Kurma Sayur Nangka from Sabah Malaysia (Borneo)
I thought the dish was a chicken curry when I selected the yellow korma looking dish. It was only at the table did I notice the fibrous looking clumps.
The lady serving the dish smiled, struggled with the words and said, “Coconut.”
Did she mean, palm hearts? I’ve eaten enough coconut to know this wasn’t anything really coconutty. Palm hearts I’ve had, and they are fiberous, but they didn’t taste this good.
I recognized the jack fruit shape as I ate the coconut korma sauce.
Then I spotted a little white testicle shaped object, and was completely lost again.
Finding the answer to what Kurma Sayur Nangka is?
So with a photo the first girl at reception confirmed it was … edible. But, she also didn’t know the right words. Next came a few emails, nope, nobody.
Next morning a new girl at reception finally gave me the words “Sayur / Nang Kaka. And, confirmed that it was a vegetable, baby jack fruit poached in coconut milk. She even knew what the little white object was.
“The testicle is actually a very small baby jack fruit seed”
Finally with the help of @TourismSelangor @j_chocoholic and @agentcikay on twitter we corrected the spelling to Sayur Nangka and with some investgation added Kurma, as this was a curry dish.
Sayur Nangka also has routes firmly set in Indonesia, and in the rest of South East Asia.
What does Kurma Sayur Nangka taste like?
Delicious! The first time I had this dish the jack fruit was melt in your mouth good. Subtle sweet coconut mild mixed with korma curry was so mild I couldn’t tell whether is was a main course or desert.
Then came that little white seed. Normally jack fruit seeds are too hard to eat. But this is baby jack fruit and the seed was simply like a firm grape. And, very tasty.
Kurma Sayur Nangka is not so easy to find. But for vegetarians or those looking for something special I highly recommend it!
This is an additional entry featuring food from Sabah, Malaysia
For vegetarians (or semi-veggie like me), stewed jack-fruit is awesome. The texture is very similar to beef , it soaks up the flavor of the soup/stew, and it simply tastes good. If you’re planning to visit Indonesia, give ‘gudeg’ a try. It’s basically marinated jackfruit dish and it’s one of my favorite food from back home.
Hey Jill, thanks for the tip on “Gudeg”. I’ve only ever known Jackfruit as a fruit, rather than a cooked food. Was just amazed at how good it tastes cooked in Korma, or coconut milk!
Yummy! This is such a great story! Awesome detective work. Chicken korma is my all-time favorite dish. I’d love to try Kurma Sayur Nangka.
I’m kinda a fan of Korma too, never expected to find jackfruit in there though!
I’m not a food-fan but the first dish looks delicious.
Ivy, Ivy, Ivy, not a food fan!! Can I not tempt you over the to dark side of good food at all ;)
Looks delicious and healthy too! Also I agree with Jackie on your great sleuthing skills to give us the right info despite the language barrier you encountered.
Malaysia is a foodie place, they take it seriously, and many people actually disagree on names or use different names. It ends up with one never being 100% correct to everybodys liking. But, one can still try.
Even in a still photo, it appeared to be moving. Was it?
Ha, no, it was as dead as the come. It’s a plant too, so not pain involved that we know about!
Oooooh, looks delicious. In Thailand they make stir-fried unripe jackfruit and an unripe jackfruit salad that you would swear had meat in it…but it doesn’t. Delicious!
I should actually look up what the nutritional value of Jackfruit is! Seems like it’s got a lot of fans compared to the likes of say … Durian!
Ooooh. I got a mention! Cool… thanks! :)
Btw here’s an interesting(?) fact: Apparently males can’t eat too much nangka seeds as it may make ur erhem family jewels swollen :)
(not sure how far this is true but consider yourself warned :p)
Well, you did help solve the mystery, so deserving of a mention. I won’t ask how you found out (discovered) about the side effects of males eating too many Nangka seeds ;) but thanks for the warning :) I’ll take it easy on them from now on.
Well, I didn’t learn from first hand experience – that’s for sure. :P
Dave, your testicle description has just put me off this dish for life. May have even put me off my breakfast as well. Never tried this dish in Sabah. It’s a weird combination, but I suppose you never know until you’ve tasted it.
You might not want to read J the Chocoholics comment in that case! But, hey, its a fruit so can’t go wrong!
Thanks for the vegetarian suggestion! I was guessing that was a quail egg, but I stand corrected ;) I’m surprised a seed would be so soft and delicious. I have to try it!
this actually reminds me more of a dish from philippines (minus the korma), couldn’t really find that here in west malaysia
I don’t think it’s that popular in West Malaysia according to the research I did. More a home cooked thing. Hopefully it will catch on!
Reading this early in the morning makes me hungry ;) Kurma is one of the understated dish but so very good especially when it’s served with white rice. Heaven. Glad you came across this dish! And, thank you so much for the mention!
you really enjoying eating(the food). i smile a lot reading this and started to feel hungry. lol