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Pecel
East Javanese blanched greens under a fiery, kencur-scented peanut sauce, served with rice and crackers
Madiun, in East Java, calls itself the home of nasi pecel, and its stalls serve it from early morning on banana leaf: rice under a heap of blanched spinach, bean sprouts, long beans and cabbage, drowned in a peanut sauce that's thinner, hotter and more herbal than gado-gado's. The difference is kencur, an earthy, camphor-scented root that gives pecel its signature smell, and lime leaf pounded into the paste. A crisp peanut rempeyek cracker is broken on top. Chef's tip: make a block of pecel paste ahead and dissolve just what you need in hot water each time — that's how East Javanese households do it, and it keeps for weeks in the fridge.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the pecel sauce
For the vegetables
To serve
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Toast 5 ½ oz raw peanuts in a dry pan over a medium heat, stirring, for 6–8 minutes until golden and fragrant. Tip out to cool.
8 minStep 2: Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the same pan over a medium heat and fry 3 cloves garlic, 5 red bird's eye chillies and 1 ⅛ in kencur (aromatic ginger) for 1–2 minutes until the garlic is pale gold and smells sweet. Add 3 makrut lime leaves for the last 10 seconds.
2 minStep 3: Pound or blitz the peanuts with the fried aromatics, 1 ¾ oz palm sugar, 1 tbsp tamarind paste and 1 tsp salt to a thick, coarse paste. Stop before it turns to smooth butter: pecel paste should feel grainy.
3 minStep 4: Stir in ¾ cup hot water a little at a time until the sauce pours easily, thinner than gado-gado sauce. Taste: hot and earthy first, then sweet and sour. A common mistake is skipping the kencur substitute; without that sharp, rooty note it just tastes like satay sauce.
Step 5: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over a high heat. Blanch the vegetables separately and drain each well: 5 ½ oz long beans or green beans for 3 minutes, 5 ½ oz white cabbage for 1 minute, 7 oz spinach or water spinach (kangkung) for 30 seconds, 5 ½ oz bean sprouts for 15 seconds. They should be bright and still have bite.
6 minStep 6: Pile the vegetables with ½ cucumber and 1 handful Thai basil or lemon basil on plates, over 4 small portions steamed rice if serving it, and pour the sauce over generously. Break 1 ⅜ oz peanut crackers (rempeyek) or rice crackers on top and eat straight away.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pecel take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of palm sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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