Food for Thought: Soursop for a Delicious Salad Dish
Jakarta. Soursop, locally known as sirsak, is a fruit native to South America and the Caribbean islands but introduced to Indonesia centuries ago.
An odd oval shape, the spiny fruit is green in color, while its beautiful, white flesh is adorned with black, teardrop seeds. For many, soursop usually comes in a delicious glass of juice that has hints of pineapple and citrus notes along with an underlying creamy flavor that reminds me of coconuts or bananas. It has become a popular ingredient in modern cuisine, perfect for a sorbet or pudding.
A perfectly ripe soursop has the right balance of sweet and sour, requiring no additional sugar. However, on a recent trip to Halmahera, the largest of the Maluku Islands in North Maluku, I learned from the Sahu people that unripe soursop can be a surprisingly tasty addition to a dish. The nomad farming community forages in the island's jungles, surviving on cassavas, sweet potatoes, bananas, sago, fern and papaya leaves.
They have also developed a unique technique of cooking by steaming these ingredients, including rice, in bamboo. With unripened soursop, the method results in a texture similar to that of potatoes, with a taste that is the perfect blend of sweet and sour. It can even be used as an alternative to carbohydrates.
This week I have prepared a very simple recipe for mixed salad with roasted unripe soursop. Enjoy!
Mixed salad with roasted soursop
You can roast the soursop a few hours before serving and add pan-fried chicken breasts or prawn with garlic and lime juice if you wish to make a complete meal. Any leftover dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.
The ingredients listed below are enough to serve eight.
Ingredients:
One whole soursop around 650gr; 50gr each of young Romano leaves and young spinach, washed with mineral water and dried with a kitchen towel; 50gr of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves; 100gr of edamame soybeans; 2 small cucumbers; 4 curly chilies, sliced thinly; 2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and sliced into ribbons; small bunch of rosemary, roughly chopped; 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil; salt and black pepper to season
For the dressing:
100ml of extra virgin coconut oil (without fragrance) or extra virgin olive oil; 50ml of lime juice; salt and black pepper
Directions:
- To prepare the roasted soursop: preheat the oven to 180oC. Peel the soursop and slice the flesh lengthwise at a thickness of 1 cm. Place the soursop slices on baking tray. Season with salt, black pepper and drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of oil and rosemary. Roast for around 20-25 minutes or until soft. Remove the slices from the oven and set aside to cool, then cut them into bite sizes.
- In the mean time, boil 1 liter of water; add 1 tablespoon of salt and the fresh edamame. Boil for around 12-15 minutes.
- Strain the edamame and set aside to cool. Remove the beans from the pods. Set aside and keep in refrigerator.
- Cut the cucumber into halves and with a spoon remove the seeds. Chop the cucumber into ½ cm cubes. Set aside and keep them in refrigerator.
- To make the dressing: simply put all the ingredients, including salt and black pepper to season, into a jar. Close the lid shake the jar for few seconds. Check the taste. Add more salt if necessary.
- To serve: put all the salad ingredients into a large serving plate or divide into 8 individual serving dishes. Add the sliced soursop, sprinkle with sliced chilies and chopped young rosemary. Drizzle dressing onto the dish and serve immediately.