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Traditional Penang Acar Recipe: A Pickled Vegetable Dish with Amazing Sour, Sweet and Spicy Taste
Penang Acar is a special pickled vegetable dish. It’s famous for it’s appetising, sour, sweet and spicy great taste. Penang Acar is a Penang Peranakan Nyonya dish, another Malaysia authentic dish. In southeast asian restaurants, you have probably seen this dish before; perhaps served before meals, or together at the side with a main dish. It is delicious eaten as an appetizer on its own, with rice or sometimes as a side dish, served together with Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice) or even Nasi Kunyit (Yellow Turmeric Rice).
Penang Spicy Pickled Vegetables: A Pickled Dish That Tastes Even Better With Time
Also known as the Nyonya Pickle, Penang Acar tastes better when the pickles are left overnight chilled in the fridge to allow all spices to come together. This Acar Recipe is great for preparing for the entire family too. Can be left in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
As usual, enjoy!
Penang Acar (Penang Spicy Pickled Vegetables)
Penang Acar is a special pickled vegetable dish. It’s famous for it’s appetizing, sour, sweet and spicy great taste. Penang Acar is a Penang Peranakan Nyonya dish, another Malaysia authentic dish. It is delicious eaten as an appetizer, with rice or sometimes as a side dish served together with Nasi Lemak or even Nasi Kunyit. Penang Acar tastes better when the pickles are left overnight chilled in the fridge to allow all spices to come together. Can be left in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
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Ingredients
- 500 g cucumber, soft centre removed, cut lengthwise with the skin and cut into 1 1/2 inch strips
- 200 g cabbage, cut into big pieces
- 200 g carrots, skinned and cut into 1 1/2 strips
- 200 g long beans, cut into 1 1/2 inch strips
- 200 g pineapple, cut into small pieces
- 100 g roasted peanuts, ground
- 100 g white sesame, toasted
- 1 tablespoon salt, to soak vegetables
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 450 ml white vinegar
- 180 g sugar
- 6 tablespoons oil
Spice Paste: (ground) - All the below is to be grinded
- 10 fresh chillies
- 5 in dried chillies, soak in hot water until soft
- 10 shallots, skinned
- 5 cloves garlic, skinned
- 2 cm fresh tumeric, skinned
- 2 cm galangal, skinned
- 3 candle nuts
- 3 tablespoons coriander seeds, or 20g
- 20 g belacan, toasted
- Put cucumber and carrot strips into a bowl. Mix well with 1 tablespoon salt and leave aside for 30 minutes. Wash thoroughly with water, drain and squeeze out water from the strips. (this is to retain crunchiness texture).
- Fill a large pot with water (half full). Add 250ml vinegar and bring the water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt to the water.
- Blanch each of the vegetables in batches for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain well.
- Dry the vegetables for 1 hour.
- Heat a large wok. Heat up the oil and fry the red chilli paste for about 3 minutes. Then add in the ground shallot mixtures.
- Fry until aromatic and the oil separates. This takes about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining 200ml vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Then stir in the ground peanuts and mix thoroughly.
- Lastly add in the vegetables and stir well.
- Garnished with toasted sesame seeds.
- It can be served immediately but acar taste best overnight in the refrigerator after the flavours have developed.
- Keep chill in the fridge. Can keep for about 2 weeks.
Instructions
Enjoy!
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To slice and cut vegetables:
Rinse well cucumbers
Slice into long strips
Rinse and skin carrots
Cut into strips
Wash and rinse well cabbage
Cut into big pieces
Wash and rinse long beans
Cut into long strips
Skin a small and ripe pineapple
Cut into small pieces
Ground red and dried chillies
Ground shallots, garlics, ginger, galangal, tumeric, coriander seeds and belacan
Toast and ground coarsely peanuts
Toast some white sesame seeds
Pour the vinegar for blanching and cooking the vegetables
Season cucumber and carrot strips with salt
After 30 minutes, remove excess water and squeeze out as much water as possible
To blanch the vegetables: ( in batches )
Blanch cabbage pieces in boiling water with vinegar added
Then blanch the long beans
Next blanch the squeeze cucumber and carrot strips
Drain and dry the blanched cabbage and long beans
Also drain and dry the cucumber and carrot strips
To cook the Acar:
Heat up 5 tablespoons oil and put in the chilli paste
Fry the chilli paste
Add the ground onion paste
Fry until fragrant and the oil separates
Add in vinegar
Add in sugar and salt
Stir in ground peanut and mix thoroughly
Last, add in the blanched and dried vegetables
Stir to mix well
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds
Ready to serve after chilled in refrigerator preferably overnight.
Can be served as a side dish with Nasi Kunyit or Nasi Lemak with curry chicken too.
SO ……. ENJOY!
13 comments
Delicious
Thank you Angie. I love nyonya acar very much. y neighbour in childhood days make very good acar. Some that I get from the market in KL are either too soury or watery that I have resorted to making them on my own when the craving starts. Wonderful pictures with the step by step instructions. Anyway I couldn’t find any print button to print them for referral later. Maybe you can add a print button. If there is maybe make it more prominent.
Thanks for sharing. Similar to my mom’s recipe.
You are most welcome.
❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹👍👍👍Thank you very much 4 sharing u deserved thumb up👍👍👍.
Hi, thanks for viewing. Enjoy!
Great recipe! Thks 🙏 so much for sharing. Newbie like me needs all the help to cook something edible 😅
[…] thing to have in the fridge is mixed spiced pickles – half salad, half condiment – such as Malaysian penang acar. The veg here requires a bit more preparation. Huangkitchen.com’s Angie Liew says to mix 200g […]
[…] to have in the fridge is mixed spiced pickles – half salad, half condiment – such as Malaysian penang acar. The veg here requires a bit more preparation. Huangkitchen.com’s Angie Liew says to mix 200g […]
[…] thing to have in the fridge is mixed spiced pickles – half salad, half condiment – such as Malaysian penang acar. The veg here requires a bit more preparation. Huangkitchen.com’s Angie Liew says to mix 200g […]
[…] the fridge is blended spiced pickles – half salad, half condiment – comparable to Malaysian penang acar. The veg right here requires a bit extra preparation. Huangkitchen.com’s Angie Liew says to […]
Yes, it can be quite a laborious task, with a lot of cutting, slicing and chopping. But its worth the effort when you see your family enjoy feasting into it. Thanks for comment Esther.
Nyonya loves pickled vegetables of all kinds. My Nyonya MIL is a huge fan and she used to make this dish. Nice to eat but a lot of preperation works.