Ulog #257: Walnut & Daun Kaduk Pesto Pasta with Chicken

According to Wikipedia it says that, "There is no "official" English name for it, but it is sometimes called wild betel". So I guess we'll have to just use the name we call it here which is daun kaduk.

Daun Kaduk is a type of leafy herb that is used in some cooking here in South East Asia. Some famous dishes that come to mind is the Thai salad wraps that uses this leaf to wrap some other ingredients like peanuts and chili and is eaten as an appetizer.

Another one that comes to mind is from my own country Malaysia. We use it in the Penang version of *otak-otak, a dish that is made with eggs, fish, coconut cream, some other herbs and spices like chili and is steamed in a plate of some sort which is laid with a layer of daun kaduk. Super super delicious dish that you gotta try.

Anyway, I got inspired to try out a pesto using daun kaduk as the greens for it cause I have some of these growing at the roadside of the apartment where I live. It's basically a wild herb and can be grown practically anywhere. Super inexpensive which is why I thought why not give this a shot in a Western-South East Asian fusion dish.

One of my main goals for this dish was to make it as inexpensive as possible. Call it a "poor man's pesto" if you will. Hmmm... sounds like a good name for the dish no? :D

Since being inexpensive was the goal, I swapped out pine nuts for walnuts, parmesan cheese for cheddar cheese (processed), and olive oil for palm oil. All of these are way cheaper here locally as the usual ingredients for a classic pesto would be using imported items which costs way more.

I blend all of these in a blender with some garlic into a paste and there you have it, a pesto. The leaves are harder than basil leaves so pounding this in a pastel and mortar isn't gonna work as well as with a blender or food processor.

It turn out super taste fresh but it was even better after cooked. I cooked the pesto with some additional sauteed onions and garlic, some chili flakes and slices of chicken breast, all served with some simple spaghetti. It tasted super good; extremely aromatic and fragrant. Simply delicious.

Ingredients used:

• Daun Kadok
• Walnuts (I'm gonna try using sunflower seeds as it'll make it even more inexpensive)
• Cheddar Cheese (processed)
• Garlic
• Palm oil

Here's a pic of what daun kaduk looks like. Will be intro-ing this dish in my business menu soon...... when the leaves downstairs grows XD

picture source

Other sources : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_sarmentosum

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