Acar timun is a flavour packed pickled vegetables dish from Malaysia made with cucumbers, carrots, chilli and all sorts of other ingredients. In this video, we show you how to make acar Sarawak, typically eaten during festivals like Chinese New Year and Hari Raya in Borneo.
The recipe below will make 4 x 500ml jars worth of acar.
Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
1. 75g shallots
2. 25g buah keras (candlenut)
3. 25g kunyit (turmeric)
4. 30g lengkuas (galangal)
5. 75g chilli paste
6. 1.5 stalks lemongrass
7. 25g dried prawns (blend and fry without oil)
8. 50g garlic (2 whole bulbs) (slice thinly and fry without oil)
9. 75g ginger (cut into thin strips, fry in oil until fragrant)
10. 25g toasted sesame seeds
11. 3pcs large fresh red chillies
12. 2kg cucumbers (not the Japanese variety)
13. 500g carrots
14. 325ml rice vinegar
15. 625g white sugar
16. Salt
METHOD:
Day 1
1. Blend items 1 to 6 above.
2. Heat oil and fry these blended items together until fragrant. Add vinegar and bring to boil.
3. Simmer for 5mins and then add sugar and salt.
4. Stir until sugar melts completely.
5. Leave aside to cool and then refrigerate overnight.
Day 2
1. Cut the carrots and cucumbers into small strips.
2. Salt the cucumber and carrot strips and set aside for 30mins. We used 3tsp for the carrots and 4tsp for the cucumbers.
3. Wash the salt out thoroughly under running water and drain.
4. Squeeze out as much water as possible.
5. Fry items 7 to 10 as instructed.
6. Add cucumber, carrots, chillies, garlic, ginger, dried prawns and sesame seeds into the acar sauce and mix well.
7. Place in glass jars and refrigerate.
8. Leave at least 24 hours before eating.
-- Contents of this video --
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Make the sauce
2:59 - Prep the vegetables
5:08 - Prep remaining ingredients
6:08 - Assemble acar
7:32 - Outro