I've tried buah keluak flavour but this was the first time I confronted it head on. It's famously an acquired taste and although I can accept it, I'm not enthralled. Although there were several nuts with generous meat stuffed in, I can't get over the fact this dish only has one drumstick. Fyi the taste is very strong in the nuts.
The sticks were for digging out all the luscious minced pork mixture locked inside the shells. The complexity of flavour was crazy- from savoury sweetness to subtle bitterness, and more in between. The dense inky gravy is also a perfect match with rice! First experience with it, but definitely not my last.
Black is indeed beautiful when it comes in the form of "Chicken Buah Keluak" from "Charlie's Peranakan".
The flesh of each midnight-coloured nut has been scraped out, and mixed with minced pork before being stuffed back into the shell. This laborious task takes the edge off the nut's subtle bitterness, and boosts sweetness and a fuller mouthfeel when you eat.
The gravy here is also damn shiok as it's much thicker and richer from the generous amount of nut flesh used in the cooking.
