Indonesian Foods

Brongkos

2009-12-30T10:44:00.000+07:00

Spicy meat and vegetables stew

5 tbs vegetable oil
250 g stew meat, cubed
1 stalk lemon grass, brusied
1 salam leaf
2 kaffir lime leaves
750 ml thin santan and 500 ml thick santan from 1 coconut
150 g cowpeas, boiled till tender and drained
3 chayote, cubed
50 g bird’s eye chilies

Spice-Paste

6 shallots
3 clove garlic
6 keluwak nuts, take out the nut meats
3 red chilies
2 cm fresh kencur
1 cm fresh ginger
1 cm fresh lengkuas
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar

•Heat the oil and fry the spice-paste until fragrant. Add the cubed meat meat, lemon grass, salam and kaffir lime leaf. Stir the mixture around
•When meat has changed color, add the thin santan and simmer until tender. Add the cowpeas.
•After santan has come to a boil add the thick santan, the chayote and the bird’s eye chillies. Continue cooking stiring occasionally, until done. Remove and serve.

PECEL

2009-12-21T10:25:00.000+07:00

Cooked vegetables salad with peanuts sauce.

In Indonesia, people would use such vegetables as yard long beans, cabbage, kangkung (water convolvulus), bean sprout, spinach, cassava leaves, kecombrang leaves (phaemoria haemispheria), kenikir leaves, magkuk leaves, and others. Other vegetables such as slice potatoes, green beans, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli etc can be used. Use your imagination!
The vegetables should be cleaned, cut in bite sized pieces and lightly cooked. Arrange decoratively on a big platter and serve accompanied with Sambal Pecel in separated bowl. Mmmm…..it’s yummy…

Sambal Pecel
250 g peanuts or substitute 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
vegetable oil
2 red chilies
3 bird’s eye chilies
2 cloves garlic
1 cm fresh kencur
1 kaffir lime leaf
¼ tsp terasi
1 tsp palm or brown sugar
2 tsp tamarind dissolved in 2 tbs water
salt to taste

• fry the peanuts until golden brown color. Remove and set aside
• fry the red chilies, bird’s eye chilies, garlic and kencur together until they are somewhat limp, then pound them to paste with the kaffir lime leaf
• Grind the peanuts until smooth. add terasi, sugar, tamarind, salt and he pounded spice-paste. Blend till smooth
• Add some hot water and blend to consistency of thick cream

Asinan (vegetable salad)

2009-12-14T08:03:00.001+07:00

Asinan
Vegetable salad
Serves 6 people

3 young cabbage leaves, shredded
100 g beansprouts, topped and tailed
3 cucumber, juliened
1 chinese radish, juliened
2 bunches salted swatow mustard
1 bunch small spring onion (lokiu) cleaned and the green part cut off
enough mild vinegar to soak the vegetables
krupuk
50 g fried peanuts

sauce
25 g small dried shrimp
2 red chilies
5 bird’s eye chillies
20 g fried peanuts
1 tbs vinegar
salt
200 g palm sugar or brown sugar
boiled in 375 ml water until syrupy and strained

-soak all the cleaned vegetables in the vinegar for two hours.
-Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: soak the dried shrimp briefly in hot water and drain
-Pound the shrimp, red chilies, bird’s eye chilies and peanuts to a paste. Add vinegar, salt and sugar syrup to the mixture. blend until smooth
-Drain the vegetable. pour the vinegar, salt and sugar syrup to the mixture. Blend until smooth
-Drain the vegetable. pour the sauce over the vegetable and let it sit for 30 minutes until the flavors has been absorbed

to serve
put the vegetables in a deep bowl
Scatter the fried peanut and the krupuk on top

Note
the best vinegar to use would be cider vinegar

Bubur Ayam (chicken porridge)

2009-12-10T14:18:00.001+07:00

Serves approximately 6 people

300 g chicken
200 g rice
1L water
salt to taste
½ tsp ground pepper
2 pieces cakue, finely sliced
50 g Tientsin preserved vegetable
fried shallot slivers
finely sliced spring onions

•Simmer chicken in water to cover until tender with some salt. Fry the chicken, debone and shred the meat.
•Reserve 2L of the chicken broth.
•Wash and drain the rice. Boil in 1L water until grains are tender to the bite. Add chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering at low heat until porridge is ready and there is no separation of liquid and rice. Add salt and pepper.
•serve porridge in deep bowls. Garnish with the cakue, Tientsin preserved vegetables, shredded chicken, fried shallots silvers and sliced spring onions. Add drops of light soy to taste. serve garlic chili sauce on the side.

Note
Cakue is savory roll that can be purchased in Chinese market
For added nutrition, a raw egg yolk can be added on top of hot porridge

Ikan bandeng bumbu BALI (Spiced fish in red hot sauced)

2009-11-09T08:47:00.000+07:00

Ikan Bandeng bumbu bali
Spiced fish in red hot sauce
Serves 10 people

750 g banding (milk fish) or pomfret
2 cm fresh turmeric, pounded to a paste
½ tsp salt
1 liem, squeezed
Vegetable oil
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
375 ml water
3 tbs sweet soy sauce

Spice- paste
75 g red chilies
10 shallots
5 cloves tamarind dissolved in 1 tbs water
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar
• Clean the fish and cut in several slices. Rub with the turmeric, salt and lime juice. Let it stand for awhile
• Heat the oil. Add the fish and fry till golden brown. Remove and set aside
• Fry the pounded spice paste and the lemon grass, water and sweet soy sauce. After it has come to boil, add the fried fish. Stir and simmer until the sauce has thickened and become oily

Keripik tempe (Crisp fried tempe)

2009-11-07T11:04:00.000+07:00

Keripik Tempe

Crisp fried tempe

600 g tempe
200 ml water
½ tsp slaked lime water
100 g rice flour mixed with 25g corn flour
Vegetable oil

Spice-paste
4 candlenut
1 clove garlic
1 tsp coriander seeds
Salt to taste
1 cm fresh kencur

• Slice the tempe in thin 3i/2 x 5 squares set aside
• Mix the spice paste together with the water and slaked lime water.
• Add the rice flour and corn flour and blend till smooth
• Heat the oil in a wok. Dip the tempe in the butter and deep-fry until it is golden brown and crisp

Note:
Take care that the oil is not too hot, otherwise the batter and the tempe will not be done at the same time.

Chicken steam specially

2009-07-23T10:54:00.000+07:00

1of Chicken and divide to be 2 parts
1-teaspoon salt
1-teaspoon sugar
Four pieces garlic and smashed
Three onions leafs, chopping

Spice pasta
1 cm ginger, pare and chopping
Four piece garlic and chopping it
¼-teaspoon salt
4-tablespoon cooking oil

How to make it is

Smear chicken with salt, sugar, onions leafs and chopping garlic so steam until 30 minutes
After well done, take off to bones and chopping.
To serve frying ginger and onion until color has changed to be golden yellow,
Then shower to steaming chicken. That is yummy and healthy!

Rice receipes

2009-01-13T11:46:00.003+07:00

Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice)
Serves approximately 20 people

1 ½ kg long grain rice, washed and drained
1 ½ tbs grated fresh turmeric
2 ¼ L thin santan from 1 ½ coconut
3 stalks lemon grass, bruised
4 salam leaves
4 kaffir lime leaves
Salt to taste
2 tsp lime juice

•Steam the rice for about 25 minutes until it half-cooked, then remove.
•Dissolve the turmeric with a bit of water and strain the liquid. Mix the turmeric water with the santan and the rest of ingredients. Heat it to boiling.
•Pour the rice into the santan mixture. Continue stirring the mixture until the santan has been absorbed by the rice. Take the rice off the heat and stir in the lime juice to give it a good color. Steam the rice until done (about 60 minutes).

TO SERVE
Nasi kuning is generally accompany by various side dishes. The combination of side-dishes provides contrasts in flavor and texture and is as follows:
•Hati Ayam Kombinasi / Fried Chicken Livers
•Sambal Goreng Printil / Miniature Meatballs in Coconut Sauce
•Sambal Goreng Kering Tempe / Spiced crisp-fried tempe
•Kroket Udang / Shrimp Croquettes
•Sarang Burung Isi Dadar / Bird’s Nests With Quail Eggs
•To decorate : use sliced cucumbers and radishes

Nasi Kebuli (Savory Rice With Chicken)
Serves 8-10 people

750 g rice, washed and drained
10 tbs vegetable oil
3 cardamom seeds
5 cloves
½ nutmeg, grated
5 cm cinnamon
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
1 chicken, cut into 5 cm long serving pieces
Water
Fried shallot slivers
½ pineapple, peeled and sliced

SPICE-PASTE
1 tsp coriander seeds
15 cumin seeds
1 tsp ground pepper
2 cm fresh ginger
10 shallots
5 cloves garlic
Salt to taste

•Steam the rice until it is half-cooked.
•Heat the oil in a work and fry the spice-paste mixture together with the cardamom seeds, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and lemon grass until fragrant.
•Add the pieces of chicken and stir-fry until everything is coated with the spices and has changed color. Add just enough water to cover the chicken. Simmer until tender. Take out the chicken and strain the broth.
•Add the broth to the rice in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. The broth should be 1 cm above the surface of the rice. If you have less than this, add hot water to make up the difference. Boil the rice until the broth has been absorbed.
•Mix the chicken into rice and steam the rice until it is done (about 50 minutes).
•Serve on a large dish and garnish with the fried shallots slivers and sliced pineapple.

Nasi Goreng Bahari (Fried Rice With Seafood)
Serve approximately 8-10 people

5 tbs vegetable oil
250 g peeled shrimp
Crabmeat from 3 boiled crabs
750 g cold boiled rice
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce

SPICE-PASTE
5 red chilies
6 cloves garlic
Salt to taste

•Heat the oil in a work and fry the pounded spice-paste until fragrant. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until they turn red. Add the crabmeat.
•Add all of the rice, the sweet soy and light soy sauce. Stir continuously until everything is well-blended and heated. Serve on a large dish, granished with a fried egg or a shredded omellete and slices of cucumber.

NOTE
It is important that the rice used has been boiled a long time before you intend to fry it, so that it has a chance to cool.

Nasi Briyani (Rice With Lamb, Raisins and Cashew Nuts)
Serve approximately 10 people

800 g rice
500 ml water
1 tsp salt
250 ml milk
Ghee / butter
¼ tsp grated fresh turmeric
½ kg lamb, cut into small cubes
1 cm nutmeg
5 cm cinnamon
5 cloves
5 cardamom seeds
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
1 L water

SPICE-PASTE
10 shallots
5 cloves garlic
2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cm fresh ginger
2 cm fresh turmeric
250 g tomatoes
Salt to taste

GARNISHING
250 g fried cashew nuts
100 g raisins
100 g fried shallots
100 g boiled peas

•Steam the rice until half-cooked, then take it off the fire.
•Put the rice into a saucepan together; with the water, salt, milk, 3 tbs of ghee / butter and ¼ tsp turmeric. Stir the mixture and boil until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Remove.
•Heat 5 tbs ghee in a work, fry the pounded spice-paste until fragrant. Add the lamb, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and lemon grass. Stir until everything is well-blended. Add water and boil until water has evaporated and the meat is tender.
•Mix the lamb into the rice and put everything into a steamer.
•Steam until the rice is done, about 50 minutes.
•Serve garnished with the cashew nuts, raisins, fried shallots and boiled peas.

Nasi Goreng Petai (Fried Rice With Petai)
Serve approximately 8-10 people

5 tbs vegetable oil
3 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 pod of petai, peeled and each bean sliced in four pieces
Cold cooked rice boiled from 750 g rice
3 tomatoes, sliced
2 cabbage leaves, shredded
Fried emping

SPICE-PASTE
5 red chilies
6 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp terasi
6 petai beans
Salt to taste

•Heat the oil, fry the pounded spice-paste until fragrant. Add the sweet soy sauce and the petai. Stir-fry until well-blended. Add the rice and continue stirring until everything is well-blended and heated. Remove.
•Serve garnished with fried shallots. Put the sliced tomatoes, slivers shredded cabbage and the fried emping around the rice.

NOTE
Petai (Parkia speciosa) is a kind of bean. Remove the skin and use the pod. Petai is used to add a unique smell and taste to a dish.

Lopis (Sticky Rice Rolls)
Serve about 10 people

200 g white glutinous rice
1 tbs slaked lime water (kapur sirih water)
Banana leaves or alumunium foil
¼ grated coconut to which salt to taste is added
Brown sugar syrup

•Soak the glutinous rice in water for an hour and drain. Add the calcium water to make Lopis more solid and stir.
•Make the banana leaf rolls as pictured below, fill 4/5 full with the glutinous rice. Secure the ends and tie the rolls with string so they will not burst during the cooking.
•Put the rolls in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil for 4 hours, drain and allow the rolls to cool. Add more hot water during the cooking when necessary.
•Serve the Lopis cut in 1 ½ cm thick slices. Sprinkle the grated coconut on top and pour the brown sugar syrup over the Lopis.

NOTE
The slaked lime water is made with 1 tbs slaked lime mix with 1 cup of water.
To make the syrup, boil the palm sugar with water. Continue boiling until you have obtained a thick syrup. You may substitute brown sugar.

Ketupat (Compressed Boiled Rice Packets)
Serve around 10 people

400 g rice
10 ketupat containers, woen of coconut leaf
Water

•Wash the rice several times and drain.
•Fill the Ketupat containers 1/3 full and put them in a saucepan or the bottom part of a rice steamer filled with water to cover all the Ketupat. Boil for 4 to 5 hours; add more hot water if necessary.
•Drain, and allow the rolls to cool off.

NOTE
Lontong is made in the same way as Ketupat. The difference is that the rice is filled into rolls made of banana leaves (see the recipe for Lopis).

Arem-Arem (Stuffed Rolls of Rice)
About 10-15 rolls of 10 cm length each.

500 g rice
Thin santan from ½ coconut
2 salam leaves
Salt to taste
Banana leaves, or substitute alumunium foil

STUFFING
2 tbs vegetable oil
6 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 red chilies, finely sliced
1 cm fresh langkuas, bruised 1 salam leaf
250 g ground beef
250 ml thick santan from ½ coconut

SPICE-PASTE
½ tomato
2 cm fresh kencur
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar

•Put the rice and enough santan to reach 5 cm above the surface of the rice in a saucepan. Add the salam leaves and the salt. Boil until the santan is absorbed by the rice and the grains are al dente.
•Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing : heat the oil and fry the pounded shallots, garlic, chilies, langkuas, salam leaf and the spice-paste until fragrant. Add the meat and stir until meat stiffens. Add the thick santan and simmer until the beef is tender and the santan has been absorbed.
•Take a piece of banana leaf or alumunium foil. Put in 2 tbs of the rice, flatten it and put 2 tsp of the meat mixture on top. Enclose the filling with another 2 tbs of rice. Roll the banana leaf or foil into a roll. Secure the ends tightly. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients.
•Steam the Arem-Arem rolls in a steamer for about 90 minutes.

NOTE
Abon (shredded, spiced meat), Sambal Goreng Hati or Acar Kuning can be used as a stuffing instead. A beaten egg can be added to the cooked rice mixture or sheets of omelette can be wrapped around the rolls before wrapping them in banana leaf or foil.

Ketupat Ketan (Boiled Glutinous Rice Packets)
About 20 packets

800 g white glutinous rice
20 Ketupat containers, measuring 6 x 7 cm
3 L thin santan and 1 L thick santan, made from 2 coconuts
1 tbs salt

•Wash the glutinous rice and drain.
•Fill the Ketupat in a saucepan and add the thin santan to cover the Ketupat. Add salt.
•Boil until santan has almost evaporated, then add the thick santan.
•Continue boiling until santan has thickened and stir continuously.
•When oil starts coming out the santan, take Ketupat out and drain. Allow to cool.

Nasi Goreng Babat (Fried Rice With Ripe)
Serves 8-10 people

500 g tripe, washed and cleaned
Water
Salt to taste
1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
5 tbs vegetable oil
2 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce
Cold cooked rice made from ¾ kg rice
3 tbs fried shallots slivers
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced

SPICE-PASTE
5 red chilies
6 shallots
6 cloves garlic
Salt to taste

•Boil the tripe with water to cover, salt and the ginger until tender and the water has evaporated. Cut in 1 x 3 cm pieces.
•Heat the oil, fry the pounded spice-paste until fragrant. Put in the tripe and stir well. Add the sweet soy and the light soy. Finally, add the rice and keep stirring the mixture until all the rice grains are well-coated and everything is blended. Take off the fire.
•Garnish with fried shallots slivers, the sliced tomatoes and the cucumbers.

Nasi Bumbu (Tasty Rice With Herbs)
Serves 12 people

800 g long grain rice, washed and drained
3 tbs vegetable oil
½ chicken, cut into 12 pieces
6 cloves
6 cm cinnamon
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2 salam leaves
1 L thin santan from 1 coconut
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 pieces each

SPICE-PASTE
2 tbs coriander seeds
2 tbs cumin seeds
2 cm fresh ginger
2 cm turmeric
Salt to taste

•Steam the rice until is is half-cooked.
•Heat the oil in a work and fry the pounded spice paste until fragrant. Add the chicken pieces, cloves, cinnamon, lemon, lemon grass and salam leaves. Stir and add the santan.
•Cook until the chicken is tender, add the half-cooked rice and cook until all the water has been absorbed by the rice.
•Mix the boiled eggs and potatoes into the rice and steam the mixture until done.

Bubur Manado (Tinotuan)
Serves 6-8 people

250 g long grain rice
2 ears of corn, kernels stripped from the cobs
Salt to taste
Water
½ melinjo leaves
5 long beans
½ cup spinach leaves
½ cup kangkung leaves (water convolvulus)
200 g pumpkin, cut in 2 x 2 cm piaces of 1 cm thickness
20 kemangi (Horrapa basil) leaves

•Boil the rice together with the corn kernels and the salt in enough water to cover rice to a depth of 6 cm.
•After the water comes to a boil, add the melinjo leaves and the long beans, cut in 5 cm lengths. Cook until the rice is half done; add the spinach leaves, the kangkung, the pumpkin and the basil. Simmer tightly covered, until rice is done. Remove.
•Serve with tomato sambal and fried salted fish.

Sambal Tomat
•Mix finely sliced red chilies, bird’s eye chilies, shallots and tomatoes together. Add salt and stir until everything is well-blended.

Bubur Ayam (Chicken Porridge)
Serves approximately 6 people

300 g chicken
200 g rice
1 L water
Salt to taste
½ tsp ground pepper
2 pieces cakue, finely sliced
50 g Tientsin preserved vegetable
Fried shallots slivers
Finely sliced spring onions

•Simmer chicken in water to cover until tender with some salt. Fry the chicken, debone and shred the meat.
•Reserve 2 L of the chicken broth.
•Wash and drain the rice. Boil in 1 L water until grains are tender to the bite. Add chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering at low heat until porridge is ready and there is no separation of liquid and rice. Add salt and pepper.
•Serve porridge in deep bowls. Garnish with the cakue, Tientsin preserved vegetable, shredded chicken, fried shallots sliver and sliced spring onions. Add drops of light soy to taste. Serve garlic chili sauce on the side.

NOTE
Cakue is a savory roll that can be purchased in Chinese markets. For added nutrition, a raw egg yolk can be added on top of the hot porridge.

Lemang (Glutinous Rice Cooked in A Bamboo Container)
About 40 slices

PREPARATION
•Obtain a segment of bamboo with an inside width of 5 cm nd a length of 45-50 cm. The bamboo should be no more than 1 cm thick – which lets the heat penetrate. Thicker bamboo prevent the glutinous rice from cooking evenly; too thin, and the bamboo will catch fire. One end of the bamboo will should be hollow and the other end stoppered by the end of the internode.
•Line the inside of the bamboo tube with banana leaves will be needed. It should be lined with the banana leaf fibers following the inner curve of the bamboo tube so that the leaves will not split during the cooking.

600-650 g white glutinous rice, cooked in water for 3-5 hours, then washed and drained
800-850 ml thick santan from 3 mature coconuts
Salt to taste

•Fill the bamboo tube ¾ full with the glutinous rice.
•Top it up with santan until about 5 cm above the surface of the rice.
•Tie down a banana leaf lid firmly and tightly over the mouth of the tube.
•Cook the rice by placing the bamboo tube over a low fire for 6-7 hours.

COOKING THE LEMANG
•Construct a barbeque pit, made of red bricks. The height of the spit should be no more than 4 bricks.
•Rig a crossbar of wood or bamboo acrros the pit.
•Prepare a fire, using charcoal, firewood or dried coconut husks. The fire should not be too hot, to prevent the bamboo from catching fire, and kept at a constant level of heat.
•Place the bamboo tube so that it leans against the crossbar, with the hollow end at the top.
•Turn the tube every half hour.
•After one hour, turn the bamboo tube upside-down. Make sure the banana leaf lid is tied tightly to the bamboo. Reverse it again after another hour. Continue this process until the Lemang is cooked, about 6-7 hours.
•When the Lemang is cooked and has cooled off, shake the tube and the Lemang will slide out. Unwrap from its banana leaf coverings and slice into rounds. Serve with black tapai ketan (fermented black glutinous rice).

Buras (Steamed Stuffed Rice Packets)
Enough for 20 packets

500 g rice
1 tsp salt
1 ½ L water
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 salam leaf
½ cm fresh langkuas
18 x 15 cm slice of red oncom, crumbled
150 ml water
2 stalks spring onion
Flat-leaved parsley
Banana leaves or aluminium foil

SPICE-PASTE
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 red chilies
5 bird’s eye chilies
½ tsp terasi
½ cm fresh kencur
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar

•Boil the rice with the water and salt until half-cooked. Take off the fire.
•Heat the oil, fry the spice-paste together with the salam leaf and the kencur until fragrant. Add the crumble oncom and the water and cook until oncom is done and the water has evaporated. Put in the sliced spring onions and flat-leaved parsley, stir-fry for a minute or two and take off the fire.
•Take a piece of banana leaf or foil and put in 2 tbs of the rice mixture. Flatten it and put 2 tsp of the oncom on top. Roll up the leaf tightly and secure the ends.
•Steam the Buras for abour an hour until done. Allow to cool.

NOTE
Oncom is a fermented cake made from residue of crushed peanuts after oil has been extracted. It can also be made from soybeans and coconut. It is bright orange with a mouldy appearance. It is a moderate source of protein and iron.

Potato Croquettes

2008-12-18T07:46:00.000+07:00

Potato Croquettes
Makes 12 croquettes

500 g potatoes, boiled and mashed
25 g powdered milk
salt
ground pepper
2 eggs
fine breadcrumbs
vegetables oil

Stuffing
3 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
200g ground meat
5 carrots, peeled and finely cubed
125 ml water
salt
ground pepper
1 tbs flour

- Mix the mashed potatoes with the powdered milk, salt, pepper and 1 beaten egg. Blend till smooth and set aside.
- take 2 tbs of the mashed potato mixture and put it on a piece of buttered banana leaf or wax-paper. Flatten the piece of dough into an oval shape with buttered fingers. Puts 1 1/2 tsp of stuffing in the middle of the oval. Fold over the piece of dough and path into a roll.
- beat the remaining egg. Dip the croquettes in turn in the bread crumbs, egg and breadcrumb again.
- Deep fry the croquettes in hot oil until they are golden brown.

Stuffing
sauté the shallots and garlic with the butter/ margarine. Add the ground meat and the carrots. Stir well for a minute or two. Add the water, salt and pepper. Simmer while stirring occasionally, until it is done. Finally, add the flour that has been dissolved in some water while stirring. Remove and let cool.

Dessert and snack

2008-11-17T13:34:00.000+07:00

Kue Cucur (Rice flour and palm sugar cakes)
About 25 cakes

500 g newly pounded rice flour
1 tsp salt
500 ml thin santan from coconut
300 g palm sugar or brown sugar
125 g sugar
Vegetable oil

• Sift the rice flour together with the salt
• Cock the santan together with palm sugar and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Strain
• Pour the sugar mixture slowly into the flour mixture and stir until blended and smooth. Beat the mixture vigorously until smooth for about 10 or 15 minutes.
• Let stand for an hour to rest
• Heat the oil in medium heat, Put a tablespoon of the dough in the oil and keep ladling the oil over the dough until it swell up. Keep pricking the center of the cake so that it be done evenly. Remove and serve.

Ketan Srikaya (Steamed coconut and glutinous rice custard)
About 20 pieces

500 g white glutinous rice
250 ml santan from ½ coconut
1 tsp salt

Srikaya
30 suji leaves
15 pandan leaves
5 eggs
300 g sugar
60 g flour
Green food coloring
½ tsp vanilla
300 ml thick santan from 1 coconut
• Soak the glutinous rice for about 2 hours and drain
• Steam the rice until it is half cooked, remove and sprinkle with the santan and salt. Return to the steamer and steam until done. Remove and spoon the glutinous rice into rectangular (15 x 26 cm) heatproof dish.
• Meanwhile prepare the srikaya: Pound the suji and pandan leaves together. Squeeze the leaves and extract 50 ml liquid. Beat the eggs together with the green food coloring, vanilla and santan. Blend until smooth.
• prick the glutinous rice with a fork all over so that the Srikaya will adhere better. Pour the Srikaya mixture on top and put in the steamer.
• Steam the srikaya mixture for about 10 minutes and score the custard in a diamond pattern so that it will be done more quickly. Steam until done- about 30 minutes.
• Remove and serve.

Soup Menu

2008-11-11T16:33:00.002+07:00

Soto Ayam (Indonesian Chicken soup)
Serves 10-12 people

1 chicken (about 1kg)
Vegetable oil
5 stalks spring onion, finely sliced
2 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
100 g flour
150 ml water
200 g bean sprouts
150 g crisp-fried potato chips
100 g cellophane noodles, soaked briefly in hot water until softened and drained
5 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
2 tbs fried onion slices
3 stalks flat-leaved parsley, finely sliced

Spice paste
4 cm fresh ginger
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste

-Boil the chicken in water to cover until tender. set aside 2 L of the chicken both.
-Bone the chicken and slice in 1 x 2 cm shreds. Stir-fry the chicken until it is golden yellow and set aside
-Fry the pounded spice taste until it smells fragrant. Add to the stock and heat the stock to boiling.
-Add the sliced spring onion, sweet soy sauce and the vinegar. Stir well.
-Adjust the seasoning and simmer for a few minutes.
-To make the bean sprouts fritters: mix the flour, water and salt. Add the beans sprout. Drop a heaped tablespoonful of the mixture into hot oil and fry to a golden yellow color. Remove and set aside.

Sambal Soto
6 red chilies, boiled
10 bird’s eye chilies, boiled
1 clove garlic, fried
3 candlenuts, fried
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar
Limejuice

Pound red chilies, bird eye chilies, garlic and the candlenuts together until resemble a paste. Add salt and the sugar.
•Add 3 tbs water and lime juice to taste

To serve
•Arrange the bean sprouts fitters, fried potato chips, cellophane noodles, hard-boiled eggs in deep soup plates. sprinkle fried onion slices and parsley on top. Ladle the soto in the soup plates. this should be served very hot. Provide a side-dish of sambal soto for spice lovers.

Sop Kaki Betawi (Beef soup from Betawi)
Serves 10 people

1 calves’ foot
250 g beef heart
250 g tripes
250 g intestines
250 g calves’ ears and eyes
10 cloves
6 cm cinnamon
½ nutmeg
2 cm fresh ginger, smashed
Salt
500 ml milk
1 tsp ground pepper
5 tbs ghee/ butter
6 tbs sweet soy sauce
200 fried emping crackers (melinjo nut crackers)
4 stalks flat-leaved parsley, finely sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
500 g tomatoes, each slice into 8 parts
10 small sambal limes (kaffir limes), squeezed
200 g fried shallots slivers

- Boil the variety meats, calves’ foot, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in water to cover until tender. Remove and set 2 L of the broth.
- Bring the broth to a boil. Add the milk, pepper, ghee and sweet soy sauce. Adjust the seasoning.
- Slice the variety meats and put on platter.

To Serve
Put the meats in a soup bowl and add the emping, parsley, spring onions, tomatoes, limejuice and fried shallots silver on top. Pour the hot broth over the mixture. Serve a side-dish of ground chilies for the spice-lovers

Choosing and preparing the ingredients

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1.Spices, Roots and Herbs
It is necessary that you use fresh and whole spices and roots when obtainable. If it is not possible to obtain fresh spices and rots, it is all right to use bottled ground spices from the supermarket, although there will be certain dishes that demand the use of fresh spices and roots. As a rule of thumb, use ¼ teaspoon ground spices for 1 cm fresh spices and roots.

Asam, Tamarindus indica, asam jawa, tamarind
Tamarind is dried and sold in packets. For use in a recipe, soak a piece the size of a walnut in a half cup of hot water for 5 – 10 minutes until soft. Squeeze the tamarind and mix it with the water. Strain.
Other types of asam used in Indonesia are :

Asam kandis/asam glugur/tamarind slices: these are preparedfrom similar types of asam (asam kandis=Garcinia globulosa ; asam glugur=Garnicia atroviridist) that are thinly sliced and dried. They are dark brown to blackis in color and very sour. One or two slices in a dish should suffice.

Belimbing sayur/belimbing wuluh (Averhoa bilimbi) : small sour starfruit, either dried or fresh, used only in cooking.

Cengkih, Eugenia aromatica, cloves
Remove the head of the clove, if you want to lessen the smell of cloves in a dish.

Daun jeruk purut, Citrus hystrix, kaffir lime leaf
The leaves have a subtle fragrance which give a distinctive taste to many lemon grass based dishes. Substitute with curry leaves or bay leaves, but bay leaves have a stronger flavor. Use 1 bay leaf for every 2 or 3 jeruk purut leaves.

Daun mangkok, Nothopanax scutellarium, tapak leman
Cooked with dishes such as Gulai Otak, daun mangkok has ‘leaves like cups’. A good substitute is curly kale.

Daun pandan, Pandanus odorus, screwpine leaf
Pandan leaves give a distinctive flavor to desserts and savories, and a delicate green color to some desserts. As a flavoring, daun pandan can be substituted with vanilla extract.

Daun salam, Eugenia polyantha
Gives a substle flavor to dishes. Substitute with curry leaves (Murraya koeniglii) or bay leaves.

Daun suji, Pleomelle angustifolia
Usually used together with pandan leaves to give a distinctive green color. Daun suji can be substitute with green food color.

Jahe, Zingiber officinale, ginger
Fresh ginger root should be used if possible; powdered ginger just cannot compare with the fresh root. Choose the small, fibrous light brown ginger when preparing spice pastes. The big pieces of ginger lack the bite and flavor of the small ones.

Jintan, Cuminum cyminum, cumin
Use sparingly as it has a strong smell.

Kapur sirih, slaked lime
Slaked lime is a paste obtained by grinding sea shells in a little liquid. This is the lime which is chewed with betel nuts, gambir and tobacco.

Kayu manis, Cinnamonum zeylanicum, cinnamon
Choose old barks with rough skin. Usually used whole in cooking.

Kecap manis, Sweet Soy Sauce
Indonesian soy sauce is sweet. If it is not available, use 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce (preferably dark) mixed with teaspoon brown sugar.

Kemangi, Ocinum basilicum
‘Horappa’ basil also known as sweet basil, this sweet smelling leaf is eaten raw in salads or used as a herb, like the European basil, in dishes such as pepes and stews.

Kemiri, Aleurites moluccana, Macadamica ternifolia
It is a kind of nut, the size of walnut, with a very hard shell and a waxy, white kernel. Also called candlenut or Macadamia nut. The waxy white kernel is ground together with other spices.

Kencur, Kaempferia galangal, aromatic ginger, lesser galingale
Must be used very sparingly in cooking because the flavor is extremely strong.

Ketumbar, Coriandrum sativum, coriander

Kunyit, Curcuma domestica, turmeric
An essential root in Indonesian cooking, usually sold in dried or powdered form in Europe and the States. It imparts its yellow color and pungent taste to many to many dishes. If you can buy fresh kunyit, pick roots that are dark in color.

Langkuas, Languas galangal, laos, greater galingale
Sold in dried and powdered form in Europe and the States. When buying fresh langkuas, be sure to pick the young and still fairly soft roots.

Merica, Piper nigrum, pepper
Ketumbar, jintan and merica are three spices that form in integral part of traditional Indonesian cooking. When you buy the spices in bulk, make sure that they have been sun-dried and all dirt removed. Put them in sterilized bottles, close them up tightly and store in a cool dry place.

Pala, Myristica fragrans, nutmeg
Fresh nutmeg is dark red in color and hard. If the nuts have fungus growing on them, they are spoiled and should be thrown away immediately.

Serai, Cymbopogon citratus, lemon grass, sereh
Used in most curry-based dishes. Fresh lemon grass is used either sliced, pounded or bruised. They form long thin clumps of leaves, which you put in a dish by tying it up in a knot first. Powdered serai can be substituted, but use it very sparingly. When using fresh serai, use only 6-7 serai from the root up. Throw away the rest.

Terasi, belacan
A dark-colored paste made from shrimps and used in very small amounts as a flavoring. It is used in two forms, raw and grilled. Raw terasi is ground up with other spices into a thick paste, which is then fried a little bit of oil. Grilled terasi is used in recipes where the spices are not to be fried, but boiled. The terasi is grilled over a fire or gas flame, by itself, before it is made into a paste with theother spices.

2.Chilies

We prefer that you use fresh chilies for the recipes in this book, but if it not available, you can use dried chilies.

Dried chilies are fresh chilies that have been steamed and then dried in the sun. Soak the dried chilies in warm water first before using. Dried chilies lack taste and color and you must take these two factors into consideration when you use dried chilies. The advantage of dried chilies is that they keep well.

The small, thin chilies are hotter than the big, fat ones. Remember this, if you do not like hot and spicy food.

Remove the seeds to lessen the degree of hotness of the chilies. Keep the chilies in a cool and dry place. You can also keep chilies in a plastic bag in the vegetable bin of a refrigeratot and they will keep for 7-10 days.

3. Coconut

For oily dishes, such as Rendang, choose old coconuts. These are dry with a dark brown skin. For dishes such as Lodeh, choose a fairly old coconut with a yellow fish brown skin. For desserts such as Kue Enten or savories such as Serundeng, choose a mature or young coconut. The best santan naturally comes from fresh coconut. However, desiccated coconut creams are excellent substitutes. To make thick santan from desiccated coconut, simply add enough water to moisten 2 cups desiccated coconut and squeeze through a strainer.

How to make a santan

Quarter the coconut to make it easier for you to grate the coconut. To make a santan generally grate the coconut in an up and down motion holding the coconut with the convex side facing out. The gratings will be fine and result in more santan. For dishes such as Serundeng or various desserts where you need a coarser grate, you grate the coconut with the concave side of the coconut facing upwards.

After the coconut is grated, add ¼ cup of warm water. Squeeze handfuls of the grated coconut so that the water becomes white and takes up the juices of the nut. Go on doing this until every last drop of the grated coconut has gone into the water. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve. The first pressing is called thick santan.

Add another ½ cup of warm water after the first pressing to the grated coconut. Repeat the procedure above. This is called thin santan Continue adding warm water and squeezing the grated coconut and sieving until you have obtained the amount yu need.

Thick santan is cooked in a different manner from thin santan. In santan-based dishes such as Gulai or curries, thick santan is added towards the end to minimize the danger of the santan separating.

Do not forget to stir continuously when cooking santan-based dishes, especially after adding the thick santan. If you do not, the santan sauce will separate.

When you make desserts/cookies or Nasi Kuning/Gurih, you must peel the brown skin of the coconut. You santan will be white as cream and not contain any brown spots.

4. Gula Jawa

Gula Jawa or gula melaka or palm sugar, is made from the sap of the creamy yellow coconut flowers. The sugar is golden brown in color. There is also gula jawa made from the flowers of the aren palm or siwalan and the sugar is darker in color. For desserts and cookies, you should buy the golden brown kind of sugar.

Sometimes, you buy gula jawa on the market that has tapioca flour added to it. These will not melt and will ruin your desserts.

III. Rice and glutinous rice

Choose new rice to eat. It is fragrant and better-tasting. Old rice has a musty smell.

To make plain boiled rice, fill the saucepan containing the rice with the water up to one inch above the surface of the rice. Bring the rice to a boil and let it bubble, uncovered, until all the water is absorbed. Stir once, and turn the heat to low. Cover the pan tightly and leave it undisturbed for about 10 minutes.

To boil ketan or glutinous rice, you must soak the ketan for at least 1 hour. It is better to soak it overnight. In this manner, the ketan will cook more quickly and taste soft and smooth. After the soaking, drain and add water no higher than the surface of the ketan, so that the ketan will not end up as porridge.

Use a stone mortar and pestle in making rice flour Electric grinders overheat and the results are not as good. Only in certain desserts, such as Kue Getas, you can grind the rice into flour with an electric grinder.

IV. Meat

The most widely used meat in Indonesian cooking is beef. The best beef to use is fine-grained, fresh beef.

Know which cuts of beef are most suitable for such dishes :

Fillet - sate, beefsteak
Sirloin - sate, bumbu bali dishes, semur
Cube roll - rending, empal, semur
Brisket - semur, rawon
Shank - soup, rawon, soto
Rib meat - soup, bouillon-based dishes
Oxtail - soup
Beef brain - gulai, fried
Oxtripes, beef intestines, beef lung - soto, fried, sate
Beef liver, beef spleen - sambal goreng, fried, sate, rendang

To remove the black color of tripe, rub it with slaked lime or pour boiling hot water over the tripe.

Rinse your hands in water before handling minced meat and the meat will not stick to your hands.

There are some ways to lessen the smell of goat meat:

-The goat meat should be hung in an airy place. When you start cooking, wash the meat and prepare it immediately. Do not wait until the meat starts to exude liquid.
-When you cook gulai, add slightly more coriander than prescribed, to remove the smell of goat.
Substitute lamb for goat meat.

V. Vegetables

Buy fresh-looking produce and pay attention to their color and smell. Good produce has crisp, beautiful colors, no wormy holes and brown edges on the leaves.

Wash your vegetable before you start slicing them up. This way you prevent vitamin C from dissolving in the water.

Add a squeeze of lime juice when boiling cauliflower. The cauliflower will emerge white as cream.

To prepare bamboo shoot, peel and remove the outer skin and all hard parts. Cut the bamboo shoot in half if it is big. Rinse in water and boil in a sufficient amount of water for two hours. Drain, rinse with cold water and slice. Bamboo shoot should not be kept for too long.

Soak peeled potatoes in cold water with a pinch of slaked lime to make it crisper when you fry them as sliced potatoes.

VI. Fish and Shellfish

It is a bit tricky to choose good, fresh fish. Here are a few tips :

-Fish that has been around for a while, will have reddish flesh and the surface will not bounce back when you poke at it.
-Smell the fish. Fresh fish will not smell ‘fishy’.
-Fresh fish have bright red gills; rotten fish have blackish or gray gills.
-Look at the fish’ eyes. Fresh fish have bulging shiny eyes with black pupils and clear corneas. Rotten fish have grayish, concave eyes.
-Fresh fish have shiny, bright scales.

To clean fish: remove the gills and entrails. Scale the fish and cut away the tail, fins and mouth. Put in basin filled with clean water and swish around until the fish is cleansed of all blood. Slice diagonally or keep it whole, as you wish.

To remove the ‘fishy’ smell of fish, rub it with lime juice, vinegar or turmeric. You can also use asam (or tamarind), but the asam will discolor the fish when you fry it.

VII. Poultry

Choose young and fat chickens. Poultry-farm chickens have more fat and are not flavorful as chickens that have been allowed to run around. When you use these farm-bred chickens, decrease the amount of water and santan prescribed in the recipe. Decrease also the amount of oil for frying. To decrease the amount of fat, remove the skin. Your gulai will not be oily and will last longer.

To remove the ‘fishy’ smell of farm-bred chicken, rub the inside and outside of the chicken with lime juice, vinegar or ginger. Let stand for an hour and then rinse with water and dry with kitchen towel paper.

VIII. Eggs

In Indonesia, we know two kinds of eggs: eggs laid by poultry-farm chicken such as Leghorn an Australop chickens and eggs laid by free-range chickens. Both kinds are equally good, but the second kind of egg is smaller (25-40 g) than the poultry-farm chicken eggs (50-60 g). You can also substitute duck eggs which weight about 70 g.

Indonesian recipes usually use eggs laid by poultry-farm chickens. If you use the other kind, you must increase the amount of eggs needed (4 poultry-farm chicken eggs equal 6 eggs laid by free-range chickens).

Add 1 tsp of vinegar to the water and your eggs will not crack when you boil them.

You can substitute 1 tsp of corn flour for 1 egg to chicken a sauce.

Your egg are sufficiently beaten when there are no clots of yolk and foam. It is enough to beat 20x with a fork.

If you want a puffy omelet, add a pinch of sugar or corn flour to beaten eggs.

IX. Tofu and tempe

Good tempe has a tight consistency and is packed with soybeans. Fried slices of tempe made of this kind will be very crispy.

Do not buy soggy tempe that is not fully covered by the white fungus. This means that tempe is not done yet.

Good tofu has a bounce to it.

Tofu and tempe can be kept in the refrigerator. Tofu has to be washed often with fresh water to keep it for 3-4 days. Or you can cover it with water and keep it in the refrigerator. Tempe will only keep for a day.

X. Soto and soup

Use chicken feet, necks and backs to make chicken stock. Boil on low heat in a covered saucepan over low heat for 1-2 hours.

To make a beef stock, slice the meat in small cubes. Boil in a covered saucepan over low heat for 1-2 hours. It is better if you use a saucepan with a small diameter so that the water will not evaporate too quickly.

You can substitute chicken or beef cubes dissolved in hot water. Or use any of the canned soup stocks available on the market. Be aware that they contain a lot of sodium and adjust your seasoning accordingly.

Keep your left-over soup stock in the freezer. Pour it in ice-cube tray. When frozen, remove and bag the cubes. Put back in the freezer for use when you need it.

XI. Desserts and savories/snacks

If the ingredients call for newly pounded rice flour/glutinous rice flour, the flour must be prepared no longer than the day before. On how to make rice flour/glutinous rice flour, see Helpful Hints : Rice and glutinous rice.

On santan and gula : see the part in Helpful Hints : Choosing and preparing your ingredients.

Indonesia dishes and dessert

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Indonesian Dishes and dessert
It is my belief that Indonesia dishes and dessert will be a valuable addition to any cook’s library. Its practical approach and simple presentation make it very easy to prepare a good, authentic Indonesian meal without going trough the whole ordeal.

Weight and Measures
Ideally, you should have standard weighing and measuring kitchen devices. Metric measurements are used, however, lacking measuring device, you can use an ordinary standard teacup. For measuring spoons, you can use the plastic spoons that come with medicine bottle, ordinary teaspoons (tsp) and tablespoons (tbs).

Measurement in volume
1 tsp (standard) = 5 ml
1 tbs (standard) = 20 ml
1 ordinary teaspoon = 4 ml
1 ordinary tablespoon = 12 ½ ml
1 cup = 250 ml

Essential utensils for the Indonesian kitchen.

Essential utensils for the Indonesian kitchen.

There are some traditional cooking utensils that are essential to Indonesian kitchen:

The first and foremost is the ulek-ulek and cobek, a pestle and mortar. They are essential for pounding spice and chilies. The mortar is shaped like a wide, shallow bowl. It can be made of wood, but is usually made of a hard stone with a diameter of about 20 cm. The pestle is always of hard stone. Before using, the mortar should be soaked in water salted with 1- 2 tbs salt for about 7-10 days to rid the mortar of any gritty loose particles. The western pestle and mortar are also excellent, but quite different in shape. Indonesians hold the pestle sideways and grind down from side to side-in pounding spices, rather than thump it up and down. it results in a finer paste when preparing the spice-pastes necessary in Indonesian cooking.

A wajan or round-bottomed frying pan or wok, as the Chinese call it, is another utensil. The best kind of wajan would be an one , because aluminum is an excellent heat conductor and light in weight.

Do not use aluminum pots and pans when cooking dishes containing vinegar, tamarind, and santan (coconut cream), such as sayur Asem or Acar bumbu Kuning. The food will discolor because of the aluminum leaching into the sauce. For these dishes you should be use stainless steel or enamel-coated pots and pans.

it is also useful to have assorted grating and shredding utensil, The Indonesian parut or grater, used primarily for grating coconut, is a wooden board studded with small nails, points outward, on which to grate the coconut. The task of making potato fritters and potato chips, or shredding carrots, cabbage, bamboo shoots for example, is made much easier if you have these utensils.

Use modem up-to-date kitchen machines such as the blender, food processor, mixer, and pressure cooker. They are very useful, especially when you are preparing food in great quantities. For their correct usage, read their accompanying booklets.