Petit Starfruits - Belimbi

Belimbi are small starfruits, the size of a thumb. They are sour-ish, and are great in sambal and curry dishes for that added twang. Just thinking about belimbi makes my tongue curl and my mouth water.

The first time I had belimbi was in a Malay coffee shop in Jasin, Melaka. It was a sambal dish with bits of belimbi, and I must have had two or three helpings of rice just so I can have more of the sambal.

The next time I had it was also in Malacca, in a Chitty household. We were doing a feature on Chitty cuisine, and we got to try a shrimp and fish roe pindang with whole belimbi. Again, it was the belimbi that I couldn’t have enough of. There was tamarind in the pindang gravy, but it was the belimbi that gives the dish a nice lift. Cooked in the gravy, the fruits have absorbed all the flavours of the dish (the sweetness of the shrimps and the richness of the coconut milk and spices). By then, its sourness has been somewhat tempered, but the belimbi whets the appetite.

The Chitty lady gave me a bag of belimbi, plucked from her garden, but they all turned bad before I got around to experimenting with them.

I have seen them in the pasar tani, and in Malay stalls. I also hear that they are relatively easy to plant, and are commonly found in villages. I, of course, harboured ambitions of planting one - like how I also planned to plant serai, pandan, daun kari, bunga kantan....So, I was delighted to find a belimbi tree in my neighbour’s backyard. I am never home, and they never opened their back door. So, I have not gotten around to asking for their belimbi. I did pick up some fruits that fell on the back lane, but they go bad real quickly.

Last week, on a trip to the Raub market, I was nosing around in the ulam stall when I saw a plastic bag of black shrivelled fruits. The makcik told me it's belimbi jeruk, made by boiling them in salted water. I was really curious about them, and the best thing is they won't go bad so quickly.

The cook at a makan shop (which supposedly have the best ikan patin masak tempoyak in Raub) taught what to do with the belimbi jeruk, and I tried out her recipe.

The instruction was to fry ikan bilis and set aside. Then, cut up some shallots and chili padi, and blend. Then, tumis the shallots and cili padi until fragrant, and add belimbi and some gula melaka. Then, add the fried ikan bilis. The belimbi jeruk gives a nice tang to the dish, and I found myself adding more of it after two bites.

Does anyone know where to find belimbi jeruk in Kuala Lumpur?

Ikan Bilis With Belimbi Jeruk

5-6 shallots
12 cili padi
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
3 tablespoons of belimbi jeruk
2 tablespoons of gula melaka, or to taste
100g ikan bilis, deep fried

Blend the shallots and cili padi.
Heat the cooking oil, and fry the blended ingredients until fragrant.
Then, add the belimbi jeruk and gula melaka
Fry over medium heat, and then add the ikan bilis.
Mix everything evenly.
Serve with rice