Proben is the proventriculus, the small stomach that sits in front of the chicken gizzard, boiled, breaded and deep-fried. It is a common street food sold by the stick with spicy vinegar or sweet fishball sauce.
1 hour 10 minutes · Serves 4
Ingredients for Proben
500 g chicken proventriculus (proben), from the chicken section of the palengke
1 tablespoon salt, for cleaning and boiling
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt, for the coating
1 egg
1/2 cup cold water
3 cups cooking oil, for deep-frying
Bamboo skewers
For the dip: 1/2 cup cane vinegar, 1/4 onion (chopped), 2 siling labuyo (chopped), a pinch of salt
How to cook Proben
1.Rub the proben with a little salt and rinse well. Cut each one open lengthwise and rinse out any grit or loose lining.
2.Put the proben in a pot with the garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, the rest of the cleaning salt and enough water to cover. Boil for 25 to 30 minutes until tender, then drain and cool.
3.Mix the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, ground pepper and coating salt. Put half of it in a second bowl and whisk in the egg and cold water to make a batter.
4.Dip each piece in the batter, then roll it in the dry flour mix, pressing so the coating sticks.
5.Heat the oil to about 170 C. Fry in batches for 4 to 5 minutes until golden and crisp, then drain on paper.
6.Stir together the vinegar, onion, chili and salt for the dip. Thread 4 or 5 pieces on each skewer and serve hot with the dip or fishball sauce.
