Otah

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 12:13:19 EST, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

>OTAH
>
>OTAH + SINGAPORE--1,090 Google hits, 44 Google Groups hits
>
>"Otah" is not in the revised OED. The editors must not get out much.
>
>(GOOGLE)
>Otah
>Singapore Recipes. Otah. Imagine fresh, de-boned mackerel marinated with
>coconut milk, freshly ground chilli, onions, lemon grass, blue ginger and
>turmeric...

This is more commonly known in Malay/Indonesian as <otak-otak> (pronounced
/ota? ota?/), a reduplicated form of <otak> 'brain'.  (The mushy quality
of the fish paste resembles beef brain, I presume.)

--Ben Zimmer