Paniki Manado - Ethnic Foods R Us

Paniki Manado is basically bat soup. Yes, you read that right. And while Paniki Manado may not be among the most well known Indonesian dishes, it is definitely popular there. This recipe was included in our post titled, “7 Bizarre Ethnic Food Delicacies” and it is truly one of the more distinctly unique examples of Indonesian foods.

Paniki Manado (Photo Attributed to Author: Mattjlc)

If you want to try this one out, be sure you get bats that are disease-free – something that is not very common in many regions of the world.

Paniki Manado Recipe-

Ingredients:

(Makes 4 Servings)

6-8 fruit, fox, or flying mouse bats, well washed but not skinned or eviscerated
fresh water
2 tbsp. fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped fine
2 large white or yellow onions, peeled and rough chopped
12 to 16 large cloves garlic, peeled and rough chopped
freshly ground coarse sea salt and black peppercorns, to taste
soy sauce
unsweetened coconut milk
coconut cream, for accompaniment
8 green onions, trimmed and rough chopped, for garnish

Directions:

Place the bats in a large cooking pot; cover with water plus a depth of 1″ more, and then add in the ginger, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
Bring to a vigorous, rolling boil, and cook for 1 full hour.
Strain the mixture through a colander into a second pot, retaining the broth.
Skin the bats, and discard the skins.
De-bone the bat meat, and remove any other parts you prefer. Lots of people prefer to remove the heads and tails, and the wings are basically meatless, anyway. But it is a matter of personal preference. Whatever parts you use, chop the meat into small bite-sized chunks.
Return the bat meat to the broth and reheat; add in soy sauce and coconut milk to taste. Boil the soup, uncovered, until your preferred consistency is achieved – the longer you cook, the thicker the liquid will become.
Serve your Paniki Manado while nice and hot, garnished with a generous sprinkling of chopped green onions. Also have more soy sauce and coconut milk on the table for people to season additionally to their tastes.