FUSE#5

FUSE #5
The vegetables to be pickled
• ½ head of cauliflower
• 200g of long beans
• ½ a yellow capsicum
• 1 small turnip
• 1 large carrot
• 3 Japanese cucumbers
• 1 honey pineapple
• 1 red shallot
Chop the long beans, cauliflower, turnip and capsicum into 2cm chunks.
Boil 3 cups of water and blanche these vegetables to cook them till they
are slightly soft before draining them and putting them aside. Chop the
Japanese cucumbers into 2cm long strips. Soak them in salted brine
for about ½ hour before rinsing the brine off them. This is to ensure
they remain slightly crispy when pickled. You may choose to use regular
cucumber instead, but remember to remove the seeds before pickling
if so, Japanese cucumbers tend to be a little bit more crisp. Peel the
carrot and cut them into 3cm long strips. Cut the pineapple into little
chunks—the sweetness of the pineapples really affects the flavour of
the achar, ensure that you are using ripe pineapples and if possible
honey pineapples from Malaysia. Finely chop the shallots.
Assembling and garnishing
• ½ cup of toasted white sesame seeds
• 1 cup of toasted grated peanuts (not powder)
• ½ cup of white rice vinegar
• ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of gula melaka / brown sugar
• ¾ cup of tamarind assam juice (you can make this by adding
hot water to a golf ball size tamarind paste and sieving it to
filter the seeds out)
Add all the vegetables to a big tub, and stir the rempah paste in while
adding the rest of the ingredients listed above. If you toast your peanuts
and sesame seeds slightly it helps to bring out their flavour before
adding them to the achar. Your gula melaka portion might vary depending
on the sweetness of the pineapples. The apple cider vinegar helps
to reduce the astringency of the achar, but if you prefer your achar tart,
you can add a whole cup of rice vinegar instead. I tend to add these
portions sparingly and taste the mix as I go along to ensure the flavours
are integrated. Do take note that the flavour profile will continue to
mature the longer you leave the achar to marinate. Leave it for an hour
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