Recipe : Tumis Mandai (Stir-fried Mandai)

You might be familiar with this thing if you grew up in Borneo Island. Yup!! this dish is made of Mandai, which is Cempedak skin which has been preserved for for several days. Cempedak is a fruit which physically resembles Jackfruit, but has a strong smell almost like durian. You can eat the fruit just like that, or like many people here love to eat cempedak as fritters. The skin of cempedak itself is edible and normally used as vegetables which later can be cooked as a side dish. Making Mandai is very easy, you can make it your own at home by following the recipe below and after that I’ll show you my mother’s way to cook something with Mandai itself by stir-frying it.

TUMIS MANDAI (Literally translated as Stir-fried Mandai) 

Ingredients (For Mandai) :

Cempedak Skin (From a whole fruit)

Salt and Pepper

Water

Steps :

1. Peel the outside skin by using sharp knife in order to separate the hard meat from the rags
2. Once it separated, washed with clean water to remove the sap
3. Chop the cempedak skin into small pieces
4. Mix it with salt, pepper, and pour enough water in it, then put it in a jar for minimum 2-3 days. You can store this Mandai in refrigerator for future cooking since this preservation can be last for 2-3 months

Ingredients (For Stir-Frying) :

250 gr Mandai (washed and rinsed)
4 cloves shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 candlenut
3 cabe keriting (curly chili peppers)

3 bird-eye chilies
2 tsp coriander powder
8 pcs dried shrimps (optional)
Salt and pepper
Cooking oil

Steps :

1. Fried the mandai with small amount of cooking oil in order to reduce the water in it. Set aside
2. Chop the cabe keriting (chili peppers) into 2-3 pieces. Set aside
3. In a food processor, add shallots, garlic and candlenut, then grind it finely (you can use the traditional way as well by pound it in a cobek)
4. In a wok, add the cooking oil and heat it for a few seconds. Then add the grinded spices, cabe keriting, bird-eye chilies and dried shrimps. Stir-fry for a few seconds until fragrant
5. Add Mandai, season it with salt, pepper and coriander powder. Cook it for about 4-5 minutes, set aside
6. Tumis mandai is ready to be served. It is best eaten with rice and sambal

Happy Cooking and Enjoy!