Remember those days a gazillian years ago, in college, when grocery money was scarce and with exams plus assignments crashing in there wasn’t just enough time (nor money) to lavish yourself with decent food items? Well, that probably only happened to me. Those were the days when ramen noodles had become the most filling and nutritious meal of the semester. So much that I had to sacrifice to get that black sexy cocktail dress. 

Since those bleak (but wild) days, I wished I had a bit of creativity to cook ramen noodles the lifeline. The snazziest thing I did with my sad bowl of ramen was add some scrambled eggs and chopped scallion. That’s about it. 

So last night, I felt some creativity sparks and sometime ago I read that Giada made omelette with her leftover spaghetti. We (my brother and I) were starving and there was nothing in the pantry except instant ramen noodles and some eggs. I mixed up the two and it was good – good enough to be blogged about. 

Fyi, Indonesians are famous for their instant ramen noodles that go by the name of Indomie. There are many flavors available such as chicken, spicy chicken, curry, soto, and many more. Naturally, Indomie with chicken flavor is what we have in our pantry and that was what I used in my little ritzy experiment. 

First I boiled the noodles till al dente and seasoned them with the powdered stock. Stir fry some onions and tomatoes, add the seasoned noodles and pour whisked eggs onto the pan. Voala! Served with spicy tomato sauce – that would hold up the hunger for another hour. Or much less. 

How do you spice up your ramen noodles? Please do share.  

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly whisked with 2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt
1 pack of instant ramen noodles – any flavor (55gr)
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped parsely
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Tomato sauce / sweet chilli sauce

Instructions

• Drop ramen noodles into boiling water. Cook for 4 minutes (or according to the package instructions)
• Drain the water and the instant powdered stock included in the package. Mix well with a fork till
• Heat up an 8″ non-stick pan and drizzle cooking oil on it. Quickly stir fry chopped onions over medium heat for 2 minutes till they are translucent and toss in the tomatoes. Cook for another 1 minute
• Put in the noodles and chopped parsely into the pan and mix well with the other ingredients – cook for another two minutes
• Try to arrange / distribute the noodles evenly across the pan and also arrange the placement of the tomatoes. Pour the egg mixture slowly by circular motion starting from the outer edge of the pan. Try to cover all surface. If you can’t, don’t worry about it. Just swirl the pan around slightly before the egg sets and it will fill up the empty spaces
• Lower heat and cook for 4 minutes. Slide a flat spatula under the omelette and quickly flip over and cook some more till both sides are browned
• Serve with your choice of dipping sauce

A quick post for this yummy salsa dip, Indonesian style! Featuring the infamous Sweet Soy Sauce.

Indonesian dishes are often enriched by sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), which is basically soy sauce sweetened by palm sugar. The main ingredients are palm sugar, water, salt, soya bean, wheat, sodium benzoate (0.01%). 

This soy sauce is used for marinades, condiment and substitute for any stir-frying dishes needs any sweet kick. Very dark in color and as thick as molasses, it gives dishes the caramelized color.  

You can substitute it with equal parts of soy sauce and brown sugar stirred together till the sugar melts completely. Not as good, of course, but it will do! 

For the dunking partner, try fried beancurd, cucumber and celery sticks, chips, or french fries! Go dip and dunk with this easy recipe for exotic condiment! 

Ingredients

1/8 cup green thai’s bird’s eye chili (cabe rawit hijau)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional) 
1/2 tomato, seeded and cubed
3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (Indonesian brand preferred)
5 tablespoons deep fried shallot flakes
Juice of 1/2 lime

Instructions

• In a spice grinder, grind the chili in quick pulse for 2 seconds
• Mix all other ingredients together in a serving bowl 
• Serve immediately. 

Cook’s note

To reduce the fiery note, cut the chili length wise and remove the seeds before grinding. 

Don’t mix shallot flakes if not going to be served immediately. They will be soggy and unsightly. 

Refrigerate well.

Don’t have fried shallot flakes? Check this out and make some to stock up your pantry.

Just a couple of shots to show our growing coffee cups collection – before I break any of them. My mother collects coffee cups. The most she picks up are two of one set. So if you ever come to visit or invited for family breakfast, please don’t be surprised that none of our coffee cups are matching. 

These are ceramics by one of local designers from Surabaya where my sister lives. They are designed locally and mostly catered for hotels and restaurants. The cups and saucers are sold retail in their showroom. I tried to purchase some plates for props, they said that they were for restaurant / hotel clientele and minimum of one dozen pieces applied for any orders. I tried to make my sister lie that they were for samples for bigger purchase. Don’t know if they buy that or not. She is not a good liar and I am almost certain that she didn’t pull it off – unlike yours truly. *clears throat* 

They only cost less than USD 0.80 each set. I came across a shop that tried to sell those to me for USD 5.50 a set just this week!

I have always thought clams are slightly too “fishy” so there is only one way that I can truly enjoy this funny type of shellfish. Stir fry them with rich spices and mask it up with ginger or galangal. The only thing I would like to retain from the original clams-related flavor is the giddying texture of the clam meat and the enjoyment of sucking the shell loudly, even after the meat is all gone. Ha. 

Nik picked up a couple of kilos of clams from the wet market yesterday and showed me how to make this. The real twist is the fermented bean paste used. I think it will never be the same if it is prepared without our precious yet smelly taoco. As I always said, two stinkies equal one tasty dish.  

Ingredients

For spice paste 
10 (40 gr) red chili
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
50 gr palm sugar, shaved
1 tablespoon fermented bean paste (taoco)

1,5 kg clams
2″ fresh galangal (25 gr), lightly smashed 
1 tomato, quartered
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cooking oil 

Instructions

• Wash clams under runny water and rub shells lightly with salts and quickly rinse with more clean water
• Grind ingredients for spices in a grinder till resembles grainy paste
• Heat cooking oil in a wok and stir fry spice paste, tomato pieces and galangal for 3 minutes over high heat, till fragrant
• Toss in the clams, mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add cornstarch and stir till everything mix together. Remove when the sauce starts to thicken, in about 2-3 mnutes. 
• Serve warm with steamed rice

Indonesians enjoy their main meals (lunch and dinner) a la rijsttafel (derived from Dutch word, meaning “rice table”). The meals consist of many, many side dishes accompanying the main course steamed rice. The side dishes are small portions of vegetables cooked in variety of ways, meat dishes, poultry dishes, soups, colorful of chili dips and seafood dishes. Some of the cheaper rijsttafel menu would include fried eggs and savory fritters. Rijsttafel style of dining is now found in most of Indonesian restaurants serving traditional food, the bigger the establishment is, the more small plates are served. For me, I really can’t really enjoy it with company less than 5. It is a bit sad to go to rijsttafel dining with only two people, and all those food go to waste (although you don’t need to pay if you don’t touch them). 

In simpler eateries places, the rijsttafel would have about 10 small dishes spread in front of you. This tradition also runs in the many households, where there would be 4 or 5 dishes prepared and served with rice. There would always be some kind of deep-fried fritters. 

Another savory fritters that have always been our favorite (and can be easily found in rijsttafel-style restaurants) is made from corn (corn fritters – perkedel jagung). The corn used is fresh corn cobs, half grated finely and half of whole kernels. Whole kernels provide great crunchy textures on the fritters later on. The other half that is grated will produce a pulp that has tons of flavor and helps produce a smooth texture. The one ingredients that really make the difference is chopped kaffir lime leaves. They give the fritter some lemony flavor to it. Otherwise, the fritters would be quite bland. 

Ingredients 

For spice paste 
3 candlenuts (10 gr), toasted
2 cloves garlic 
2 shallots
pinch of white pepper and salt

Shredded / chopped finely
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 stalks spring onion
1 chinese celery

3 (800 gr) medium-sized corn cobs
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon tapioca starch

Instructions

Grind spices in a grinder till resembles fine paste. Remove the blade of the kaffir lime leaves before chopping (see Step by Step Shots)

Remove the corn kernels from one cob by standing the corn on its end and slicing down using a sharp knife. You will end up with strips of corn that can easily be separated with your fingers. Put all the kernels in a mixing bowl and set aside

Grate the other two cobs by using the medium holes of a box grater to take off the majority of the corn. Do this over a bowl so you don’t loose any of the pulp and juices. If there is any remaining corn on the cob, scrape it off with the back of a knife

Using a coarse strainer, pour the pulp and slightly drain the corn juice (optional, this will help fasten frying time)

Mix the pulp into the mixing bowl with the kernels. Add the ground spices and chopped ingredients, as well as the flour, egg and starch. Mix well with a wooden spoon (or roll up your sleeves and get dirty with your hands) 

Heat up cooking oil in a wok / deep fryer. Drop 1/4 cup of batter into hot oil. Fry for 2 – 3 minutes each side. Drain on paper towel 

Serve warm with dipping sauce with other dishes with steamed rice or enjoy as afternoon snacks

Cook’s note 

Fresh corn can be substituted with one can of corn kernels and one can of corn pulp. 

Deep-frying methods can be substituted with pan frying. Heat a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil in a non-stick pan and drop the batter on the pan. Cook for 4 minutes each side or until they are brown enough. Just as good, but healthier and more economical! 

Step by step shots

Another safe favorite of Indonesian one-dish meal is stir-fried noodle. The noodles used are fresh round and thick egg noodles, which can easily be substituted with instant ramen noodles. This is stir-fried quickly with spice paste and green vegetables. The main difference with other type of fried noodles are the generous use of chili and thick sweet soy sauce. 

When sold in traditional eateries, the take-away noodles will be wrapped in a couple of banana leaves and fastened by toothpick or rubber band. This cheaper version is sold with pickled shallots and onion and a couple of shrimp crackers. It can certainly satisfy your midnight cravings for oily food. In fancier spots, mi goreng is served with shredded omelette or fried eggs sunny side up, a piece of fried chicken and crackers. 

The secret for nice mie goreng is that as soon as the vegetables are added into the hot wok, the egg noodles are added and seasoned with sweet soy sauce as fast as you can, and quickly mixed them well with one spatula in one hand and a big ladle / fork in the other. The noodles  The faster you remove the noodles from the heat, the better it would turn out to be. Overcooked noodles is soggy and easily broken into short and lumpy. 

Ingredients

For spice paste 

2 cloves garlic
10 shallots (15 grams)
4 candlenuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon whole white pepper seeds

For stir-frying 

250 grams egg noodle
150 grams beansprouts
150 gr chinese green cabbage, cut into 2″ length
5 spring onions, cut into 5 cm stalks
1 stalk chinese celery, chopped finely
1/8 cup green / bird’s eye chili (10 grams)
1 tomato, quartered
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1/4 cup water

Instructions

• In a spice grinder or mortar, add the garlic, shallots, candlenuts and pepper. Lightly mashed everything together till reaches smooth paste consistency
• Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over high heat till smoke starts to show at the surface
• Add the spice paste and chili, quickly stir-fry for two minutes
• Toss in the green and beansprouts. Mix well with the paste quickly for one minute
• Add in the noodles, tomato pieces, sweet soy sauce , salt, chopped celery and spring onion and water. Keep on stirring for one more minute, and remove from heat
• Serve warm with pickled shallots and sprinkle some fried shallots for garnish

Cook’s note

When fresh egg noodles are used, wash them under running water for a couple of minutes before tossing into the wok.

Chinese greens can be substituted with shredded cabbage

Step by step shots

Ever been to traditional market on a hot and humid day, trying to pick out some dried salted fish? I have. Not the most cherished moment of daily grocery shopping. Trays and trays of dried salted seafood perfectly displayed on the counter, with some strange looking fishes and other sea creatures dangling on over your head. Each one of these items give up different level of pungent smelt that peaks up during hot and humid summer days. The shopping trip would almost be a torture for those who is not familiar with it. 

You may be put off by the idea of its intense saltines and pungent aroma, but once you acquired the taste for fish sauce and shrimp paste, you will develop the taste for dried seafood. Like western luxury food items such as truffle and caviar, dried seafood is often act as flavor booster. A bit will go a long way. 

Chinese and South East Asian love salting and sun-drying their seafood. It has very concentrated flavor and the aromas are so overwhelming, even for us who grew up eating it. Plenty supply of fish has prompted this practice, and the inexpensive nature of this source of protein has made dried fish humble dish for any families. 

Our grandmother had a signature dish that is well loved by all her grandchildren. She steamed the fish with pieces of pork belly with shallots and chili. One big pot can feed the whole family when served with steamed rice or porridge. Dried salted fish that is used should be from big fish, such as barramundi (ikan asin kakap), instead of smaller fish like sardines, mackerel or anchovies. This way it would not fall apart from long period of cooking time. 

Ingredients

150 gr pork belly 
150 gr salted fish, barramundi preferably 
10 shallots (70 gr)
1 clove garlic
5 red chili (20 gr), sliced
1/3 cup thai green chili (30 gr), sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Instructions

• Soak the fish fillet in cold water for 10 minutes to remove the excess salt and slightly rub the surface to clean it up
• Cut pork and fish into 0.5″ cubes
• In a heatproof bowl (non-metal, preferably), combine all ingredients 
• Steam over high heat for 1 hour
• Serve with warm rice or plain rice porridge

Step by step shots

Yam cake is savory steamed snacks made from taro cubes mixed together with rice flour and then served with fried shallots, scallions and other condiments such as dried shrimps or chopped chili. Yam cake (also known as taro cake) is slightly denser than radish cake which is made from shredded radish and rice flour. 

In our city, yam cake is enjoyed in the morning as part of assorted savory cakes served with coffee as well as afternoon snacks served with tea. This is sold in old-style bakery or street side cake vendors. The street side vendors in particular, have wide variety of savory and sweet cakes, and I really wonder how they manage to make them fresh everyday, that must be a lot of work! It has always been a pleasant trip to shop for cakes in those stalls. 

My mother makes the best yam cake (don’t we all think the same way about our mothers). She steamed them in high heat for one hour until they solidify into gelatinous mass. The secret for fresh and beautiful yam cake is to “ensemble” them right before serving. The yam cake base is steamed for a while together with the toppings. This way the greens will still be fresh and yet cooked. If it is prepared hours before serving the toppings would be unsightly, soggy and wilting. 

They are a lot of work, I have to admit. But they do make the most beautiful hors d’oeuvre, don’t they? Exotic and colorful indeed. They have all the textures you would seek in a bite of cake – smooth (gelatinous rice flour), chewy (yam cubes), crunchy (from fried shallots), nutty (from sesame seeds), spicy (from chopped chili) and wonderfully pungent (from dried shrimps). 

Ingredients

 
For cake base
500 grams char siu pork (restaurant-bought Chinese-style barbeque pork)
1 1/2 kg yam / taro, peeled and cubed (0.5″)
500 grams rice flour, soaked overnight with 2 cups of water
10 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cooking oil 
2 liters water

For toppings
100 grams dried shrimps, coarsely chopped
100 grams red chili, seeded and finely chopped
100 grams chinese celery, finely chopped
100 grams scallions, finely chopped
500 grams shallots, finely sliced and deep-fried
50 grams sesame seed, toasted
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

(A) 

• Heat half of cooking oil in a wok or large pan and stir fry half of minced garlic for 4 to 5 minutes till fragrant. Then add the taro cubes, keep stirring. 
• Add 2 liters of water and cook for another 10 minutes till boiling and stir continuously to prevent sticking. 
• Then add the soaked rice flour and wait till boiling. 
• Remove from heat and transfer to heat-proof bowl / casserole dish.
• Steam over high heat for 1 hour. Remove and set aside. 

 
(B)

• Heat another half of cooking oil in the same pan and stir fry the rest of the garlic till fragrant, for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the dried shrimps and sugar, stir fry for 5 minutes
• Then add the barbeque pork and stir fry for another 10 minutes. 
• When everything is mixed well together, remove from heat

 
(C)

• When ready to be served, reheat the yam cake base by steaming (A) for 10 minutes, with a covered steamer
• Sprinkle (B) generously on top of the cake. Cover and steam for another 5 minutes
• Add chopped chili on top, cover and steam for 5 minutes
• Lastly, add chopped celery and scallions. Steam for another 5 minutes
• Remove from heat
• Right before serving, top the cake with toasted sesame seeds and fried shallots

Cook’s note 

The pork can be substituted with charsiu chicken (Chinese-style barbeque chicken) 

To add more color on the cake base, add some finely chopped scallions during (A). I think it is quite unnecessary, but it would be quite attractive to do it. 

The base can be refrigerated for days and prepared accordingly (C) and you will always get your yam cake with fresh toppings!

A new addition to our family’s favorite is pan-fried pork rib with orange and honey flavored marinade. 

The orange-based ingredient used is the preserved mandarin orange rind found in supermarket or Asian grocery shops at snack section. When we were little girls, we loved to sneak into classes one of these and just put a small piece into our mouth. The tanginess helped keeping us alert during most boring classes like Algebra. Mind you, we were not allowed to eat or snack in classrooms. Naturally the orange rind was the easiest item to eat with the lowest risk of getting caught. Haha. So there we are, little girls who were sleepy with a piece of orange rind in our mouth trying to soak in those lessons which was like some alien language scribbled on blackboard with white chalk. It was the 80s. 

The recipe is from one of our aunties and my mother was so pleased to try it out on us. The ribs turned out to be sweet and sticky. Definitely finger-licking good. 

All ingredients are mixed well together and left refrigerated for minimum of 6 hours, so the flavors are all soaked up by the ribs. Other types of meat can be used, such as chicken wings, baby back ribs. This is my new favorite marinade sauce. Great for quick fix – prepare it in the afternoon, by dinner you would have a savory dish ready to be popped into oven or easy pan-fried. 

Ingredients

500 gr pork rib, cut into medium sizes or bite sizes
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
50 gr preserved mandarin orange rind
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoon tapioca starch 

Instructions

• In a grinder, grind the rind finely. Alternatively, you can chop it finely
• In a mixing bowl, mix all ingredients for marinade together. Generously coat the ribs with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or longer
• Heat cooking oil in non stick pan. Pan fry the ribs in batches for 5 to 10 minutes each side over medium heat, depending on the thickness of the rib. Make sure it does not burn too much and turn often as the sugar will caramelize and cause it to burn
• Remove from heat and serve warm

    

Chicken soup, not only good for the body, but also for the soul? That good? For me, it is. 

I love chicken soup, with noodles or pasta, rice or thick crusty bread. It is the ultimate comfort food. One of our uncles shared his recipe of chicken soup using freshly ground spices, and it turned out to be so great that I swore I could finish the whole pot of soup. Of course I will be bloated by the end of the day, but it would be so satisfying, mentally and physically. 

It has all the usual ingredients, chicken pieces with bones still intact, bits and pieces of vegetables. Instead of chicken broth, the soup is flavored by candlenut, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, cardamon and ginger. The soup would not be as clear as the usual consomme, but it is clouded by the spices. 

The zest of the soup is so warming that it is truly the best version I have had so far. It would be great with some improvement, by adding some pasta or dumplings. But for now, I am keeping this as original as possible. The soup is served as one of the main courses for lunch or dinner, and fried shallots sprinkled on top – which is totally unnecessary. But Indonesians put shallots on everything, so who am I to deny the soup of this garnish? 

The chicken meat used is whole chicken, cut into medium pieces. Unlike other version, this is only cooked for less than 1 hour. The gelatinous effect from the chicken bone is minimum and I personally think that all parts of chicken can be used, including chicken feet and neck. After the cut vegetables are added, the heat is lowered down to a simmer. As any other type of chicken soup, this one is still good the next day. Ours never saw another daylight. 

Ingredients

3 candlenuts (10 gr), toasted
1″ cinnamon stick
1 whole nutmeg
1/2 star anise
2 whole cardamon
0.5″ ginger
1/2 teaspoon whole white pepper
4 shallots (25 gr)
2 cloves garlic (10 gr)
2 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cubed
2 medium-sized potatoes
400 gr chicken, cut into medium pieces
2 stalks chinese celery
2 stalks spring onion
1 medium-sized tomato, halved
1/2 stalk leek
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
5 cups water
1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

Instructions

• Boil water and salt in a medium-sized stock pot over high heat
• In a spice grinder, grind garlic, shallot, ginger, white pepper till pasty consistency
• In a saucepan, heat cooking oil over medium heat and stir fry the spice paste for 5 minutes, till fragrant and color turned slightly brownish
• Add the paste into the stockpot with boiling water. Toss in halved tomato, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise and cardamon
• Add chicken pieces and lower heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes
• Toss in leek, spring onion, celery, potato cubes and carrot. Simmer for another 10 minutes 
• Remove the leafy ingredients, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise and cardamon before serving