Actually, I don’t like anything that has vinegar in it or uses vinegar at all but I don’t know why, suddenly I had the urge to make some kind of acar or pickle. Not just any kind of acar but the Malaysian kind.

So, I made Acar Rampai. 😀

Ingredients:
* 500g cucumber, halved lengthwise, remove centre portion (seeds), sliced 1cm thick
* 250g carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced 1cm thick
* 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
* 2 red chillies, seeds removed, halved lengthwise, sliced 1cm thick
* 1 green chilli, seeds removed, halved lengthwise, sliced 1cm thick
* 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
* 1cm fresh ginger
* 1 big shallot
* 1 candlenut
* 1 tsp mustard seeds
* 1 tsp sesame seeds
* 2 tbsp white vinegar
* 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
* salt and sugar to taste

Preparation:

  1. Mix cucumber, carrots, onion, garlic and chillies with vinegar and 1tsp salt. Marinate for 1 hr, minimum. Drain vinegar and leave aside.
  2. Grind or blend ginger, shallot and candlenut.
  3. Heat a pan with some vegetable oil and fry mustard and sesame seeds till fragrant. Add ground or blended ingredients till golden.
  4. Add in turmeric powder and lightly fry for 30 seconds and then switch off cooker.
  5. Put fried ingredients and mix them well with vegetables. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Note:
* The cucumber can either be peeled or not.
* The acar can be prepared several days earlier. Kept in a airtight container, it can be kept in the fridge for many weeks. The longer it marinates, the tastier.

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A funny tale:
A few days prior to making the acar, I posted on Facebook asking my friends if I can store “acar” in the freezer. A Dutch friend commented, “A CAR in the freezer?? Your freezer must be very big horizontally!!!!” Can you imagine what my Malaysian friends’ reaction was to that?? It was hilarious and the responses were mixed.. I had a very very good laugh that day. 😛
I didn’t realise that if you aren’t a Malaysian and don’t know the South East Asian cuisines well, you might mistake it for a typo error..
ACAR is really a sort of Malay or Indonesian pickle. 😀

Here’s something my new Malaysian friend gave us when we met up for the very 1st time. It was delicious and made with such care and attention.. Thank you very much, Angela. 😀

Dunster enjoyed both the acar so much that every time he had them for dinner, he made the comment, “Oh sure, I love it, you can definitely make it more often..”
ok, I got the message well and clear, I shall make it at least twice a year.. heheheee.. 😀



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