Ketupat Sotong

Last month I had a sudden craving for a local Kelantanese delicacy called Ketupat Sotong. A strange sweet dish made from glutinous rice stuffed into squids.


Went to the 'nearest-to-a-supermarket' we have in this quaint little town to get my squids. They only have the large ones. Ketupat sotong is best made with small sized ones. Large ones tend to be tough and chewy. I bought two anyway. Just got to get over the craving. I might die 'kempunan' [unfulfilled wish]. Hehehe! 


I used only one squid. Washed it real good, making sure to take out the 'mandible'. Then I half filled it with cleaned and soaked glutinous rice. Put it in a pot, covered with thick coconut milk and sweetened with palm sugar. Half a teaspoon of fenugreek, julienned ginger and a crushed lemongrass are used to take away the fishy smell from the squid. The pot was left to boil on slow fire until the coconut milk was reduced to about a quarter. 


It took some times to get the liquid reduced. I forgot all about it until I smelled caramel [burnt sugar]. Well, the ketupat ended up slightly overcooked. The caramelised sugar gave it a slightly concentrated taste. But, the squid was just a wee bit too big and I probably have filled it a bit too much ... the middle part failed to cook properly. The ketupat ended up being a bit too chewy.


The endeavour became a great conversation piece with friends and family. Really. The delicacy is becoming extinct. It is a weird kind of food. Squids in sweet sauce? That is not strange to me. I grew up savouring it. Why, those Japanese chefs never have any problem coming up with such food on their menu [couldn't recall any at the moment but I know I saw them on Iron Chef].


Saturday, Epit came home. Took the opportunity to take the TV to be repaired. It's been turning green, red and yellow for some time now. Had had to resort to banging it to watch my fav shows. Robin Hood hit cinemas last week and Prince of Persia opened on Thursday. Hmm ... a good excuse to go to town.


First, took the TV to the repairman. He said it could be ready in one hour. What???


I have had to send it for repair every year. I was kind of hoping it would be BEYOND repair this time so I have a great excuse to go shop for a new one. HAHAHA!!!


Anyway, I wanted to watch Robin Hood and Prince of Persia. So I went to East Coast Mall in Kuantan. Had more than an hour before the show started. I was in a shopping mall. There were lots of TV shops. We stopped at Panasonic outlet. Well, we ended up with a Viera 42" HD plasma seconds before prince of Persia started at hall 9.


Sunday morning I was still in bed in Kuantan when Ma called. Wanted me to drop by her place on my way back.


And this is the reason.

TA DAAAA !!!!!!! Ketupat Sotong


Sweet, juicy, yummy!!!