Sambal à la bu Rudy revisited, No MSG needed!

It's been awhile since my last post, I know!
I just want to update a little, telling the world that i recently made Sambal à la Bu Rudy, a famous condiment made by Ibu (Mrs) Rudy.

Ingredients:

• 50 gram Indonesian bird eyes chilies (cabai rawit - they have pretty colors, green/yellow/orange/red)
• 1 TBS of small shrimp
• 3 shallots thinly sliced
• 4 TBS canola oil 
• 3 tbs chicken stock
• Salt and sugar

Methods:

1. Fry shrimp and chilies together, strain them of oil. Grind using mortar (or blender). Add salt (and sugar if you like it a little sweet)
2. Using the same oil, fry  the shalllots until witter.  
3. Combine the fried shallots and ground chilies.
4. Add chicken stock and continue cooking for around 5 minutes. 
5. Serve (can last more than 3 weeks in the fridge)

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Mie Goreng Jawa - Javanese Fried Noodles

This is one of Indonesia's famous dish of all time. Everybody loves this, and every house has its own recipe. I dunno why they call it Mie goreng jawa (Java's fried noodle), because i am sure the one from Sumatera or Bali is not that different. Anyway, i got this recipe from a friend of mine, Lita, the one who came from Surabaya and who gave me the sayur asam recipe. She got the recipe from a mie goreng street vendor. I added coriander seeds to the original recipe, and got very satisfied with the result.

Ingredients:

• 1package of fresh egg noodles (i used dried normal flour noodles - without the egg) 
•  100 gr shrimps washed and shelled
• 2 eggs, whisked roughly
  200 gr cabbage, cut roughly
  200 gr mustar greens, cut
• 1 stalk of chive sliced 
• 1 tsp of salt
  Indonesian sweet soja sauce / kecap (i used 2 tbs) 
• cooking oil 

Seasoning:

• grind the following:
  3 candlenut pecan (Aleurites moluccana),
• 3 cloves of garlic 
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 Chilli 

Method:

1. Boil the noodles half done. Add 1 tbs of cooking oil, stir evenly.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan, add seasoning, sauté until fragrant. Add the  shrimp. And then add eggs, stir just a little bit.
3. Add the veggies, and throw in salt. stir well. 
4. Add the noodles and the kecap. stir evenly.
5. Served (Best with pickles and fried shallots)

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Kering Tempe - Kentang (Fry dried Tempeh and Potatoes)

Kering Tempe is a name of a side dish consisting of, of course, tempeh. There are other types of "kering" (means dry) dishes, such as kering kentang (potatoes), or kering teri (anchovies). Making them takes a great deal of patience, since you will have to deep-fry it for a quite long time with low heat. If you don't fry the tempeh (or potatoes or achovies) dry enough before, they  will turn flabby by the time you add the sauce. Many times in the past, i've tried to make it, with not so successful taste, nor crunchy enough. Until my mom explained to me the definition of "dry" for the tempe;  the tempe has to be really realy dry, (just a little bit dry won't be enough apparently). On my previous attempts,  i don't think that the recipes were delicious enough for my taste-bud. For me the perfect kering tempe would be very crunchy, sweet, salty, a little bit hot, and the tempeh is quite caramelized but light (in short : i am complicated!!!).

Many people find it difficult to make one. Too many great details for a successful kering tempe. People would prefer to buy (or to order) them to people specialized in it, but the price can be high for a packet of the delicious one (No wonder, it is time and energy consuming!).And then my friend, Dessi brought me the best kering tempe - kentang that i have ever tasted. A friend of her in Bandung made it, and it seems that she sells a lot of these during the end of Ramadhan month (many of the Indonesians serve this as a side dish during the holly day). And i noticed that  this kering was very generous with shredded kaffir lime leaves. She gave me the recipe... but then again, it is too complicated.

I am looking for a simple recipe and ingredients, thus not expensive in term of production...  without really forgetting the kaffir lime. If i follow her recipe i would end up staying in the kitchen most of the whole day, frying one by one each ingredient!! So i did a little bit of research, and in the end came out with my own formula. Mind you that i do not really use the exact measurement like usual, that is why i use cup as the unit this time (just to give you an idea).

Bare in mind that the secret of a succesful kering tempe is  the dryness of the tempeh and potatoes (fry them with very low heat until they turn very brown - but do not let it burnt). You need to slice them very thinly before frying them. The second secret is actually the thickness of the sauce added to the tempe. Not easy, but  be patient, keep practicing, the time will come when you eventually know how to make a well concentrated sauce, and how to recognize if your tempe and potatoes are dry enough...well, after several practices, i think i am successful in making kering tempe - kentang. 

Ingredients A:

• 400 gr of tempeh, slice thinly in small rectangulars. Deep fry, very dry until dark brown, set aside
• 1 big potatoes, peel, wash and slice VERY THIN. Soak for one hour in a stone lime liquid. Drain and deep fry, until dry and dark brown. Combine together with the fried tempe, and set aside, let in room temperature.
• 1 tbs fried peanuts (i bought a packet of grilled peanuts ready made in supermarkets, it tastes fine for me)

Ingredients B (sauce)

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 big red chilli, sliced
• 1 cup of white sugar (most people use palm / red Javanese sugar, but i don't really like it as i find it too sweet and heavy thus will not caramelize enough the dish.
• 1 cup of shredded kaffir lime leaves
• 1 tbs of cooking oil
• 1 kaffir lime, let out the juice.
• 2 tsp of salt

Method:

1. Crush garlic and chilli together 
2. Heat oil in a large pan, sauté the garlic, chilli, kaffir leaves until fragrant. Add the salt and sugar. Stir, and add the kaffir juice. Reduce heat to low, and continue stirring until the sauce thicken and form bubbles. Continue stiring. Careful not to let the bottom burnt. If the bubbles do not form, it means it is not thick enough.Continue cooking.
3. Turn off the heat. Add the dry tempe, peanuts and potatoes, stir evenly. Taste it, does it need more salt? then let it cool at room temperature before transferring it into a closed container. The kering tempe  - kentang is good up to 2 weeks (aprox.... even i ate 1 month old kering tempe - kentang, and it still tastes good ).

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Sayur Asam - Indonesian sour veggies soup

Sayur asem litteraly means sour veggies. But it actually refers to a soup consists of veggies, which taste a little bit sour yet sweet and bitter at the same time. It uses kacang melinjo  – the fruit (gnetum gnemon) as well as the leaves for the bitter note. But okay, since my chance of finding the ingredient here in France,  falls down to zero, i actuallly never make this dish. Until last week, i went to visit a friend, Lita, in 93 region, and she made us this meal.

Apparently, this preggy momma has been cooking since petite. And that makes the difference between me and her... she is very good in the kitchen! And to weigh my argument, she is from Surabaya city, east of Java. Okay, this is just my theory, but I think Surabaya women are very good in the kitchen. I realy wonder why !!!

Even in Indonesia, i rarely tasted the best sayur asem. So rare! So the reason why i haven't really made sayur asem since my moving to France, was i think i can really live without it. I was not a big fan, and beside where can i find the melinjo? Sayur asam is merely the same without that one.... and even so, i remember that when my mom cooked the dish, i would not eat the chayote, neither the melinjo bean. But she always put old cooked knobs of corn.. and that was practically the one that i ate ! Never i like the rest, and even the taste of the soup. But gradually as i grow up, i begin to eat the melinjo leaves and the long beans too. But that is just it. Melinjo is the main ingredient of emping snack though. That i wouldn't mind eating.



But this Lita changed my life... i am now convinced that i have to try to make sayur asem too, even without the melinjo ingredient. She gave me a note about the ingredients she used, and i had to figure out how to cook it. I use my own measurements, and add kaffir lime juice to the soup. I like to have the soup a little bit too sour.

Ingredients:

• 2 marrow bones
• 1,5 l water
• 2 Indonesian bay leaves
• 2 pieces of dry Galanga
• 10 gr tamarind 
• 50 gr palm sugar 
• a handful of French beans (or Asian long beans, cut 3cm each) 
• 1 chayote, peel and cut in cubes
• 1 tsp raw peanuts (i did not have any)
• ¼ of cabbage, cut the leaf in square
• cooking oil

Crunch the following :

• 1 tomatoes 
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 2 tsp of salt
• 1 big chili (or you can eventually add more or omit this) 
• 3 shallots 
• 2 garlic 
• 3 candelnut pecan
• 3 tsp of shrimp paste

 Method:

1. in a skilet pan, sauté the coarsed ingredients, galanga, and bay leaves, until fragrant, transfer to a big pan. Add water, marrow, tamarind and palm sugar. Cook until the center of the bones soften.
2. Add the vegetables and peanut. Cook until tender.
3. Serve.

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Rawon

I must admit that I am running out of cooking ideas lately. Half not in the mood of doing something repetitive (due to fatigue probably), the other half is that I am feeling that I am not a great chef, which make me reluctant to act in front of the stove (yeah that stove is like a stage for me..i stand in front of it more than i stand in front of Mr. Gorilla, haha).. I do feel that I have already tried most of Indonesian cuisine. I just realised that living for almost 4 years here, has made me try almost different dishs each day (confirmed by my husband, that actually makes him thinking that Indonesia is a very rich country in taste! - huh..has he forgotten that i cook also other asian countrie's cooking). I feel that it is really not easy being creative, as you probably can see from my blog...huuu....

And anyway, last night, I made Rawon, the famous black beef soup from East of Java, Indonesia. I think i have upload the recipe in my old blog, or even in the new blog...This is one of the repetitions that i am talking about just now. But anyway, it tastes so good that you will have to make it more than 20 times in your lifetime....gulp...

This one is my own recipe, inspired by a friend's and a book about East Java cuisines. She said that Rawon is best consumed a day after, so you need to prepare it the day before and heat it again (logic ha!). But then a famous french chef would say that if you say so, then you are not a good cook. Oh who cares what he thinks, I still agree to the former opinion, because “mijoté/simmer” technique is a must in this case.

It is too bad that I did not have the appropriate accompanies for rawon such as boiled duck salty eggs, bean sprouts, and sambal. Fortunately I still have fried shallots...

Anyway this is an easy recipe. As usual, i am using powder spices!

Ingredients:

• 300 gr beef (I chose bifteck/steak) cut in dice
• 20 gr kluwek paste, soak in a cup of hot water, sewage and blend till smooth
• 1 lemon grass, bruised
• 2 salam (indonesian bayleaf/laurier) leaves
• 3 kaffir leaves
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1 or 2 tbs of chopped spring onions

Ground Spices

• 1 tsp galanga in powder
• 2 shallots
• 1 garlic
• 6 bird's eye chillies
• 0,5 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 0,5 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp or more
• 1 tbs grains of coriander

kluwek (or kluwak) nuts and paste

Direction:

1. Heat the ghee in frying pan, and sauté the ground spices, bruised lemon grass, kluwek paste, salam and kaffir leaves.
2. Add the beef cuts cook till half done.
3. Add the water.
4. Simmer until the sauce turns a little bit thick (but the idea of rawon is actually a soup) , add the chopped spring onions and turn of the fire.
5. Serve with the companions and rice.

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Rujak Petis

Bumbu campur dan haluskan:

• 2 sdm Pasta petis
• 1 sdm kacang tanah bakar
• garam
• 2 cabai rawit iris
  
• 2 cabai merah iris
  
• 1 sdt gula merah
• secuil asam
• 2 sdm air (atau lebih bila suka yang lebih cair)

Bahan sayuran:

• timun, cuci, kupas iris tipis
• kangkung di blanchir
• tahu goreng, potong
• telur ayam rebus iris
• bangkoang potong

Cara:
Di dalam mangkok besar, campurkan semua bahan aduk rata dan hidangkan!

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Pecel Madiun

Ide resep diambil dari buku Hidangan Khas Kawa Timur terbitan Variapop Group (mantap banget nih kayaknya judul penerbitnya, hehe).

Bahan halus:

• 4 sdm kacang tanah bakar
• gula merah
• 1 cubit asam jawa
• 1 ruas jari kencur
• 1 sdt terasi
• 1 sdt cabai (atau lebih)
• Garam

Sayuran:

• Tauge
• Kangkung (gak punya)
• Ketimun (gak punya juga) iris melintang
• kacang panjang (potong panjang 5 cm-an), saya pakai buncis

Pelengkap (ide sendiri):

• Teri medan goreng

Cara:

1. Harusnya sih, bahan bumbu disangrai, kemudian dihaluskan. Tapi saya tidak pakai, langsung hajar bleh saja: semua dihaluskan bersamaan sambil ditambahin air dikit-dikit, tergantung selera, suka yang kentel atau yang rada cair.
   
2. Dalam air mendidih yang telah dikasih garam, masukkan kacang panjang, rebus sebentar, tiriskan dan guyur dengan air dingin.
3. Seduh tauge dalam air mendidih.
4. Hidangkan dengan cara mencampur saus pecel dan sayuran.

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