Grilled Fish Cake Wrapped in Banana Leaf (Otak-Otak)

This grilled fish cake wrapped in banana leaf, known as Otak-Otak, is one of my all-time favorite Indonesian snacks – light, healthy, and savory dipped in a slightly sour peanut sauce.

So, what is otak-otak, you might wonder. Otak-Otak is an Indonesian traditional snack made from fish paste or blended fish fillet. However, there are many varieties that’s quite similar in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia or Singapore, this type of snack is called Otah-Otah and it is slightly different as their version is usually a bit reddish in color. Indonesian version of Otak-Otak is white in color. In its literal translation, otak means ‘brain’, however, don’t you worry, there is no ‘brain’ needed as an ingredient to make this amazing snack. My guess is that this snack is called Otak-Otak because of the color and texture.

This tasty otak-otak, grilled fish cake, is quite easy to make and it can be a great and fun family activity, especially in this lockdown period due to Covid-19. You can mix the fish mixture, have your kid scoop out the mixture onto the banana leaf, then have another person fold and staple the leaf to close it. Also, you can freeze some for later consumption or you can directly grill all of them to make great healthy light snack for the family. Otak-otak by itself is already quite delicious, you can eat it as is or you can pair it with the peanut sauce. Try it and let me know what you think.

Tools I used:

• Stove-top grill – Non-stick stove-top grill for any kind of quick grilling, especially useful in wintertime as I do not feel like grilling outside in the cold. Evenly heated, easy cleaning, easy to flip/stir and very durable.

Tip: Don’t put too much of the fish mixture into each banana leaf because it will take longer to grill, and the banana leaf will easily char. But if you make a somewhat huge otak-otak (maybe not enough banana leaf), you can steam it first for 5-10 minutes, and then grill it. Also, you can freeze these otak-otak after being wrapped and grilled for up to a month.

Ingredient:

• 1 lb fish paste (or 1 lb fresh mackerel/snapper – cleaned, deboned and blended to make it into a paste)
• 200 gr tapioca starch
• 200 ml coconut cream
• 2 white eggs – set aside the egg yolks for other use
• 2 stalk green onion – chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1.5 teaspoon sugar
• Banana leaf to wrap
• Stapler to ‘seal’ the banana leaf

Peanut sauce:

• 100 gr candlenut – roasted
• 50 gr peanut – roasted
• 5 Thai chilies (can be substituted with jalapeno, serano or other chilies)
• ½ medium-sized red bell pepper – cleaned and removed the seeds
• 200 ml water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon white pepper

Direction:

• In a mixing bowl, combine fish paste, tapioca starch, coconut cream, salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix well.
• Add white eggs and chopped green onion. Set aside.
• Wipe each side of banana leaf with damp towel and cut into a rectangular shape – about 10” x 6”.
• Scoop about 1-2 tablespoon of the fish mixture into the middle of the cut-out banana leaf, spread it into long rectangular shape. Then, fold the left and the right of banana leaf to cover the fish mixture and secure both ends with a stapler. Repeat until all the fish mixture are gone.
• Heat the grill under medium heat. Grill each wrapped otak-otak for about 3-5 minutes on each side or until there is a charred mark on the banana leaf. Note: for the ‘thicker’ otak2, grill it a bit longer. You can set aside and freeze some for later consumption.
• Serve with peanut sauce. Enjoy!

Peanut Sauce

• Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend it well. Note: You can adjust the amount of salt, pepper and vinegar to your liking.