Brilio.net - Jengkol is a typical food that has many fans because of its unique texture and distinctive taste. However, the main obstacle in processing jengkol is its pungent smell and hard texture if not cooked properly. Many people choose to use a pressure cooker to speed up the boiling process, but not everyone has this tool at home. Don't worry! There is an easy way that you can do to boil jengkol so that it is quickly soft and odor-free with only bay leaves and baking soda.
Bay leaves are known as a natural ingredient that can reduce the pungent aroma of jengkol, while baking soda helps speed up the process of softening jengkol fibers. With the right measurements and the right cooking techniques, you can enjoy delicious jengkol without having to worry about its hard texture or disturbing odor. Here are the steps summarized by BrilioFood from various sources.
Material:
- 500 grams of old jengkol
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 liter of water
- Salt to taste
- Clean water for soaking
Steps:
1. Soak the jengkol first
- Wash the jengkol thoroughly with running water.
- Soak in clean water for 6-8 hours or overnight to reduce the distinctive odor. You can change the soaking water every 3 hours for maximum results.
2. Split the jengkol before boiling it.
- Cut the jengkol in half so that the heat can penetrate it more quickly.
3. Boil with bay leaves, baking soda, and salt.
- Boil 1 liter of water in a regular saucepan.
- Put the soaked jengkol into boiling water.
- Add 5 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and a little salt to the broth.
- Let it boil over medium heat for 20-25 minutes or until the jengkol feels soft.
4. Check the texture and discard the boiled water.
- Once the jengkol is tender, throw away the boiling water so that the smell doesn't remain.
- Rinse the jengkol with clean water to ensure that all baking soda residue is gone.
5. Further storage or processing
- If you don't cook it right away, you can store jengkol in a closed container in the refrigerator.
- If you want to process it directly, jengkol can be crushed so that the spices are better absorbed when cooked.
Additional tips to prevent jengkol from smelling and to make it soft quickly:
- Use old jengkol because the texture is more chewy and not as bitter as young jengkol.
- You can add a little lime juice after boiling to further reduce the smell of jengkol.
- Do not boil jengkol for too long so that it does not disintegrate and still has a delicious texture when processed.
- Use enough water when boiling so that the smell of jengkol disappears more quickly.
This way, you can enjoy soft, odor-free jengkol, ready to be processed into various delicious dishes such as jengkol stew, jengkol rendang, or jengkol sambal goreng. Good luck!