Serves 6.

Ingredients

1 fresh ox tongue
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chilli sauce
2 tablespoons arrack or whisky
2 teaspoons prepared grain mustard or hot English mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons ghee or oil
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
about 10 cm/4 in pandan leaf
2 large onions, thickly sliced
1 stick cinnamon
5 whole cloves
500 ml/1 pint/2 cups chicken or beef stock

Directions

Put the ox tongue into a pan of salted water and parboil. Drain, run cold water over and leave until cool enough to handle. Remove skin and cut into thick slices or large cubes.

Crush garlic with salt and mix with the ginger, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chilli sauce, arrack, mustard, sugar and pepper. Pour over the tongue, mix well and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.

In a heavy-based saucepan heat ghee or oil and fry curry leaves, pandan leaf and onions until onions are nicely browned. Add marinated tongue, whole spices and stock. Cover and simmer until tongue is very tender. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding some hot English mustard if you like it more devilish. Serve with boiled or fried potatoes.

Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)