Muar Otak-Otak

Otak-otak means brains, for the texture rather than the contents: fish - mackerel usually - is pounded to a paste with coconut milk, chilli, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal and shallots, spread into a strip of coconut or banana leaf, folded, pinned and grilled over charcoal until the leaf chars and the inside sets. Muar is the town in Malaysia most associated with it, sold from stalls concentrated on Jalan Haji Abu, and the Muar version is wrapped in coconut leaf in slim parcels rather than the larger banana-leaf packets used in Singapore and Indonesia, and is generally spicier. People buy them by the box of fifty to take home, which is what the stalls are geared for, and they run out. It is eaten as a snack or with rice, not usually as a meal in itself.

What you actually see

• Coconut leaf parcels - slim wrapped strips charring over the charcoal.
• Pounded spiced fish - mackerel with coconut milk, chilli and lemongrass.
• Stalls on Jalan Haji Abu - the concentration the town is known for.
• Boxes of fifty - the take-home format the trade runs on.

When to go

All year; morning to early afternoon, before stalls sell out. A meal.

Honest expectations

Stalls sell out by the afternoon. It is a snack, not a meal - order rice or other dishes alongside. The chilli level is higher than the versions sold elsewhere.

Nearby

Muar's waterfront civic buildings are close; Malacca is north-west.