Rojak is a salad with a lot going on – it has spicy, salty, sweet, tangy and sour tastes together with crunchy, soft, sticky and crispy textures. It’s a common food in most Southeast Asian cuisines with slight variations in ingredients and taste. The main ingredients in Rojak are tropical fruits such as pineapple, guava, jumbo, starfruit, mangoes, papaya or pomelo.

Preparation time: 30minutes

Diet: Gluten free, dairy free, vegan                                 

Serving: serves 4

Ingredients

Fruits & Vegetables (each ½ cup)

• Pineapple
• Guava
• Starfruit
• Jambu
• Papaya
• Unripe mango
• Cucumber
• Beansprouts
• Jicama (sweet turnip)
• You tiao (fried dough fritters)

Sauce

• 2tbsp Palm sugar (gula melaka), grated
• Tamarind juice (1tsp pulp soaked in 2tbsp water)
• 1tbsp Lemon juice
• ¼ cup Hot water
• 1tbsp Dark soy sauce
• A pinch of salt
• 1tsp Crushed chilli powder (or you can use small red chilli paste)
• 1tbsp Crushed roasted peanuts
• 1tbsp Roasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Clean the beansprouts, clean and cut all the fruits, vegetables and fried dough as per above picture
2. In a ¼ cup hot water add the grated palm sugar and mix well. It will start to melt and become a thick puree.
3. Strain the tamarind juice to the palm sugar puree along with soy sauce, lemon juice, salt and crushed chilli and mix well.
4. Mix all the vegetables, fruits, fried dough and the sauce together.

Sprinkle the roasted peanut and sesame seeds and serve.