Budu

Malay style fish sauce

Budu with green chilies and durian

Budu with chilies, diced shallots and durian

Budu - some like it, some don't. Some must have it, some can't bear to smell it. Have it your way then. This is the weird story of budu. The first time I heard about budu was in California during my undergraduate days when a group of young Malay kampung boys came to eat at our apartment. I almost cried laughing (LOL) as budu is almost phonetically similar to bodoh (stupid). I was intrigued by the similarity and the differences in meaning. I watched the boys ate rice with budu.... It appeared that the boys loved budu so much and needed budu to eat their rice (second and third helpings). I was thiilled by the discovery that Malay boys enjoyed budu with rice. From that point onward I decided to research on budu... and that has occurred for the last 30 years!!!! I'm still researching. This is what I can tell you about budu - budu is not synonymous with bodoh. The boys who ate budu all performed better in their studies and became foremost physicists! What say you?

In Malay cuisine, budu is served with rice, some serve it for lunch and others for dinner. There are many ways to serve budu. Budu can be served with/without the following:

chilies
diced shallots
durian
tempoyak
lime juice
limau kasturi juice
petai
jering
buah kerdas
What else? All fresh vegetables:-
cucumber
tomatoes
boiled ladies fingers
boiled cabbage
boiled long beans
boiled brinjals (aubergine, terung)
cashew shoots (pucuk ketereh)
sambung nyawa
kangkung Jepun
tapioca shoots (pucuk ubi kayu)

What's in budu? Depends on brand.

Budu Selera Kampung (320ml)

Budu Selera Kampung (320 ml) contains:
ikan bilis (anchovies)
garam (salt)
gula (sugar)
asam jawa (tamarind juice)
tanpa pewarna (no colorants)

Budu Pati Ikan Bilis (100ml)

Budu Pati Ikan Bilis (100 ml) contains:
ikan bilis
asam jawa
manisan
air
garam
100g budu supplies ~54 kcal energy from protein - it is a high-protein food (11.4g protein/100g budu).

Next time someone offers you budu, just say "yes, please" and smile, it's budu magic! Have I done justice to budu? Bon appetite!

Cara buat budu:
https://www.facebook.com/664852093624181/videos/831635156945873/