There are 2 parts to this recipe - one to ferment the Durian and the other to add the sambal. I made friends with Connie Chew from Crazy Asian Ferments through Instragram asking about this recipe. Amy had brought me a jar from Malaysia and we were keen to learn how to make it. Connie came through. x
SO. Fermented and Durian. Bound to be thought of as stinky - but we disagree! It's delicious. At our event we had with Sandor Katz at the Daylesford Longhouse - (called ‘Sticky and Stinky’) this was a must. Tony Tan used it in his rice dish, and it was delicious mixed into a Sambal. It's a musky sweetness. Try it.
How to
Simply get the Durian meat - whether fresh (preferable) or frozen (don't get the whole one frozen if you can get just the meat frozen it is better) - mash it up and sprinkle about 3% sea salt through it, jar and ferment! The level of sweetness in Durian can vary so add some salt - stir it through and taste. When it is just slightly saltier than you’d like - that’s the right amount. This is a fast one - in warm weather you need only ferment for a day or two, but in cooler weather I’d keep it out for 5 days.
If you add a chii paste - something similar to our kimchi paste - chilli’s, garlic, shallots, ginger for example and mix that through, you’ll have Sambal Tempoyak.
Add it into a curry or as a condiment just on rice.
