About this recipe
A dark, savoury fruit-and-vegetable salad tossed in a thick, funky dressing of hae ko — a black prawn paste — with tamarind, sugar, chilli and lime, scattered with crushed peanuts and torch ginger flower. It is nothing like the fresh fruit rujak of Indonesia: this is the Chinese Singaporean and Malay street version, where cucumber, pineapple, jicama, unripe mango, fried tofu puffs and youtiao are coated in a near-black, salty-sweet-sour dressing that is the opposite of light. The word rojak means an eclectic mixture, and the dish is exactly that.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Prep
- 30 minutes
- Cook
- 5 minutes
- Total
- 35 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Medium
Allergens Contains shellfish (hae ko prawn paste), soy and peanuts; contains gluten (youtiao, tofu puffs may vary). Not halal unless the hae ko is halal-certified; contains no pork or alcohol. Vegetarian only if the prawn paste is omitted, which changes the dish.
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
- 1/3 cup (80 g) hae ko (thick black prawn paste)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) tamarind concentrate, or 1/3 cup (80 ml) thick tamarind water
- 3 tbsp (36 g) sugar, or to taste
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) lime juice
- 1 tbsp (8 g) toasted chilli paste or sambal, or to taste
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water, to loosen
The salad
- 1/2 small pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks
- 1 cucumber, cut into chunks
- 1 small jicama (bangkuang), peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 small unripe green mango, peeled and cut into batons (optional)
- 6 fried tofu puffs (tau pok), halved and lightly toasted
- 2 youtiao (fried dough sticks), cut into short lengths and toasted crisp
- 1 cup (80 g) bean sprouts, blanched 20 seconds and cooled
To finish
- 1/2 cup (70 g) roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
- 1 torch ginger flower (bunga kantan), sliced very fine (optional)
- 1 tbsp (6 g) toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Small pan for toasting peanuts
- Whisk
Method
- Make the dressing: put the hae ko in the mixing bowl and whisk in the tamarind, sugar, lime juice and chilli paste, then loosen with the warm water to a thick but pourable, glossy near-black sauce. Taste — it should be intensely savoury, sweet, sour and hot all at once.
- Toast the peanuts in the dry pan 3-4 minutes until fragrant, cool, and crush coarsely.
- Toast the halved tofu puffs and the youtiao pieces in the same pan or under a grill until crisp and warm.
- Put the pineapple, cucumber, jicama, green mango if using, tofu puffs, youtiao and blanched bean sprouts in a large bowl.
- Pour over about two-thirds of the dressing and toss thoroughly, so everything is coated in the dark sauce. Add more dressing to taste; it should cling heavily.
- Tip onto a platter and scatter generously with crushed peanuts, sliced torch ginger flower and sesame seeds if using.
- Serve immediately, while the tofu puffs and youtiao are still crisp, tossing again at the table.
- Offer the remaining dressing on the side for anyone who wants more.
The Complete Edition
Singapore Rojak sits in the Singapore chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Singapore 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.