Roasted Yam (sweet potatoes) in Spicy Sauce

Fries... yam fries. Yumm! Now that they make it such a big thing at restaurants (yam fries and cajun mayo... mm-mmmm good!), why can't I twist one of the Indonesian staples of Fries in Spicy Sauce? I tried a bit... and it's unexpectedly g-o-o-d (served with some warm rice... mmm-mmm-mmm)! Usually people won't even imagine the mix of the sweetness of the yam with chili peppers. Well, I'm telling you... you just gotta know it to love it!.. so here it is...

1 lb yam (peeled and cut like regular fries, washed)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp of each salt and pepper

1/4 cup ground chili peppers (such as "Sambal Oelek" but not the powdered chili peppers)

1/2 large onion

1/2 bulb garlic

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup vegetable stock

2 tbsp sweet soy sauce

1 stalk lemon grass, cut in half and bruised

4 lime leaves, bruised

2 pieces of dried galangal root or 1/2 tsp of powdered galangal (optional)

salt + pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven on 375F.

Drain the yam pieces and pat-dry with paper towel. Put into a large bowl, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shake and turn until evenly coated. Spread the yam pieces evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake until done, about 30 minute, turning every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile using food processor, blend together the ground chili peppers, onion and garlic. Add sugar and vegetable stock. Pulse just until mixed. (if not using food processor, dice the onion and garlic. Mix immediately with the chili, sugar and vegetable stock).

On medium heat, heat up the oil. Pour the chili mix, lemon grass and lime leaves and cook until becoming fragrant. Pour the sweet soy sauce and stir a little bit. Cook until the liquid becomes a little bit thicker (about 3 minutes). Add dash of salt and pepper, taste!

Increase the heat to high (about 7 on 0-8 scale) and pour the fries. Stir quickly until the fries become well-coated (about a minute). Lower the heat to medium, gently stir for another 2-3 minutes only to thicken the liquid more and to settle the flavour. Remove from heat. Discard the lemon grass and the lime leaves.

Serve!

BBQ Duck Pizza

I came across this dish for the first time at the California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant in Jakarta awhile ago. I am indeed a big fan of duck (food-wise) and this pizza made a big impression on me for years. After I had found out that I could easily pick-up some BBQ duck at Chinese supermarket (T&T), I soon thought about that dish and how awesome it would be if I could recreate it myself. Talking about going down my culinary memory lane.

You can make it with a pizza dough, which will be more of an authentic pizza I suppose. But I'd rather make it quick and easy with only flatbread. So here it is for one flatbread portion of pizza:

1 flatbread

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp pizza sauce

the topping ingredients, slice thinly:

1/2 cup chinese bbq duck - discard fat

1/2 cup red or yellow paprika

1/3 cup mushroom

1/4 cup green onion

1/4 cup - dried chow-mein noodles

1/4 cup basil leaves (optional)

1/3 cup mozarella cheese

Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the flatbread followed with the hoisin sauce. Then spread the rest of the ingredients. Bake in 350F oven for about 10-15 minutes. Make sure the crust isn't getting too crispy.

Remove from heat.. and serve! yummmm...

Note:

Hoisin sauce can taste very salty although its gives out a sweet aroma. After the pizza's baked, most of the moisture from the sauce would've been evaporated. This will make the pizza taste overpoweringly salty. If necessary, you could make the hoisin sauce a little bit lighter by mixing it with 1 tbsp of plain yoghurt.

Indonesian "Lumpur" Cake / Kue Lumpur

I honestly never understand the name of this fingerling cake. In Indonesian, 'lumpur' means mud. But this cake looks so unlike mud, literally. It looks more like mini bite-size pancake. But this cake is probably more moist and dense with pudding-like texture.

The first time I looked at it I expected it to taste like some bite-size pancake. But I was wrong BIG TIME. However, it had taken less than 2 minutes to love this cake, now that I became more familiar with it. Once you start, you just can't stop.

This cake comes with many different recipe versions. While the original one uses only all-purpose flour, the modified ones use a mix of flour with either yam, sweet potato, potato or pumpkin. I'm giving two recipes: the original one and the modified one. Enjoy.

Original Lumpur Cake

150 gr sugar

4 eggs

500 ml milk

500 gr all-purpose flour

100 ml vegetable oil or melted margarine

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

oil to brush

for topping: raisins or thinly-sliced cheese or

Heat up a poffertjes pan (Dutch mini-pancake pan) on medium heat. Meanwhile on medium speed, mix sugar and eggs until thick and creamy. Pour vanilla and salt, blend well. Alternately, pour the milk and the flour bit by bit. Finally pour the oil. Mix well. Make sure the batter is very smooth.

Lower the heat (about 3, scale 0 - 8). Brush the pan lightly with oil. Pour the batter into the pan until almost full (about 4/5). Then cover. Wait for about 4 minutes then put the toppings on top. Just enough to give a pretty look... ^_^ Cover again and cook again for another 3 minutes approximately until done. The cake surface should be hard and not liquid-like anymore. Remove from heat. Enjoy!

Modified Lumpur Cake (feel free to substitute the yam with the mentioned ingredients above)

Everything stays the same as above except:

250 gr all-purpose flour

500 gr yam (steamed or boiled until soft and meshed until smooth)

Enjoy, enjoy and enjoy! I know I do! ^_^

Note:

1/4 recipes makes about a dozen of cakes. The batter can be made quickly. Only the cooking of the cake takes a bit of patience test. So be prepared. *_*

Source:

-recipe: dapurbunda

http://dapurbunda.blogspot.com/2006/01/kue-lumpur.html

(for the modified version, but I used yam instead of potato)

- photo: some websites. The same picture has been floating around the net. ^_^

Sweet Soy Sauce Dip for Fried Tofu

In Indonesia, this dish is one of the ultimate finger-foods. It's very simple and easy. Whereas in Indonesia you have to buy the special tofu (or buy from any tofu vendors) and sometimes fry them yourselves, I find that in North America you can just buy them at any Chinese supermarket. Just remember to get the ones that look fluffy and not the ones that look firm or dense!

You don't have to cook them anymore as they are already cooked. But you want to heat them up in the microwave. It's easy-breezy... and very satisfying.

The sweet soy dip people use in Indonesia varies. But here, I'm just going to present one type that is commonly used... and generally well-liked amongst Indonesians and non-Indonesians.

1 pkg fried tofu (using scissors, cut each tofu into 2 pieces)

1/3 cup sweet soy sauce

1/8 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

1 thai chili-pepper, seeds removed, diced (or 1/2 jalapeno or any kind of chili-pepper)

2 lime leaves, thinly sliced (optional)

1/2 firm medium-size tomato, cubed (optional, but I like it more with)

pinch salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Most people in Indonesia mix the onion, garlic and chili with the soy sauce straight-up raw. But to tame-down the taste (I personally don't like raw onion), here's how:

Heat up the oil and stir-fry the onion, garlic and thai chili-pepper together for one minute the longest. Pour all of them into a dipping bowl. Mix together with the rest of the dipping ingredients.

Heat up the tofu for 30-45 seconds (1 minute-top!).

Dip the tofu pieces into the sweet soy sauce mix. Enjoy!

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts with Jalapeno and Dried Anchovies

This is a very simple dish that you can easily find in Indonesia... quick and easy but always making people come back for more. In North America, you can get the dried anchovies at some Chinese herbal store or Chinese supermarket. The good ones to use for this recipes are the ones which length is about half your finger-length and width about 1/4 your finger-width.

I made a little twist in the common recipe by adding soy sauce and sesame oil. IMHO ( ^_^ ), it tastes better. If you ever find me cooking this, this means that I'm in a lazy cooking mode but still want good food.

1 pkg bean sprouts (about half kg)

2 jalapenos

1/4 medium onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup dried anchovies

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup light soy sauce

3 tsbp sesame oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

The level of spiciness depends on the amount of jalapeno seeds you want to keep and the amount of time you use to fry the jalapeno. Here's just the trick to make it not spicy (however I think you still need the jalapeno aroma to make this dish complete!!):

Remove the jalapeno seeds by cutting the jalapeno length-wise and clean the seeds with a paring knife. Slice thinly in whichever fashion you'd prefer. (Don't forget to wash your hands thoroughly after touching the jalapeno seeds).

On medium-heat, heat up half of the vegetable oil and stir-fry the jalapeno pieces. If you want to make it not spicy at all, fry the jalapeno pieces for about 5 minutes. The heating process slowly removes the spiciness.

Now...

After frying the jalapeno, put in the onion and stir-fry until it becomes pale in color then put the garlic in. Move all to one side of the pan and pour the rest of the vegetable oil onto the empty side of the pan. Stir-fry the anchovies until the color turns golden-yellow. Combine together with the jalapeno, onion and garlic. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

On high heat, Pour the beansprouts and stir-fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add the black pepper. The high-heat prevents the beansprouts to release water. Then lower the heat. Add the soy sauce. Mix-well. Remove from heat and add the sesame oil. Mix-well and move onto a plate.

This is good to enjoy with steamed rice... alone!

Yumm... yumm

BBQ Salmon with Sweet Soy Sauce

In Indonesia, it's common that people use sweet soy sauce for BBQ. Whether for fish, chicken or beef!! But for chicken and beef, you want to make sure that you cut the meat into small bite-size pieces first because the sugar in the sweet soy sauce burns easily if you cook it for too long. Unless.. you like the burnt taste that covers the meat... which I personally don't mind some times. ^_^

Salmon has a good dense texture.. so the sweet soy sauce flavour really sinks-in after you marinate it and let it sit in your fridge for about 15-20 minutes. You can substitute salmon with other fish too... It would be different, but still good!

4 pieces of salmon steak

1 cup sweet soy sauce

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium, diced

4 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp cajun powder

1 tbsp ground chili (such as sambal oelek; optional)

1 tsp turmeric powder

6 lime leaves, roughly sliced

1 tsp each salt and ground pepper

If you prefer a finer marinade, put everything in the blender.. and blend untill smooth.

Cover the fish steaks with the marinade and let it settle in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

Heat up the BBQ or oven and cook untill done. ;-)

Enjoy with steamed rice or fries. Yummm...

Steamed Brownie

I had a piece of this steamed brownie and I could feel both my tongue and my tummy said... "WOW!!!" It was one of the most wonderful tastes they've ever had... it's good, it's complicated... all combined to make one whole yumminess!!! Brownie... Indonesian style, so it's steamed instead of baked. From many sources in the internet... and a few experiments. So here it is.

(There are 4 parts of ingredients. Please combine them first as per part -- except the last one -- before mixing the different parts further)

Part one :

6 large eggs

225 gr sugar

1/2 tsp salt

10 gr vegetarian cake emulsifier (optional; but without this, you will have a denser brownie)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Part two:

125 gr all-purpose flour (better yet, cake flour)

60 gr cacao

3/4 tsp baking powder

Part three:

175 ml vegetable oil (no olive oil, please! Olive oil can alter the taste)

125 gr dark cooking chocolate

Part four:

75 ml sweetened condensed milk

Heat up the steamer on high heat. Lightly grease a standard cake pan.

With high speed, cream part one ingredients until the batter becomes stiff and fluffy. If you use no emulsifier, the batter may not become as stiff as expected. This takes about 15 minutes. Then gently fold-in all part two's ingredients untill well-blended. Last but not least, mix-in all part three's ingredients.

Divide the batter into three parts.

Pour the first part into the pan. Lower the heat to medium (about 4 to 5, scale 0-8). Important note (!!!): cover the steamer with a towel before closing the lid. The towel will absorb the water from the lid. Steam the first batch for 15 minutes.

Mix the sweetened condensed milk into the second batch and pour over the cooked first batch. Steam for another 15 minutes.

Pour the third batch and steam for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely before removing from pan. Cut into pieces. The brownie will get denser after it sits for a couple hours or more.

Enjoy!!!

Baked Honey Chicken

I grew up with this chicken dish. Having a mother who went to a NHI for college is a blast because you get to experience nice cooking experiments from around the world as a child. I've experimented many versions of this honey chicken dish, and yet so far, the following recipe is a wonderful one. A lot of friends I've made this dish for are pleased with the result. I'm still experimenting with a simpler version, however, knowing this one already has big fans lining up for it, I think this dish is ready for the world. ;-)

8 pieces of chicken thigh (feel free to replace it with other chicken cuts. I just find this easier to manage)

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tbsp chili sauce (optional)

2 tbsp indonesian sweet soy sauce

1 medium onion - quartered

1/2 bulb garlic

salt and black pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

Heat the oven on 350-375 F. Mix all the condiment together and taste first (!). Feel free to add more stuff as necessary. When you're done, coat the chicken with the sauce. Place the chicken on the pan top-side up.Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken and bake again for another 20 minutes. Turn the chicken again to darken the top surface for another 5 minutes. Remove completely from the oven.

Cool down for about 5 minutes and serve. Enjoy!

Note: best served with garlic meshed potatoes. yumm!

Mba Jumi's Balado Tenggiri (Mackarel Scad in Spicy Sauce)

I came across this dish at a friend's house. Mba Jumi (an incredible friend and cook) made a number of dish for a few of us and this fish dish was a hit! The spiciness built up as we ate more and more of the fish. The fish texture was also sooo right for this dish. We compared it with tilapia fish (although you could still make it with tilapia). I couldn't take my mind off that dish and I pretty much became so determined to make it. After a couple weeks, I finally saw Mba Jumi again last night and I 'interrogated' her about the recipe, the tips, etc. So, here it is!

for the fish:

6 mackerel scad fish (a smaller kind of mackerel, about 10-inch/25-cm long and 2-inch/5-cm in diameter), washed clean and gutted

2 tbsp white vinegar mixed with 1/2 liter water

salt and white pepper

1 cup corn starch or tapioca starch

1/2 cup canola oil for frying the fish

for the sauce:

1 medium-size onion

1 bulb garlic

2 red thai chilies (or 1 tbsp sambal bajak or 1 tbsp 'sambal oelek' ground chili paste)

1 tsp terasi/ belacan (fermented shrimp paste)

2 tsp salt

2 tsp white pepper

5 candle nuts (kemiri)

2 tbsp sugar

3 lime leaves (slice into 2-3 pieces per leave)

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

With food processor, process all the spices together except the lime leaves and the tomatoes to make a fine-textured paste. 

Heat up the oil on medium heat. 

Clean the fish well and make sure the fish are well-gutted and the gills are gone. Soak the fish in the vinegar mix for 1-2 minutes inside-out. Discard the vinegar mix and rub all inside and outside surfaces thinly with salt and white pepper. Leave for about 5 minutes and coat with the starch. Fry the fish, about 3-5 minutes for each side. Remove fish from the pan and drain the excess oil.

Discard half of the oil and reheat the rest of the oil on medium-low heat. Pour the spice paste and stir until it becomes fragrant. Put in the leaves and the tomatoes, cook until all the tomatoes blend in with the spice paste and the juice adds up to the sauce. At this point you have to taste it and feel free to add either salt or sugar (or even chili paste!!) to reach the desired taste. Combine the fish into the sauce and stir until all the fish surface are covered with the sauce. Turn the heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the heat off altogether and cover the pan with the lid for another 5-10 minutes to nicely settle all the flavor. 

Remove to a nice plate and serve with warm rice. Enjoy!