About this recipe
Firm, sour and barely ripe fruit tossed in a thick, dark dressing of palm sugar, tamarind, chilli and a little terasi. It is closer to a salad than a dessert, and the fruit is deliberately chosen for crunch and acidity rather than sweetness.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4–6 servings as a shared plate
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 5 minutes
- Total
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Medium–Hot
Allergens Contains shellfish (terasi) and peanuts. Gluten-free. Vegan only if terasi is omitted.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The dressing (bumbu rujak)
- 5 oz (140 g) dark palm sugar (gula jawa), chopped
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) tamarind concentrate
- 1 tsp (5 g) terasi, toasted
- 4–8 bird's eye chillies, to taste
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) water
- 2 tbsp (18 g) roasted peanuts, plus more to finish
The fruit
- 1 unripe green mango, peeled and cut into batons
- 1/2 small pineapple, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1 firm green apple or rose apple, cut into wedges
- 1/2 small jicama (bengkuang), peeled and sliced
- 1/2 small cucumber, seeded and sliced thickly
- 1/2 unripe papaya, peeled and sliced (optional)
- 1 star fruit, sliced (optional)
Equipment
- Mortar and pestle or small processor
- Small frying pan
- Large mixing bowl
Method
- Toast the terasi wrapped in foil in a dry pan, about 2 minutes a side, until it crumbles and smells strongly of the sea.
- Pound the chillies, salt and toasted terasi to a paste in a mortar.
- Add the palm sugar and pound until it breaks down and combines.
- Work in the tamarind and water to make a thick, dark, pourable dressing. Pound in the 2 tbsp peanuts last, leaving them coarse.
- Taste the dressing on its own. It should be sour first, then sweet, then hot, with a savoury background. Adjust with tamarind or palm sugar.
- Put the green mango, pineapple, apple, jicama, cucumber, papaya and star fruit in a large bowl.
- Add about two-thirds of the dressing and toss gently to coat, keeping the pieces intact.
- Pile onto a platter, spoon over the remaining dressing and scatter with extra crushed peanuts. Serve immediately, while everything is still crisp.
The Complete Edition
Rujak Buah sits in the Indonesia chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Indonesia chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.