- 1 tbspchilli paste
- 2 clovesgarlic
- salt
- 300 mlwater
To serve
- prawn crackers
- lime wedges
Directions
- Boil and mash the sweet potato and let it cool. Roast the peanuts if they are raw, rub off the skins, and grind them coarsely. Grind them coarse rather than smooth. Pasembur sauce should have visible texture, not be a peanut butter.
- Fry the blended dried chillies, garlic and chilli paste in a little oil until the oil separates. Wait for the oil to split from the paste, which is the sign it is cooked through. Add the mashed sweet potato, the ground peanuts, tamarind water, sugar, salt and water. Simmer, stirring, for 15 to 20 minutes until thick and glossy.
- Stir it often, because a sauce this thick with ground nuts catches on the base of the pot within seconds. It should be sweet first, then sour, then savoury, with a background heat.
- Add more tamarind if it is cloying, more sugar if it is sharp, more water if it is stiff. It should be thick enough to coat but still pour from a ladle.
- Stir the prawns through and drop spoonfuls into hot oil at 180°C, flattening them slightly. Fry them flat and thin rather than as balls, so they go properly crisp all the way through. Fry 3 to 4 minutes until deep golden, then drain on a rack.
- Cut everything else into thin even strips of roughly the same size. Uniform shredding is what makes pasembur eat well, because every forkful should carry a little of each thing.
- Pile the jicama, cucumber, sprouts, potato, tofu and cuttlefish on a plate. Break the prawn fritters into pieces over the top, along with the quartered eggs. Ladle the warm sauce generously over everything. Serve immediately, because the fritters go soggy within minutes and the crunch against the soft sauce is the entire point.
Technique
- The sauce keeps a week in the fridge and thickens, so loosen it with water.
- Jicama, sengkuang, is the traditional crunchy base and turnip is the usual substitute.
- It is eaten as a snack or a light meal rather than a side dish.
Substitutions
- Turnip or kohlrabi in place of jicama.
- Ready-made rojak sauce, which many households use.
Variations
- Vegetarian, with no cuttlefish or prawn.
- With crab fritters as well as prawn.
- Rojak buah, the fruit version with shrimp paste dressing.
History
The Penang Indian-Muslim rojak, assembled at pavement carts along Gurney Drive and Padang Kota Lama.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pasembur?
Pasembur is a salad & side from Malaysia: shredded turnip, prawn fritters, egg and tofu drenched in sweet nutty sauce. The Penang Indian-Muslim rojak, assembled at pavement carts along Gurney Drive and Padang Kota Lama.
How long does Pasembur take to make?
Pasembur takes 40 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Pasembur?
Yes, within limits. Turnip or kohlrabi in place of jicama. Ready-made rojak sauce, which many households use.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pasembur?
Boil and mash the sweet potato and let it cool. Roast the peanuts if they are raw, rub off the skins, and grind them coarsely. Grind them coarse rather than smooth. Pasembur sauce should have visible texture, not be a peanut butter.
