Salaks
ORIGIN
Salak, sometimes also called snake-skin or snake fruit because the skin resembles snake leather in appearance, is the fruit of a range of closely related and very spiny palms. Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm tree of the family Arecaceae and is native to Indonesia. The variety available in Bali is widely held as being the most appetising.
I recently obtained some fruit from the Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm to experiment with their uses. Salaks have a lovely flavour somewhere between passionfruit, banana and pineapple to my palate.
PREPARATION
Despite their almost fearsome looking skin, salaks are very easy to peel. Simply push the tip sideways and the skin will break open, and from there it is easy to peel them. If the tip is inverted, as it is on some fruit, push inwards on it and you’ll achieve the same result. Keep them stored in the fridge and they can last for up to two weeks. I am about to also try freezing the peeled flesh as I suspect it may cope quite well with freezing due to its firm texture.
The texture is crunchy, similar to the crunchy varieties of jackfruit.
SERVING
The fruit is astringent while unripe, and a small amount of astringency can remain in the ripe fruit – the only effect of which is a slight dry sensation on the palate when eaten plain out of hand. It is easy to counteract this by serving salak, de-seeded, sliced or chopped and mixed with juicy fruit such as passionfruit, papaya or carambola. In these combinations any dryness on the palate disappears and the flavour and crunchy texture shine through – a great combination with soft luscious tropical fruits. For a contrast to salak’s crisp texture, it is also a great match with the creamy, juicy pulp of any of the Atemoyas such as custard apple, rollinia or guanabana (soursop).
This morning we made coconut rice pudding with a sprinkling of ground chai spices (I make my own blend which is in my cookbook tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen) and served it with a fruit salad of salak, banana, passionfruit, carambola and papaya. YUM!
As a savoury snack, try dipping larger slices of salak which have been marinating in freshly squeezed lime juice into a mixture of chilli powder and salt, a great Asian approach to snacking that goes very well with a beer.
I also expect they will make a great salad sliced finely with jicama and dressed with lime juice, flaky salt and some fresh sliced chilli – that one is on my to do list for the next day or two.
Salak can also be added to warm salads or stir fries, in the same way that I use longans in the longans and shitake mushrooms with soba noodles recipe in tropical cuisine: cooking in clare’s kitchen. Longans provide lush juiciness to that dish, so if using salaks instead you may want to use a mixture of soft and firm tofu as the soft tofu will reintroduce a creamy texture to the dish to counter the removal of the longans.
The flesh is also delicious just sliced and mixed with freshly squeezed lime juice.
Keep an eye out for salaks at your local Asian grocer or fresh produce outlet – their flavour and crispy texture make them well worth trying.
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