Stinky bean sambal a customer favourite to add zing to dishes at Zaaba Royati

Zahiba's sambal petai.

By Wilfred Pilo

KUCHING, Jan 18: The local stink bean or buah petai comes from a long twisted pod that grows in clusters.

At first glance, the large pods can seem unappealing. Once shelled to reveal the wrinkly green beans inside, the impression is usually not improved by their strong sulphur smell which is a hindrance that prevents many people from giving the beans a try.

Bunches of stink beans, or buah petai, are displayed for sale at 7th Mile Sentosa Wet Market Kuching.

Petai’s distinctive smell and taste is not popular, and thus, it is seldom eaten nor seen at many dining tables. It is often regarded as one of the cheapest vegetables in farmers’ markets.

But over the years, public palates have become more welcoming towards petai; so much so, many fans of the stinky bean can even start to drool at the mere thought of savouring it.

Petai beans sold at RM5 per plate at 7th Mile Sentosa Wet Market Kuching.

With the growing number of those who have acquired a taste for petai’s unique flavour, so too the number and popularity of local dishes featuring it are also on the rise. Among them is the savoury sambal petai.

Zaaba Royati Catering proprietor Zahida Zaaba said sambal petai is a favourite spicy accompaniment to many of her seafood dishes like prawns, clams and fish.

“The sambal and petai add flavour to these dishes and are very popular with my customers,” she told DayakDaily.

“Sambal petai is easy to make. I fry fresh stink beans in a mixture of dried shrimp, belacan, tamarind, onions, and garlic, and added salt and palm sugar to taste. I always use it for cooking l fresh prawns, clams or fish.”

Zahida, whose stall is located at the Gala City food court, revealed that she uses about half-a-kilogram of petal at her stall daily as it is popular among her regular customers.

Zaaba Royati Catering at Gala City Food Court serves sambal petai prawn and other dishes which use sambal petai as an accompaniment or ingredient.

According to her, before it became a popular ingredient in many savoury dishes, petai was often just eaten as ulam (raw as a salad) with sambal belacan (shrimp paste pounded with chillies, onions, garlic and lime juice) in Indonesia and even locally.

“However, West Malaysians had more culinary options with petai, where Sarawakians followed and turned it into savoury dishes especially as an accompaniment for their seafood dishes,” added Zahida.

She also disclosed that sambal petai is now popular, especially among her Chinese customers and regulars, and she had received orders for the dish from them for the coming Chinese New Year celebration.

“We are glad that these days petai is popular, unlike before. Sambal petai has gone far as a local dish, and with many styles of cooking, the stinky bean is in demand ,and its price has increased in the market,” she said.

A bunch of petai pods can fetch between RM10 to RM12, while a small plate of the shelled beans is usually sold for RM5. — DayakDaily