Singapore is a food-loving nation, and what better way to celebrate the country’s 51st birthday with good eats? In celebration of National Day, we’ve cooked up a series in which we asked our experts to share their favourite foods and the stories behind them.

There is one activity in this whole wide universe that binds human mankind in happiness. From the title, I am sure you can guess what the activity is. Yes, the activity of bonding through our stomachs.

We organize activities that involve indulging in our favourite cuisine. It is a great way to catch up with friends and get an update on what it is happening in their lives. The same goes for family gatherings.

In this article, I will be talking about Buak Keluak, a traditional family cuisine that never fails to bring the family together.The dish can be cooked with pork trotters or chicken.

From Indonesia To Singapore

The origins of Buah Keluak can be traced back to the island of Indonesia. The Peranakan families from Java and Sumatra brought it to Singapore when they reached our island to set up their homes. The Keluak shell or nuts can also be used to prepare an Indonesian dish called Rawon.

The question remains on how Buah Keluak became a Eurasian dish. The answer is in the word Eurasian. One becomes Eurasian through intermarriages. Therefore, various cooking styles were adopted. Many Eurasians learnt how to cook Buah Keluak from their Nonya counterparts and recognized the dish as their own making. Some people just do not want to lose face but Buah Keluak remains a Peranakan dish.

Buah Keluak Preparation Tips

As mentioned earlier, the dish can be made with pork trotters or chicken. Part of the enjoyment of eating Buah Keluak involves picking the nut with your fingers or with a small fork. You have to painstakingly dig out the black flesh from the pre-chiseled hole in the shell.

It is quite a difficult dish to make. First, you need to prepare the rempah (spice paste). The red gravy colour comes from the dried red chilies and buah keras(candlenuts). If you want the gravy to be less thick, use fewer candle nuts. I personally like it thick and spicy.

Soak the red chilies in hot water to soften it. Next, prepare the belachan prawn paste by dry frying it or toasting it. Rempah ingredients can be cut into small pieces. Cut the lemon grass, galangal, and dried red chillies and pound them together.

Either use the traditional method of using mortar (which may take hours, hand and arms may hurt but it is fun) or for fast and easy preparation, use a blender. Personally, the rempah will turn out better if pounded. Moreover, crushing using a mortar to mix ingredients helps to release the fragrance better. Making rempah is time-consuming, so you may want to make the paste in advance and to keep it in the fridge.

The buah keluak nuts need to be soaked overnight, scrubbed and chiseled in order to get the kernels out. I remember watching my mum undertake this laborious task when I was young. I helped out when I was older and gained some trust in my mother to cook.

Another option to do away with the chiseling and deshelling of the nuts is to purchase pre-packed deshelled nuts. However, my mum told me that by doing so takes the fun and joy of preparing the dish.

Now it is time to turn the powder into a paste. Just 1 tablespoon of water per 100g Buah Keluak powder would do the trick. Pepper, salt, and sugar can be added for seasoning.

Next, prepare the Assam (tamarind) juice. Mush up a block of tamarind paste in water, squeezing the pulp and seeds with your hands. Strain the mixture but keep the leftover bits in case you need a second press of juice if the gravy becomes thick.

There is an option to use chicken or pork. I like to use pork but due to religious sensitivity, I would use chicken at times. Most importantly, the gravy with the nut paste needs to be fragrant and everything will fall into place.

Once the rempah and nuts are prepared, fry the rempah until it’s fragrant, add the meats and then sieve in the Assam juice. Finally, add the nuts and simmer until the flavour is absorbed.

Ingredients

• 250-300g buah keluak nut kernels (aka ‘kluwak’ at Indonesian grocers)

• White pepper powder

• Salt to taste

• Sugar to taste

• 15-20 disposable loose tea filter bags

• Cooking twine (optional)

• 1.2kg total of chicken and/or pork

• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves

• 100g tamarind paste

• 1 litre of water

• 6 buah keras (candlenuts)

• 2 stalks lemongrass (cut into thick rings)

• 50g piece of galangal

• 35g piece of turmeric

• 20 dried red chilies (soaked in hot water, remove stalks when soft)

• 2 big fresh red chilies

• 20g belachan (shrimp paste – toasted)

• 250g shallots Cooking oil

Instructions

Rempah:

1. Cut ingredients into smaller pieces then grind in a food processor until fine:
   6 buah keras (candlenuts)
   2 stalks lemongrass (cut into thick rings)
   50g piece of galangal
   35g piece of turmeric
   20 stalks dried red chilies (softened in hot water)
   2 big fresh red chilies
   20g belachan (shrimp paste – toasted)
   250g shallots
2. Cover and set aside
3. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days until the day of cooking, or frozen for a few months.

Buah Keluak Paste:

1. Grind the buah keluak nut kernels in a chopper till you get a semi-fine powder
2. Remove from the chopper and add gradually, mix well until you get the desired taste.
3. Add 1 tbsp. water to each 100g of buah keluak powder and mix well until it becomes a paste
4. Roll the buah keluak paste into compact balls of approximately 20g.
5. Place the balls into disposable tea filter bags. Tie them into parcels with cooking twine(optional)

Assam Juice

1. Put together, knead and soak the tamarind paste in 1 litre of water for about 10 minutes:

Cooking:

1. Heat up in a large pot 6-8 tbsp. cooking oil
2. Add and stir fry ground rempah over medium heat until fragrant and a little darker in colour.
3. Add and stir fry chicken/pork.
4. Sift assam juice a little at a time until you get the desired consistency.
5. Add parcels of buah keluak paste and kaffir lime leaves to simmer until flavoris absorbed and switch off the fire.
6. Before serving, season with salt and sugar.

As a note, it is okay to leave the pot of cooked ayam buah keluak on your kitchen stove overnight (without heat) to age and become more flavourful, but any longer than that, I’d probably refrigerate it. Moreover, this dish works well with nyonya chap chye and rice.

Did you enjoy this post? Please comment, like and share!