By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up minorgan@yahoo.ca
CORN FRITTERS WITH BALINESE PEANUT SAUCE
This is another delicious morsel from South East Asia and the beautiful volcanic island of Bali. The cuisine of Bali is closely entwined with the traditions and culture of Indonesia and is also influenced by the cuisines of both China and India.
One of the iconic dishes from this part of the world is their amazing satays that are usually accompanied by some the best peanut sauces I have ever tasted. These sauces are in no way similar to those sickly sweet sauces we sometimes find in the west that are made largely out of peanut butter, but these are made with fresh roasted peanuts, fish sauce chillies and tamarind carefully balancing all the flavors of sweet, sour, salt and spice.
This week’s recipe is primarily vegetarian, but the sauce makes a great accompaniment for chicken or shrimp. I have added a small glug of coconut milk to add an extra hint of the tropics….Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 Shallots, peeled
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled
2 Blanched Almonds
½ Tbsp Whole White Peppercorns
½ tsp Sea Salt
½ tsp Sugar
4 cobs of fresh corn from the cob
2 red chilies, finely sliced
4 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilies, finely sliced (to taste)
10 Kaffir Lime Leaves, finely sliced
1 Scallion, or Spring Onion, chopped
1 Stalk Chinese Celery, chopped
¼ Cup All-Purpose Flour
½ Tbsp Tapioca Starch
1 Egg
Cooking oil, for pan-frying
Method
Grind shallot, garlic, candlenuts, pepper, salt and sugar into fine paste.
Grate 3 cobs of corn using coarse grater. Peel the kernels off the remaining cob. Put everything in a large bowl.
Combine the rest of the ingredients into the corn. Mix well with a spoon.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Drop spoonfuls of batter into hot oil and fry for three minutes, till golden brown, both sides.
Serve warm with Balinese peanut sauce
Balinese Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
200 gram peanut2, deep fried or roasted
4 cloves garlic
50 gram palm sugar
1 to 10 Thai chilies seeded – use as much or as little as you like
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon toasted shrimp paste,omit to make a vegetarian sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind pulp, soaked in 2 tablespoon of warm water to get the juice
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
hot water
Instructions
- Place peanut, garlic, palm sugar, Thai chilies, salt, and toasted shrimp paste in a food processor. Grind until everything is well mixed. Remove into a mixing bowl.
- Add tamarind juice, lime juice, and sweet soy sauce and mix well.
- Pour only enough of the hot water while keep stirring to get to the consistency of peanut sauce that you like.
