Recipe : Famous Kasbi-Batatas

    In Maluku, rice is not the only staple food. You can easily find a wide array of carbohydrates at most restaurants and food stalls: cassava, sweet potato, yam and bananas - all of wich are boiled. These carbohydrates are usually served with complementing side dishes that include kohu-kohu ikan puti, banana blossom salad, water spinach and papaya flower stirfry as well as spicy lema fish (similiar to Indian mackerel). You will also find slices of crunchy raw coconut as condiment, along with colo-colo, a spicy and sour dipping saauce.

    In Maluku, kohu-kohu ikan puri (vegetable salad with raw Anchovy Whitebaits) is mad from raw anchovies mixed with bean sprouts and boiled long beans and grated coconut, spiced with lime juice, chilli and shallots-garlic. It's similiar to Lawa in Palopo or Lowu, South Sulawesi, or Lawa ikan in Timor island. By name and flavor, it also resembles the raw fish salad known as gohu ikan in Ternate. 

    It's unfortunate how kohu-kohu ikan puri is losing popularity these days, for it truly is a refreshing dish with such a unique texture. Try it wit boiled cassava. So now, lets make your own Kasbi-Batatas!

Main Ingredients: 

1. 500 grams raw ikan puri (family of Anchovy Whitebaits)
2. 1 coconut (grated)
3. 2 handsfull lemon basil (roughly chopped)
4. 2 handsfull boiled beans sprouts
5. 2 handsfull boiled long beans (sliced)
6. 30 calamansi (squizeed)

Spices:

1. 5 garlic cloves
2. 15 shallots
3. Red chillies to taste

How To Make:

1. Clean the fish.
2. In a food processor or using mortar and pastle, grind all the spices to a paste.
3. mix the spice paste with the grated coconut. Add the raw fish and squeezee calamansi over the mixture. Lastly, add the vegetables. Ikan puri can be substituted with ikan asar (smoked skipjack tuna) flakes.

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