Play around with creativity in fruit presentation.
Have you ever seen a fruit salad served in an unusual way? What do you still remember until now? The thing I remember most, what I saw on the internet was about a mango being skewered and shaped like a flower, which was then seasoned with powdered spices like chili powder and salt.
In Indonesia, we have many types of fruit salad. Served with a variety of different sauces in each region in Indonesia. Mostly, we serve fruit salad with spicy sauce. Some use peanuts, and some don't.
Most of these fruit salads are served only with pieces of fruit smothered in salad dressing. So, I feel bored with the presentation.
Well, as usual, my brain isn't used to stopping to think about transforming food into new visual presentations. While looking at the fruit on the kitchen table, I finally got a new idea for serving fruit this time.
In this creation, I used mango and papaya. I use a type of mango that is not fibrous so it becomes easier for me to shape the mango.
But, for this creation, I encountered many challenges. But I really enjoyed the challenge. Although tiring, the end result makes me smile. I can see another visual of the fruit salad that I've never seen before.
One of these challenges was the condition that the mangoes and papayas that I used were almost overripe. Supposedly, the perfect fruit condition for my creation this time is a half-ripe papaya (which is already sweet and orange in color). Likewise with the ripeness of the mango which should not be too soft to get a mango texture that does not contain a lot of water.
I'm not giving up. At least, if the form I want doesn't work, I'll still eat the fruit salad like fruit pulp. So, I'm sticking with my plan to make a different visual of the fruit salad.
There are many types of sauces in this world. The most enjoyable is something about the homemade sauce. One of my favorite sauces made using a recipe from my late mom is spicy peanut sauce.
This type of sauce is made from roasted peanuts which are pounded using a traditional pestle and mortar made from river stone. But, of course, you can adjust to today's sophisticated equipment. You can grind roasted peanuts with a food processor or a grain grinder.
If you don't have roasted peanuts, you can use peanut butter. Later you just need to add lemon juice and chili flakes to make a sauce similar to mine.
For seasoning, I added two types of chilies, small green chilies, and red chilies. Also, I use tamarind to create a slightly sour taste which brings out the distinct fresh taste of the fruit salad later on. As I mentioned above, you can also use a little lemon zest, about 1 tablespoon, if you don't have tamarind. Or, using that lime feeling is fine too.
Roast Peanut.
I'm not using a definite time. I adjusted to the nuts myself. When I checked the peanuts in the air fryer, the condition of the peanuts was already giving off a good smell, also the skin of the peanuts had turned darker. If not, then I add more time to roast peanuts. But I make sure the length of time is not more than 10 minutes.
Remove Peanut Skin.
After I took the roasted peanuts out of an air fryer basket, I transferred them to another container. Then, I removed the peanut skin.
We have to have peanuts without the skin to be able to make a delicious savory sauce. Peanut skin will create a bitter taste that comes from the previous roasting method. For a simpler method, you can buy peanuts without the skin. Skinless peanuts are also available in stores in my area. It's just that the price of peanuts without skin can be more expensive than peanuts that are sold still with the thin skin.
Indeed, removing the peanut skin that sticks to the peanut meat itself is not easy. But, by roasting peanuts, this method will make the peanut skin dry and easily peel off from the peanut meat.
Grinding Roasted Peanut.
Using a pestle and mortar, grind roasted peanuts. It takes maximum patience and energy to make roasted peanuts into granular textures.
We don't need a texture that is too smooth because later it will be mixed with water. Having a slightly rough texture of roasted peanuts can actually make the sensation of the fruit salad even more enjoyable later.
Mix Grinded Peanuts with Other Ingredients.
After getting the roasted texture that has been crushed after being pounded, then add palm sugar powder, crushed chili, tamarind, and salt.
Add Enough Water.
Peanut mixture in dry texture is ready to be used as a sauce after adding water. We can store the peanut mixture in a dry texture for the next few days.
After the peanut sauce is ready, then it's time to prepare the fruits to be served as a fruit salad.
I use a special drawstring tool to shape the fruit like long slices similar to noodles. It's quite a challenge for me to grate mangoes and papayas because they are overripe and have a lot of water.
After getting mango and papaya with shavings texture, I arranged the shavings one by one in a circular cake mold. I carefully arrange them directly on the serving plate.
Carefully pour the spicy peanut sauce on the outside of the fruit that has been neatly arranged on a serving plate.
I'm so proud of myself! Well, I can go through the challenge of shaping the overripe mango and papaya for this version of the salad.
A visual display of fruit salad that I've never seen and made before. I'm so grateful everything worked great! Would you like to try this refreshing fruit salad?
No need to worry about the spicy taste that you can't tolerate. If it's too spicy, you can add palm sugar to reduce the spiciness. I hope you have a wonderful day trying something new!
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
Contact Person: [email protected]
Discord: anggreklestari#3009
