KANCIL – Bahasa Indonesia pronounced kan-chil. Kancil is a mouse deer.
We were moored alongside a small fishing village on the small Indonesian island of Panebangan in the South China Sea. The friendly people in this village welcomed us with open arms, sunny smiles and big hearts. They gave us a bunch of bananas to greet us, and the following morning, we were even given breakfast on one of the fishing boats. It was a terrific experience.
The night we stayed there, we had a bunch of guys on board for drinks. Later that night, Rudi returned with a couple of kancil he had shot. After snapping a photo of his catch, Rudi went off to clean the meat. He soon returned to give us some.
It was our first time eating kancil, so I wanted to make a curry that wasn’t too overpowering. I made a paste with the following ingredients.
In a mortar, with a pestle, I blended;
- Asian shallots
- lemongrass
- candlenuts
- ginger
- galangal
- turmeric
- garlic
- chilli
- peppercorns
- kaffir lime leaves
I heated some oil in a pan and fried the paste for a few minutes. Then I added a tin of coconut cream. I cooked, stirring for about five minutes before adding the kancil. Lowered the heat and simmered uncovered for about 1 and 1/2 hours.
Verdict: It was very nice. The kancil was not too gamey and was in fact, a delicious meat. I did use five candlenuts because that is what fell out of the bag. It was too many. Next time I would use only two candlenuts.
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