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Sekai Gohan
Rujak Cingur: Surabaya Beef Snout and Fruit Salad with Petis Sauce
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Cow snout (cingur) or beef cheek (pipi sapi) | 9 oz (250 g) | The star. Springy, chewy meat |
| Pineapple (nanas) | 3½ oz (100 g), thinly sliced | Sourness and sweetness |
| Jicama (bengkuang) | 3½ oz (100 g), thinly sliced | Juicy crunch |
| Small cucumbers (timun) | 2, thinly sliced | Coolness |
| Young mango (mangga muda) | 1, thinly sliced | Sharp sourness |
| Tempeh | 1 block, fried and cut | Nutty, toasty bean flavor |
| Small tofu (tahu) | 2 pieces, fried and cut | Soaks up the sauce |
| Water spinach (kangkung) | 3½ oz (100 g), briefly boiled | The green vegetable |
| Bean sprouts (tauge) | 1¾ oz (50 g), scalded | Crunch |
| Lontong (pressed rice cake) | 2, cut | The starch |
| Tapioca crackers (kerupuk kanji) | As needed | Crunch at the table |
| Oil for frying | As needed | For the tempeh, tofu and garlic |
| Tamarind water (air asam jawa), for the sauce | 3 tbsp | Sourness |
| Cooled boiled water (air matang), for the sauce | ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp (200 ml) | Thins the sauce |
| Fried or roasted peanuts, for the sauce | 1¾ oz (50 g) | The body of the sauce |
| Garlic, for the sauce | 2 cloves, lightly fried | Aroma |
| Green banana (pisang batu), for the sauce | 1 | Ground into the sauce |
| Palm sugar (gula merah), for the sauce | ⅓ oz (10 g) | Sweetness |
| Fried shrimp paste (terasi goreng), for the sauce | 1 tsp | Savory shrimp depth |
| Shrimp petis (petis udang), for the sauce | 2 tbsp | The dark, deep fermented flavor |
| Salt, for the sauce | 1 tsp | Seasoning |
| Fresh chili, to serve | To taste | Heat, served on the side |
| Fried shallots, to serve | To taste | Crisp, sweet garnish |
Steps
1Simmer the beef until tender
Put the cingur or beef cheek in a large pot and cover it with plenty of water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer and skim off the foam as it rises. Keep it simmering and add hot water if the meat starts to stick out above the surface. It is ready when a bamboo skewer slides into the thickest part with no resistance. Cook it all the way through; this meat is never eaten raw.
2Cool and slice the meat
Lift the meat out and let it cool until you can handle it. Slice it thinly across the piece with a sharp knife. For the Surabaya stall finish, fry the slices briefly in a little hot oil, or sear them in a pan, so the edges firm up. If a slice is tough or rubbery in the middle, put the meat back in the simmering water until a skewer slides in freely.
3Slice the fruit and cucumber
Peel the pineapple, jicama and young mango. Cut them, together with the cucumbers, into thin slices. Keep each one in its own pile on the board so they stay crisp and dry. The slices are right when they are thin enough to take a coat of sauce on both sides but still snap when you bend them.
4Blanch the water spinach and scald the sprouts
Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop in the water spinach for a short dip. Lift it out into a colander and shake off the water. Put the bean sprouts in the colander and pour boiling water over them. Both are done when the greens are bright green with stems just softened and the sprouts are still crunchy. Let them drain well.
5Fry the tempeh, tofu and garlic, then cut the lontong
Pat the tempeh and tofu dry and fry them in hot oil until golden on all sides. Lift them out to drain and cut them into bite-size pieces. In the same oil, fry the garlic just until it turns light gold, then take it out for the sauce. Cut the lontong into slices. The tofu is right when the outside is crisp and the inside is still soft.
6Grind the sauce base
Put the peanuts, fried garlic, green banana, palm sugar, fried terasi and salt in the stone mortar. Shave or slice the banana thinly first so it breaks down quickly. Grind with a firm rolling stroke, scraping the paste back to the center as you go. Keep going until the paste is smooth and sticky with no whole peanut pieces.
7Add the petis and loosen the sauce
Add the petis to the paste and work it in until the color is even and dark. Pour in the tamarind water, then the cooled boiled water a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Stop when the sauce is glossy and drops off the spoon slowly. Taste it now: it should be savory first, then sour, then sweet.
8Arrange and pour
Lay the lontong, water spinach, bean sprouts, fruit, cucumber, tempeh, tofu and beef on a plate. Spoon the sauce over everything. Put the kerupuk on the side, with fried shallots and fresh chili in small dishes. The plate is ready when the sauce covers the top in a dark layer and the colors of the fruit still show at the edges.