Melinjo seed
Gnetum gnemon · Seed
Top 10 pairings
The melinjo seed is the round, olive-sized kernel of the gnetum tree, a tropical evergreen of Southeast Asia whose "fruit" ripens from green through yellow to a vivid crimson. Shelled, the ivory kernel is dense and starchy with a pronounced bitter, faintly resinous edge; pounded flat and sun-dried, then fried, it becomes emping — the pale, brittle, gently bitter Indonesian cracker eaten alongside rice meals and satay.
Picking a good onedrag
Pale, bone-dry, snaps and puffs cleanLimp and stale, or the oil gone to crayon
Dry and sealedEveryday bestFry to order beside rice, gado-gado or satay. People prone to gout are the ones told to go easy on melinjo, not everybody else.
Smell the packPlain, faintly nutty — nothing sharp, nothing shut-away
Look at the discsCream, with a few darker flecks where the kernel marked
Bend oneSnaps, with a shade more give than it ought to have
Which form, and the dateUn-fried discs loose from a bin that turns over quickly