My Homemade 'Acar'

Yes... I made acar (pickled vegetables) last week. This is not my first attempt ever since I got the recipe from my mum about 3-4 years ago. I still remember my first trial was so successful, even my English colleagues loved them very much. However the subsequent trials didn't go down that well and not as good as the first time. Nonetheless I still thought they tasted okay for me.

The main ingredient for acar is cucumbers. Others include carrots, chili, ginger and garlic.



The tedious bit of making acar is that it involves cutting, cutting and more cutting.....



A lot of patience and effort required.

The excess juices of the cucumbers and carrots need to be removed. I would usually leave this job to Frankie as it requires much stronger muscles.

On top of that they can be pressed under heavy objects to achieve maximum result. This process usually takes hours.

Other ingredients should have been dried naturally under the sun. However being in the country where sunlight is scarce not to mention during winter, the other option is to fry them.

Next, proceed with the preparation of sauce.



Once everything is ready, mix all the ingredients together in one big pot.

While preparing the sauce, I realised I didn't have any chili paste left. It made such a huge difference because without a taste of spicy favour (even though with the shredded chili in it) the acar didn't taste like acar! I had no choice but to send Frankie off to a local shop to get some, and he got me chili powder instead as he couldn't find any chili paste.

There might be some mixed up in the sequencing but at least I was satisfied with the result, albeit I think my first trial was still the best.

Finally... with some sesame seeds and prawn crackers, I am very much enjoying my homemade acar.