Destination
Singapore
The story
Singaporean rojak (also spelled rojak in Malay-Singaporean English) is Singapore's Peranakan-Malay tossed salad and one of the country's most divisive dishes: a mixture of raw fruit (pineapple, cucumber, jicama, unripe mango or guava), fried bean curd (tau pok) and you tiao (Chinese doughnut sticks) cut into cubes, dressed with a fierce dark paste of prawn paste (hae ko), palm sugar, tamarind, lime, chili and roasted ground peanuts, tossed at the counter and served in a bowl with a scatter of crushed peanuts on top. The dressing is the key — the prawn paste has a strong fermented-fishy funk that non-Singaporeans often find challenging on first taste. Locals love it. Sold at every Singapore hawker centre and every mamak stand; the older-style traditional rojak stalls (Toa Payoh Rojak, Soon Heng Rojak) are institutions.
Method
In a large bowl, combine hae ko, palm sugar and tamarind concentrate. Whisk with warm water until smooth — the palm sugar should dissolve. Add lime juice, sambal and salt. Taste — should be dark, salty, sweet, sharply sour and mildly spicy. The prawn-paste funk should be strong.
Cut the you tiao into 3cm pieces. Toast briefly in a dry pan 30 seconds a side to warm through and add a crisp edge.
Cut all fruit and jicama into uniform 2cm cubes. Halve the tau pok diagonally. Blanch the water spinach stems briefly if using.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan 2 minutes until pale gold.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all fruit, jicama, cucumber, tau pok, you tiao and water spinach. Pour the dressing over. Toss thoroughly with your hands or two spoons so every piece is coated. Do not let it sit — rojak is a tossed-to-order salad, and the components soften within 10 minutes.
Divide the rojak between 4 shallow bowls. Scatter each generously with crushed peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, coriander and chili.
Serve immediately. Rojak is at its peak within 5 minutes of being tossed — the you tiao is still crisp, the fruit still crunchy, the tau pok soft. Anything longer and the whole thing turns soft.
For non-Singaporean palates, the hae ko funk can be overwhelming. Start with 1 tbsp of hae ko instead of 3 and taste. Traditional rojak is aggressively fishy — this is the classical Singaporean flavour and part of the point.
Tips
- Hae ko is essential. The Malaysian black prawn paste is what makes rojak taste like rojak. Sold at any Asian grocer. Some substitutes are labelled "belacan" — different product with different consistency.
- Toss to order. Rojak does not hold. The dressing soaks into the you tiao and softens the fruit within 10 minutes. Toss and serve immediately.
- Palm sugar, not white sugar. Gula melaka gives you the specific caramel-molasses depth. White sugar makes the dressing flat.
- Cut everything uniform. Two centimetre cubes across all fruit and vegetables. Uneven cuts give you an awkward eat.
- Fresh you tiao. Ready-fried Chinese doughnut sticks from a Chinese bakery are the classical component. Stale you tiao goes soft in the dressing instantly.
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