A bold sweet-savoury salad of crunchy unripe fruit and vegetables — jicama, cucumber, green mango, pineapple and fried tofu — tossed in a sticky black sauce of fermented shrimp paste, tamarind, sugar and chilli, then showered with crushed peanuts.
Rojak, meaning 'mixture' in colloquial Malay, is a beloved street snack across Malaysia, its very name now used to describe anything eclectic. Vendors toss seasonal crunchy fruits and vegetables in a thick, pungent black dressing built on 'hae ko' fermented prawn paste; Penang's version is especially prized for its tart fruit and squid fritters.
One bite explodes with everything at once — funky-savoury shrimp paste, sour tamarind and green mango, sweet palm sugar and a creeping chilli heat. The fruit and jicama stay ice-crisp and juicy, while crushed peanuts add toasty crunch to the sticky, dark, addictive sauce.
Toasting the belacan drives off raw harshness and concentrates its umami, while the contrast of crunchy raw fruit against the thick, sticky fermented dressing creates the signature push-pull of texture and pungency.
Variations
Penang rojak (with squid fritters and guava), rojak buah (fruit-only), mamak Indian rojak with fritters, rojak petis
On the Palate
Where Rojak Malaysian sits in the Malaysian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 112 min
Peel and cut jicama, cucumber, green mango and pineapple into bite-sized chunks.
- 26 min
Fry tofu puffs until golden, then halve them.
- 32 min
Toast belacan shrimp paste briefly to deepen its aroma.
Watch outToast the belacan just until it smells nutty and fragrant, not smoking — a few seconds past raw is enough; burnt shrimp paste goes acrid and ruins the dressing.
- 45 min
Whisk the belacan with fermented prawn paste, tamarind, palm sugar and chilli into a thick black dressing.
Watch outWork it into a thick, glossy black paste that coats the back of a spoon — too runny and it slides off the fruit instead of clinging.
- 54 min
Toast and roughly crush a handful of peanuts.
- 62 min
Place the fruit, vegetables and tofu in a large bowl.
- 72 min
Pour over the dressing and toss until everything is glossy and coated.
Watch outToss only until everything glistens and is evenly coated, then serve right away — the raw fruit weeps and goes soggy if it sits in the dressing.
- 81 min
Scatter generously with crushed peanuts and toasted sesame seeds and serve at once.
