Savoury, Mum'sPeklyn Teo

otah pasta

Savoury, Mum'sPeklyn Teo
otah pasta

Otah (or otak otak as we call it in Malaysia) is this blend of fish, herbs, spices and all sorts of other types of goodness wrapped in a banana leaf. While on a FaceTime call with mum, I was telling her about my plans to make pasta with Thai basil pork and her response to that was TRY OTAH PASTA.

And so I did.

It was awesome. The flavors of the otah mixed into the pasta and enhanced with some chopped lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves really was a burst of happiness in my mouth. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did!

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Recipe

Ingredients

  • 500-550g of otah

  • 2 shallots, sliced

  • 250g of spaghetti

  • 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped

  • 1 handful of kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly

  • 1 chilli padi

  • Salt

  • Olive oil

Method

If your otah is frozen, steam it for about 10-15 min or until its soft. While its steaming, you can bring a pot of water to the boil, add in 3 tea spoons of salt and then cook your pasta until its about 80% cooked. Also add in a generous amount of olive oil once you put the pasta into the water. Once 80% cooked, drain out your pasta, saving about 1.5 cups of pasta water.

Then heat up some oil and add add in the sliced shallots, the chopped lemongrass and some of the kaffir lime leaves. Stir fry until fragrant and add in the steamed otah. You can use your spatula to break it up into smaller pieces. Then add in the 80% cooked pasta and the pasta water. Mix it well. If you have salted your pasta water enough while cooking the pasta, you won’t need to add anymore salt. Continue cooking until your pasta is well cooked. Taste and add more salt if needed.

At this stage you can add some chili padi for some heat. The pasta water will reduce as you cook until it completely dries up and your pasta will be nice and silky. Transfer your pasta to a plate, garnish with the remaining kaffir lime leaves and serve hot.