Singapore otah/otak

We called it otak-otak in my country. In Singapore and Malaysia, this dish is known as otah or otak-otak. Fortunately, the name does not say anything about the dish itself. Otak/otah means brain in Indonesian and Malay. And there is no brain meat in any of the ingredients of this dish. I hope you are glad to hear it. Why it is called otak or otah then?

According to the famous Wikipedia,
The name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish somewhat resembles brains, being grey, soft and almost squishy.

So this dish is not only available in Singapore, it is also very popular in Indonesia. For the recipe of Indonesian otak-otak, please click Indonesia otak-otak which I posted a year ago.
In Indonesia, otak is eaten as snacks but as far as I remembered, I have never eaten this otah as snacks in Singapore.

While talking to my friend on the phone about the differences of these three countries' otak, I realized that Indonesian otak is very different from Singapore/Malaysian otak. First the ingredients; Indonesian otak does not use curry powder and chili sauce. Second the texture; Singapore/Malaysian otak is softer (almost like the texture of firm tofu) than its counterpart. Now, it is obvious to me that the name of this snack is actually referring to Singapore/Malaysian otak and not Indonesian otak. This is just my opinion, for those who know the reason behind this snack name, please leave a comment.

So, my Malaysian friend told me that in Malaysia, this dish is called otak-otak. I guess only in Singapore, it is called otah.



Well, let's see what you need for making this delicious dish,

Ingredients:

1 fish paste (it is usually sold in a plastic container in Chinatown)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup of thick coconut milk
1/2 Tbsp of curry powder ( I used fish curry powder)
enough sambal oelek
1 package of banana leaves

Directions :

Put all the ingredients together (except banana leaves) and mix. Slowly add in coconut milk, egg and chopped green onions. Meanwhile, get ready the banana leaves. Cut the banana leaves 6 inches wide, do not cut the length. Since I do not have banana leaves, I usually spread the mixture on a grease foil of a small baking pan and use my small ovenette to grill for 20 minutes at 400 F.

For those who use banana leaves, follow the instructions below ,

Take 1/5 tbp of the fish paste mixture and put it in the middle of the banana leaf. Fold the two sides and then fold the top and down side to the back.
I used a flat frying pan to grill the otak. Put the flat frying pan on high-medium heat and arrange the otak and pressed them with something heavy like a heavy pot lid. I did not time the grilling but if I have to guess, check every 3 minutes and when the bottom of the banana leaves are brown, flip and continue grilling for another 3 minutes. Make sure the otak are fully cooked by piercing them with toothpicks (it should come out clean).

Enjoy!