Friday 2 November 2012

Kerabu Pelam (Mango Kerabu)


MFF Terengganu has just ended and what a month it had been! For once in my life I participated in an event. During my school days I never got involved in anything. I did all I could to avoid taking part in activities such as PE (Physical Education). Most of the time the cikgu (teacher) would make us girls play netball. I hate netball. My classmate Nargis and I would give all sorts of excuses, our all time favourite being our period. So Nargis and I were practically having our period every other week in between hiding behind the casuarina trees. Until one day, cikgu realised that these two jokers were having their period once too often. Busted! 

Still fresh from the recent MFF event, I am presenting my first Kedah entry. Frankly, I don't know much about Kedah  food and had to rely on our host, Wendy for guidance. As I scrolled down Wendy's intro, Mango Kerabu caught my eye. Now, that's something I could work on. 

From Noor Hafirdaus's posting, I gather that in Kedah, mango is called  buah pelam (from the word buah mempelam). If I am not wrong, we do that as well in Terengganu. Noor made her kerabu using shredded mango, cili padi, big onions, toasted dried prawns, red sugar (gula kabung) and squid sauce. 



I am using fish sauce and I have added another favourite ingredient of mine, anchovy fillet. I like the robust flavours it imparts to the kerabu. I also added lime juice even though the young mango is already sour because I like the fresh fragrance of lime. Instead of big onions, I am using shallots and I've added cherry tomatoes as I was trying to finish up the last few lying in the fridge. They did add more flavour besides making the kerabu more colourful. And instead of sugar, I used plum sauce for the sweet tangy taste.



I fried the dried prawns until they were brown and crispy. They were indeed yummy. I had to stop snacking on them or else there won't be any left for the kerabu.



And I made the dressing in advance to allow all the flavours to mingle and develop. The addition of sliced shallots (or big onions) into the dressing makes it more flavourful. You will notice my dressing has some oil on top. That came from the oil the anchovies were packed in. I added about a teaspoon of that oil for more flavour.

This is my version of the Mango Kerabu inspired by Noor Hafirdaus











Kerabu Pelam (Mango Kerabu)
Recipe inspired by Noor Hafirdaus

Ingredients :

Salad :
- 1 young mango, shredded
- 6 cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 cili padi, finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon dried prawns, soaked and drained

Dressing :
- Juice from 2 limes (Limau nipis)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 anchovy fillet, cut into small pieces (optional)
- 1/2 tablespoon plum sauce

Garnish :
- Crushed peanuts to garnish

Method :
- Rinse and drain the soaked dried prawns and fry until brown and crispy. Set aside.
- In a bowl mix lime juice, fish sauce, anchovy fillet and plum sauce. Add a few slices of sliced shallots to the dressing and set aside.
- Place shredded mango, cherry tomatoes, shallots, cili padi and dried prawns in a mixing bowl.
- Add dressing and mix evenly.
- Garnish with crushed peanuts and serve immediately.



I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Kedah and Perlis Month hosted by WendyinKK of Table for 2.....or More.

46 comments:

  1. I love kerabu... Kedah cuisine, we'll see a lot of Thai influence. Many of them there are Thais actually...just across the border to the north.

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    1. That's right, Arthur. That's why I could do this kerabu, it's my favourite at Thai restaurants.

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  2. Good morning, girl! This is an excellent salad! I love mangoes!

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    1. Hey Jessie! I love mangoes too, ripe and unripe :)

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  3. I just looked at this and my mouth starts to watering and means what? Means I like it! I never made kerabu before but it is just more like a salad too. Just wonder whether my family like this or not.

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    1. Mel, if you like it, just make! When they try it, they might just love it :)

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  4. PH, nor dah ingat dah. u dulu mmg selalu ponteng main netball.. i love netball hehe.. mmg ingat sgt rupa nargis.. u dan nargis mmg badan besar sket kan.. dah dpt recall ur face.. ahhh.. such a sweet memory :)

    ehh nor selalu gak jumpa nargis.. sekali tu dia tegur, eh azmihah, u dah makin besar dan tinggi la .. hehehe

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    1. Hah! Hah! Nor ingat? Memang PH selalu ponteng netball! Sebab tu lah badan besar, tak nak bergerak :) Kalau Nor terjumpa Nargis lagi, tolong bagi tau I kirim salam.

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  5. Same, same here! I hate PE! Try to avoid it if I could!
    Your kerabu looks so good! I can imagine all the ingredients combined together, definitely packed a whole punch of flavours! Very nice! And I love the smell of fried dried prawns, it always means something yummy is "cooking"!!

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    1. Joyce, welcome to the club of PE haters! God, I could never understand why they had to make us jump around hah! hah! The kerabu is very tasty and the fried prawns make a lot of difference. Try it some day!

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  6. That looks absolutely yummy!
    Hehehe, Thanks for being the first!
    Muaaks!

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    1. My pleasure, Wendy! These days got a lot of semangat :)

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  7. i am salivate by looking at this yummy kerabu..

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    1. Sonia, go and get some mangoes and make kerabu!

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  8. Replies
    1. Ya, please try! Cheaper than eating at the restaurant :)

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  9. This is my kind of food. Great for summer days.

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    1. Veronica, I take it that you love kerabu. Then you should go make this mango kerabu, it is very appetizing.

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  10. Wow! What a lovely dish! Would love to try this without prawns. Pic looks very inviting

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    1. Do try this mango salad, Swasthi. I think you will love it!

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  11. Hi Phong Hong, this is one of our family style kerabu mango but I never know it is considered as Kedah/Perlis food. We made this whenever my friend gave us fresh mangoes. Very appetising indeed.

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    1. Hi Kimmy, ya it's very appetizing. Kedah and Perlis got a lot of Thai influence, so their kerabu is similar to the Thai style which we always eat here :)

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  12. Ini kerabu "Geram" ....haha! Sedapnya!

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    1. Hah! Hah! Hah! Li Shuan, mesti buat dan makan to lepas geram!

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  13. This is a new dish to me... Looks awesome

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    1. Vimitha, if you like Thai food, you will like this!

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  14. A new dish to me, too...it looks irresistible!!! Such marvelous flavors!

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    1. Lizzy, I wonder if your are familiar with Thai food. This is a really nice tangy salad that really stimulates the palate.

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  15. hi phong hong, wow!my saliva dripping ! haha! me kua cheong or not? but it sure looks good! yum! oh, i always looked forward to PE during my time becos can escape from books, woohoo!!

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  16. Sweet, sour and spicy is my type of salad. Feel satisfy especially salad make from mangoes.

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    1. Vivian, I also love mango kerabu. To me it's the best!

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  17. Very similar to Thai mango salad? I like all the ingredients mixed together, bursting with flavour - sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

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    1. Yes, Chef! This is similar to Thai kerabu. My must order at any Thai restaurants.

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  18. Ah ... more from the kerabu queen. Love your version using anchovy fillets. I am so drooling right now ... cheeks puckering ...
    Btw, I loved netball and was in the school team. Loved PE too! Guess our similarity lies only in food :)
    We'll see ...

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    1. Ping, I would imagine you are the sporty athletic type, huh? Like to jump around, eh? I used to ponteng sports practice too. Heh..heh....

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    2. Not anymore! Now I roll around due to too much eating. I blame food blogging :)

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    3. Wahahaha! You sure are farnee....

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  19. Hi Phong Hong,
    I am drooling look at your kerabu pelam.

    mui..^^

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    1. Hi Mui Mui! Don't drool, start making kerabu pelam. Hee..hee...

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  20. It looks very yummy.The look of it makes the nuar fill my mouth.until it drips over tok lama lagi boleh buat lagi kasi aku makang kalu tidok aku nok naik pegok dan nok lampar sampai mu buat kasi aku makang.HE!HE!

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    1. EE, boleh! I can make kerabu pelam for you to eat until you become like a pelam :)

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  21. U nok buat kasi aku makang jadi macham pelam tok eh kagang aku makang nyok nyok bangok sampai shiok shiok sampai tok sedor gigi aku patah dan gigi pasu sampai kong ka keow

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    1. Uiks! I missed this comment! EE, makang slow, slow....

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  22. Yes...it's me Noor Hafirdaus....i can't believe i found my name at here. Thank you for your appreciation : )

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    1. Hi Noor! Thanks for your recipe and thanks for coming over :)

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