# What, WHAT are you putting in that?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 13, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454 "2016-10-13T19:41:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454/1 "2016-10-13T19:41:48Z")

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I loooove Asian food. I spent lots of time in Indonesia growing up, and occasionally get cravings for traditional dishes. Today I made some rujak for lunch! (Also spelled rojak in Singapore/Malaysia).

It starts out as fruit salad: pineapple, mango, papaya, jambu air (water apples, a tangy/crispy/astringent Syzygium fruit which I had to leave out today, boo, never seen them in California). Then things get weirder. Cucumber. Jicama. Bean sprouts. Okay, seems fine, a little odd, maybe, but the textures and mild flavours seem to complement…

Tofu puffs. Tempeh. Hmm.

And then the best bit: the dressing. Start with lots of palm sugar and tamarind for that sweet-sour punch. Then add a ton of chili for heat. And then, the _pièce de résistance_, add the funk of belachan, fermented shrimp paste. Chopped peanuts on top for crunch.

You’ve GOT to try [this shit](http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/rojak). (This recipe adds kangkong, water spinach, which I left out. Rojak is pretty variable!)

What’s your favourite Asian combo?

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454/2 "2016-10-13T19:52:59Z")

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Sounds pretty good. One of our favorite dishes from a (sadly defunct) local Thai place was their green papaya salad: sour green shredded papaya, tomatoes, onions, etc with peanuts, chilis and the ubiquitous stinky fish sauce.

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454/3 "2016-10-13T20:59:39Z")

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> [@cher3](#):
>
> Sounds pretty good. One of our favorite dishes from a (sadly defunct) local Thai place was their green papaya salad: sour green shredded papaya, tomatoes, onions, etc with peanuts, chilis and the ubiquitous stinky fish sauce.

Bruised long beans and salted crabs are common.

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**Author:** ![Tara57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-what-are-you-putting-in-that/768454/4 "2016-10-14T16:04:57Z")

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An Indian buffet had the most delicious apple, pepper, and tomato salad. I don’t know the name and couldn’t place all of the flavors, but it was similar to this:

[http://www.themealalgorithm.com/2013/08/apple-tomato-salad.html](http://www.themealalgorithm.com/2013/08/apple-tomato-salad.html)