Gado Gado Bumbu Kacang Santan (Mix Vegetables Salad with Peanut Dressing and Coconut Milk)

As I’ve said before, I love gado gado, my family loves gado gado (except for my son because he doesn’t like peanut sauce), my Indonesian friends also love this dish, so this is what I usually make when we have gatherings at home. I’ve posted gado gado recipe before, but this one is different.

Gado gado or Indonesian traditional salad is a dish that is full of fresh or boiled vegetables than can be eaten with rice, lontong (rice cake cooked in banana leaves), or as it is. We usually add boiled eggs, keropok, and lots of fried shallots. The dish is served with homemade peanut sauce or dressing. We can either use a grinder or blender, or food processor, but the best one is still the one that is made using mortar and pestle (although I’m not gonna do that especially if I make this for many people).

For better taste of the sauce, I always combine peanuts and cashew nuts as many us do in my home country. Can we use peanut butter? I don’t recommend because peanut butter is usually sweet because sugar was added, but for gado gado sauce. we always use coconut or Javanese red sugar instead of white sugar. So the taste will be different.

What differentiate the sauce from my previous recipe is the using of coconut milk and the sauce is cooked  with more spices added when making the sauce. This is East Java sauce version while my previous one is Jakarta/Betawi version. I found both were really good and I love both versions.

For the sauce, you can blend until smooth, but I like to still bite the peanuts when tasting the sauce, so I didn’t blend it until really smooth, but that will depends on your preference.

Ingredients:

For The Sauce:

1. 300 gr roasted or air fried peanuts (no salt added)
2. 200 gr roasted or air fried cashew nuts (no salt added)
3. 100 gr coconut sugar or Javanese red sugar (in blocks), grated
4. 5 kaffir lime leaves
5. 3 thumbs kencur 
6. 1.5 tsp ground coriander seeds
7. 1.5 tbsp salt, or to taste
8. 200 ml canned coconut milk
9. 1 L of water
10. 3 tbsp cooking oil
11. 10 shallots
12. 6 garlic
13. red chili, as much as you want
14. Lime juice from 1 large lime

Vegetables (of your choice):

1. potatoes
2. long beans
3. mung bean sprouts
4. cucumbers
5. tomatoes
6. fried white firm tofu
7. lettuce

Other:

1. boiled eggs
2. keropok (rice crackers)
3. belinjo crackers
4. fried shallots

Method:

1. Heat a wok with cooking oil and fry shallots, garlic, and red chili until they are soften. Transfer to a the bowl of a blender or food processor or grinder. do not remove the oil
2. To the bowl, add peanuts, cashew nuts, coconut sugar, lime leaves, kencur, coriander seeds, and some of the water. Blend until you reach the consistency that you want (you can blend until smooth or still with chunky peanuts texture). Transfer the mixture back to the wok
3. To the wok, add coconut milk, the remaining water, and salt. Cook until it boils, then adjust the taste (add extra salt if necessary). Continue cooking until it thickens. Remove from heat and squeeze some lime juice. Stir to mix
4. Let it cool completely before serving and storing
5. Store the leftover in an airtight container in the fridge
6. Arrange the vegetables of your choice and boiled eggs in serving plates, pour the peanut sauce, then top with keropok (crackers) and sprinkles fried shallots

Chicken Meatball Soup

Although (beef) meatballs is probably the most popular meatball type in Indonesia, we also have other types of meatballs such as fish, shrimp, pork, and chicken meatballs. I like all kind of meatballs, and I really wanted to try making this type of chicken meatballs. It was easy and I just followed my beef balls recipe. It is suitable for those of you who can consume beef and pork. I also used the paste as the filling for my wonton soup and tofu. It was really delicious and a must try especially if you’re not feeling well or on rainy days.

Ingredients:

For The Meatballs:

1. 750 gr chicken fillet, no skins, cut into smaller size
2. 100 gr egg whites, cold
3. 20 gr salt
4. 1.5 tsp sugar
5. 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
6. 1/2 tsp baking powder
7. 2 tbsp fried shallots
8. 2 tbsp fried garlic
9. 225 gr ice cubes
10. 150 gr tapioca flour

Other:

1. wonton skins
2. white firm tofu, cut diagonally into 2 and scoop some of the flesh with a small spoon to make a hole

For the soup:

1. 2 L of water
2. 5 tbsp cooking oil
3. 5 garlic
4. 8 shallots
5. 5 candlenuts, stir fry without oil until fragrant
6. 5 green onions (white parts only) minced
7. 1 small block of chicken bouillon
8. salt and pepper, to taste
9. fried shallots
10. minced celery and green onions

Method:

Making The Meatball:

1. Prepare a large pot and add water until 3/4 of the volume (about 2 L)and start boiling water while preparing the chicken meatball mixture in the food processor. Once water is boiling, turn off the heat. While waiting for the water to boil,  prepare the meatball mixture
2. Add the chicken, cold egg white, fried shallots and garlic, baking powder, salt, sugar, pepper, and ice cubes to the food processor  and process until a smooth paste is formed, the ice cubes have completely melted and mixed well with other ingredients
3. Add tapioca flour and process until well incorporated (the texture should be smooth) and transfer the mixture to a bowl. Divide into 2 parts
4. Take 1 part of the mixture, scoop some of the paste onto the palm of your hand (you can use a glove). Push the paste through your thumb and 2nd finger by making a fist. Use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot water. To prevent the paste from sticking to the spoon, wet the spoon with water every once in a while. Do this with the rest of the mixture
5. Turn to medium heat and bring to simmer until meatballs float. Keep simmering for a few minute (do not let the water boil) and check for doneness
6. Transfer meatballs into a large bowl, use the water to make the soup
7. For the other half of the mixture, use half of it as the filling inside the wonton skins and cook in boiling water until soft. Set aside and discard the water
8. Cut white firm tofu into half diagonally until you get 2 triangles. Scoop some of the tofu flesh in the center, and fill the hole with the other half of chicken meatball mixture. Deep fried until golden brown

To Make The Soup:

1. Blend shallots, garlic, and candlenut with cooking oil until smooth and stir fry until fragrant and brown. Transfer to the pot with water that you used to cook the meatballs
2. Bring to a boil, taste and season with salt and pepper (I also added chicken bouillon). Add fried shallots and mix. Turn off the heat
3. To serve, arrange chicken meatballs, wonton, and tofu in a bowl or serving plate, then pour the soup. Top with fried shallots and minced celery and green onions. Serve with chili sauce

Drinks: Grass jelly with Coconut Sugar and Milk

It has been super hot lately in here. No rain at all and my aircons are working almost 24 hours non stop these days. That was why when I had a gathering in my friend’s house just one week before Easter, the first thing that came to my mind was to bring something cool and refreshing, and cold drink was just the best option for that.

This was instantly came to my mind. It was super easy, I could buy all the ingredients in the supermarket, made it a day before, refrigerated overnight, and it was good to go. So happy because everyone liked it, asked what I put inside, and couldn’t wait for our next gathering so I could bring another dessert drink.

This drink is also quite popular in Indonesia especially during fasting month and people love to make it to break fast, or also known as takjil (special food and drinks to break fast). As Hari Raya Idul Fitri will be celebrated in less than 15 days from now, I think it’s also the perfect time for me to post this recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 2 x 500 gr grass jelly, grated
2. 200 gr coconut sugar in blocks
3. 500 ml of hot water
4. 1 pandan leave
5. 500 to 1000 ml of cold water
6. 1 can of evaporated milk (390 gr)
7. 1 can of lychee (the fruit and the juice were already very sweet)

Method:

1. Bring to boil the simmer 500 ml of water, coconut sugar, and 1 pandan leave until the coconut sugar has dissolved completely. Let cool and discard the pandan leave
2. Grate grass jelly and place in a large pot. Into the pot, add the mixture of coconut sugar and water, evaporated milk, lychee fruits with the juice, and 500 ml of cold water
3. Stir to mix and taste. Add more cold water (I used 1 L of cold water in total) until you reach the taste of sweetness that you like
4. Refrigerate overnight before serving
5. If you’re planning to add ice cubes in serving glasses, you may want to reduce the amount of cold water added

Telur Pindang (Brown Tea Eggs)

I’ve been busy preparing for Easter service, which we now call as Resurrection Sunday to celebrate the risen of Jesus Christ. And although my church does not use eggs to represent Easter like when I was a Sunday School kid, I was still intrigued to make something out of eggs.

The egg symbolized new life emerging from the eggshell, just like we get new life when Jesus is risen from the death. In some tradition, eggs are painted red to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, and maybe that is why we decorate the Easter eggs nowadays.

One of the very popular traditional egg dish from Indonesia is Egg Pindang or Telur Pindang or also known as tea eggs. It was originated from China but Indonesians made their own way of cooking the eggs. The hard boiled eggs are cooked in low heat in a very long time with some spices and tea leaves to give the nice brown color outside and inside the eggs. For us, some people don’t even use tea leaves, we use bay leaves, jambu leaves, and shallot skins. You will definitely need time and patience to make this dish, but you will be happy with the result. The eggs will be in shiny dark brown color. It is very easy to make, but you need to leave the eggs overnight for best results.

Ingredients:

1. 15 hard boiled eggs, remove the shells
2. 1.5 L of water
3. 5 shallots
4. 3 garlic
5. 25 gr coconut sugar (red palm sugar)
6. 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
7. 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
8. 5 bay leaves
9. 1 tbsp roughly ground dried black tea leaves (loose black tea leaves)
10. 1 tbsp salt
11. 1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Method:

1. In a large pot, add eggs and all other ingredients. Bring to a boil
2. Reduce to low heat and half covered the pot with a lid and cook until 1/2 liquid has evaporated. Close the lid and let rest for 6 hours or overnight
3. Cook again until the amount of liquid is just enough liquid to cover the eggs. Cover and let cool completely
4. Strain and wash the eggs from the tea leaves that attached to the eggs
5. Serve as side dish with steamed rice

Pindang Sapi Daun So (Black and Creamy Beef Soup from Java, Indonesia)

One of the traditional soup that we might not easily find nowadays is black creamy beef soup with belinjo leaves. The black color comes from keluwek, a small black fruit that is common to Indonesian people for cooking. We get the creamy taste from the freshly presses coconut milk, and finally, we add belinjo or melinjo leaves to add flavor. Belinjo leaves are also difficult to find outside Indonesia, so yes, this dish is not easy to recreate outside my home country. I brought keluwek and belinjo leaves from Indonesian whenever I have the chance to come back.

It’s a traditional beef soup from the land of Java and it is best eaten with hot steam rice. Sometimes, I also added hard boiled eggs, tofu, or tofu puff. This dish is called pindang, and I have posted another beef pindang recipe from another province of Indonesia, and you will see that they are different. Will they taste the same?Absolutely not, they are completely different.

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg beef (you can use ribs, shank, brisket, or even oxtail)
2. 1.1 L freshly pressed coconut milk (250 gr thick and 850 gr runny)
3. 1 L of water (add some more if you want more soup)
4. 5 tbsp of cooking oil
5. 2 tbsp of salt, or to taste
6. 1 tbsp of sugar
7. 1/4 tsp ground white pepper, or to taste
8. 2 handfuls of daun melinjo or belinjo leaves or daun so
9. fried shallots
10. Fried lime juice
11. Optional: tofu puffs, hard boiled eggs

Mashed Spices:

1. 10 shallots (150 gr)
2. 6 garlic
3. 6 candlenuts (stir fry without oil until fragrant)
4. 1 thumb of turmeric (or use 1/2 tsp ground turmeric)
5. 2 thumbs of ginger
6. 2 thumbs of Kaempferia Galangal or aromatic ginger (kencur)  
7. 2 large red chili (I removed the seeds)

Aromatic spices:

1. 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
2. 1 tsp ground caraway seeds
3. 2 lemongrass, crushed
4. 5 slices of galangal (langkuas)
5. 5 bay leaves
6. 5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

Other spices:

1. 10 keluwek (mashed)

Method (using pressure cooker):

1. First: we are going to blanch the beef to remove any impurities. Prepare a large pot and fill half the pot with water, then bring the water to boil in medium heat. Add all the beef (the water in the pot must cover the meat) and bring the water to boil for 5 minutes in high heat. Discard the water and wash the meat in running tap water
2. Combine all the spices in “mashed spices” with oil, then using a blender or food processor, blend until smooth. Transfer to a wok and stir fry until fragrant and the mixture starts to dry. Add all spices in “aromatic spices” and mashed keluwek and continue to stir fry for another 3 minutes.
3. Add coconut milk and water to the wok and bring to a boil in medium heat while stirring occasionally so the coconut milk does not break apart, then transfer to the pressure cooker pot or continue cooking in the same pot. Add beef, all the spices, salt, sugar, and ground white pepper to the pot and cook until beef is tender. If using pressure cooker, open the lid only when you no longer see the steam
4. Add belinjo leaves and 3 tbsp fried shallots, then mix to combine and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat
5. Serve with more fried shallots and  freshly squeezed lime juice. Optional: you can also add tofu, tofu puff, or boiled eggs to your beef soup

Soto Banjar / Traditonal Chicken Soup from Banjar, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

My family is a soto lover, so I cook soto quite often in my house, from chicken, beef, to prawns. Soto is a popular soup in Indonesia and is made using lots of herbs and spices and served with rice or rice cakes in banana leaves, vegetables such as mung bean sprout or cabbage and tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, potatoes or potato pancakes aka. perkedel, and top with fried shallots or fried garlic, minced celery or green onions. The meat is usually fried (for chicken) and shredded. I always like to add lime juice, my homemade chili sauce, and sweet soy sauce.

Soto Banjar is a type of chicken noodle soup from South Kalimatan, one of Indonesian provinces. The difference with other type of soto from various places in Indonesia, is that we’re adding mashed potatoes and milk (I used evaporated milk) and no turmeric. Soto recipes from Java province usually add turmeric so the soup is yellowish, but Soto Banjar has white color because we don’t use turmeric ad add milk.

Banjar or short from Banjarmasin was the capital city of South Kalimantan, the smallest province in Kalimantan. I went to this city once when I was still working, and loved the delicious local cuisines. Not sure when I can be back again, but I am sure that this soto is very delicious and if you like soto so much like I do, than you should try this recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 1 chicken, cut into 8
2. 1.8 L of water + 200 ml evaporated milk
3. 5 tbsp cooking oil
4. 2 tbsp salt, or to taste
5. 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
6. 1 tbsp sugar
7. 3 tbsp fried shallots
8. a handful of celery
9. 5 green onions, cut into 5 cm in length
10. 1 cooked (steamed) potato without skin, mashed

Ground ingredients:

1. 10 shallots (150 gr)
2. 6 garlic
3. 5 candlenuts, stir fry without oil until fragrant
4. 2 thumbs of ginger

Aromatic spices:

1. 5 bay leaves
2. 5 lime leaves, shredded
3. 1 tsp ground caraway seeds (jintan)
4. 1/4 tsp ground fennel seeds (adas manis)
5. 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
6. 5 green cardamom (kapulaga)
7. 2 x 5 cm cinnamon stick
8. 3 star anise
9. 5 cloves

Other:

1. fried shallots
2. minced green onions
3. limes
4. rice cakes in banana leaves (lontong)
5. hard-boiled eggs
6. cooked glass noodle

Method:

1. Add shallots, garlic, candlenuts, and ginger, and cooking oil to a blender and process until smooth. Transfer to a pan or wok
2. Stir fry the mixture until fragrant and starts to dry (might take 10 to 15 minutes)
3. Add all aromatic spices and stir for about 1 minute. Transfer this mixture to a large cooking pot
4. Add chicken, boiling water, and celery to the pot. Season with salt, pepper and sugar
5. Cook in low heat until the chicken is soft and thoroughly cooked (add water if necessary). Taste and adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper). Turn off the heat. Discard celery, bay leaves, lime leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves
6. Remove chicken cuts from the soup, deep fry or air-fry for 12 minutes at 180 Celsius or until golden brown. Let cool and shred them into small pieces
7. To the soup pot, add evaporated milk, mashed potatoes, fried shallots, ad green onions, and bring to boil. Turn off the heat
8. Arrange rice cakes, hard-boiled eggs, glass noodles, and chicken in the serving bowls. Pour the soup into the bowl
9. Add fried shallots, minced green onions, and freshly squeezed lime juice into the bowls
10. Serve hot with chili sauce

Pindang Tulang (Beef Soup from Palembang, Indonesia)

This beef soup from Palembang (the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra) is refreshing and light with a mix of savory, sour, and spicy taste (originally it should be quite spicy, but since I cooked for my son, I only used large red chili without the seeds, and I served the chili sauce separately). Pindang Tulang or bone soup is usually made with beef ribs, but I used oxtail instead (it was recommended by my butcher at the wet market), but you can choose to use one of them or a combination of both.

Don’t forget to blanch the beef before cooking and for a faster cooking process and soft and tender beef, I always used my pressure cooker, although you can also use slow cooker or stove top cooking which will take quite some time.

What’s the difference between this soup and other beef soup recipes? Pindang Tulang uses pineapple and basil leaves in the soup and do not use as many spices as other traditional beef soup. So the taste is quite light but also very delicious and addictive. I love the combination of pineapple, basil, and tomato is this soup. For the basil leaves, we use Indonesian sweet basil or also known as daun kemangi.

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 kg oxtail
2. 2.5 L of water
3. 2 lemongrass, take the white parts and bruised
4. 6 slices of galangal
5. 6 slices of ginger
6. 5 salam or bay leaves
7. 5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
8. 2 tbsp of salt, or to taste
9. 2 tbsp of sugar, or to taste
10. 2 tbsp of tamarind seeds, soaked in 50 ml of water and squeezed to get the juice. Discard the seeds
11. Daun kemangi
12. sliced pineapples
13. sliced tomatoes
14. lime juice

Spices:

1. 15 shallots
2. 8 garlic
3. red chili (as much as you want)
4. 1 tsp ground turmeric
5. 5 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Blanch the beef to remove any impurities. Prepare a large pot and fill half the pot with water, then bring the water to boil in medium heat. Add all the beef (the water in the pot must cover the meat) and bring the water to boil again in medium heat and let the water keeps boiling for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Discard the water and wash the meat one by one in running tap water and transfer to a clean pot
2. Blend shallots, garlic, chili, and oil until smooth and form a paste. Transfer to a wok and add ground turmeric. Stir fry until fragrant and the mixture starts to dry.  Add lemongrass, galangal, ginger, and lime leaves and cook for another minute. Transfer all the mixture to a large pot (I used pressure cooker)
3. Add the blanched beef into the pot with water, salt, sugar, and tamarind juice and cook until beef is tender
4. Add pineapple and tomatoes, cook for another 30seconds. Turn off the heat and add kemangi or basil leaves
5. Serve hot with steamed rice

 

Sate Maranggi (Indonesia Traditional Beef Satay)

Sate or satay has been known as one of the very famous Indonesia traditional dish. It is widely known in most regions of the country and there are so many variations of satay, from chicken, beef, fish, prawns, lamb, and pork. In my home country, you can buy satay from the street vendors or travelling stay vendors in wooden carts (most common ones and also the best ones) to upper class restaurants. Satay is also one of the many common dishes to be served during events such as weddings, birthdays, luncheon, etc.

Sate or satay Maranggi is made from beef and served with sambal kecap (dipping sauce made from sweet soy sauce, shallots, red chili, lime juice, and diced tomatoes). The meat is heavily marinated with spices and grilled until charred on both sides. Sate Maranggi originally comes from Purwakarta (a district and small town in West Java, Indonesia). It is best eaten immediately after grilling with hot steamed rice or glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk.

Ingredients:

1. 750 gr beef (use tenderloin, or the ones with marble or some fat), cut into cubes or long thin slices
2. 12 shallots
3. 8 garlic
4. 8 candlenuts, stir fry without oil until fragrant and a bit burnt
5. 2 thumbs of ginger
6. 2 thumbs of galangal
7. 5 tbsp cooking oil
8. 1 tbsp salt
9. 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
10. 1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
11. 2 tbsp tamarind seeds, soaked in 30 ml of water and squeezed to get the juice. Discard the seeds and use the juice only
12. 4 tbsp sweet soy sauce
13. 1 tbsp grated red or coconut or Javanese sugar (or palm sugar)
14. Bamboo skewers

Sambal Kecap:

1. sweet soy sauce
2. diced bird eye chili
3. diced tomatoes
4. sliced shallots
5. freshly squeezed lime juice

Method:

1. For sambal kecap: mix all the ingredients together and set aside
2. Pound (using mortar and pestle) or blend (using food processor or a blender) these ingredients: shallots, garlic, candlenuts, ginger, galangal, cooking oil, and coconut sugar until smooth and they form a paste. Stir fry until fragrant and transfer the mixture to a large bowl
3. To the bowl, add salt, pepper, ground coriander seeds, tamarind juice, and sweet soy sauce. Stir to mix well. Use this mixture to marinate the beef for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hour. Cover the bowl and refrigerate
4. Soak the bamboo skewers in cold water for 5 minutes before using so they don’t get burn. Put about 4 – 5 pieces of beef satay on each bamboo skewer
5. Grill each side until cooked and slightly charred, baste with marinating sauce as needed
6. Serve immediately with sambal kecap and hot steamed rice

 

Beef Malbi (Malbi Daging Sapi dengan Nasi Kuning Rice Cooker)

Malbi daging sapi or beef malbi is a type of beef stew with thick gravy and lost of spices. Malbi is originated from Palembang, the capital city of Indonesia’s South Sumatera Province. It is sweet and savory, and although it resembles rendang in appearance, the taste is completely different as it doesn’t use coconut milk in it (I would say that it has a “lighter taste” than rendang, although both are very good and tasty).

You don’t have to use coconut milk to cook malbi, but you will need grated white coconut which you have to stir fry until dark brown and grind until smooth before mixing it with other spices.

This is the perfect pair for nasi kuning (savory rice with coconut milk and turmeric) and I also wrote the recipe for how to make this delicious yellow rice in your rice cooker, which is super easy and quick to make. I also served malbi with green chili sauce and yellow achar (see the recipe for yellow achar in my previous post).

MALBI DAGING SAPI

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg beef tenderloin (preferably, but you can also use rump of chuck or the one with marbling), sliced into the size of approx. half your palm
2. 400 gr grated white coconut
3. 5 tbsp cooking oil
4. 10 shallots (150 gr)
5. 8 garlic
6. 2 thumbs of ginger
7. 5 cloves
8. 2 x 5 cm cinnamon stick
9. 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
10. 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
11. 7 tbsp sweet soy sauce
12. 25 gr coconut sugar
13. 2 tbsp tamarind pulp, add some water and squeeze to get the juice
14. 2 tbsp salt, or to taste
15. 1/4 tsp ground white pepper, or to taste
16. 500 ml water

Method:

1. Stir fry grated coconut while stir occasionally on low to medium heat until dry and aromatic. It should be light brown but not burnt. Grind until smooth and oily and set aside
2. Blend shallots, garlic, and ginger with cooking oil until smooth and form a paste. Stir fry in a large wok until fragrant and the mixture starts to dry
3. Add aromatic and ground spices (cloves, cinnamon stick, ground nutmeg, and ground coriander seeds) and cook for another minute
4. Add grind grated coconut, sweet soy sauce, coconut sugar, tamarind juice, salt, and white pepper, then mix well with other spices before adding the meat, then continue stirring until the meat is well coated with all the spices
5. Add water, continue to stir occasionally while cooking (cover during cooking time) until the meat is tender and thoroughly cooked, most of the liquid has evaporated, the gravy is thick and bubbly, and has turned into dark color. You can add water if necessary if the beef is not tender yet (depending on the type of beef cut that you use). Turn off the heat and transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle fried shallots and minced green onion
6. Serve with yellow rice, acar kuning, and green chili

NASI KUNING RICE COOKER

Ingredients:

1. 400 gr white rice, wash under running tap water 4 to 5 times
2. 200 ml packaged coconut milk
3. water
4. 2 pandan leaves, tie into knots
5. 5 salam or bay leaves
6. 5 lime leaves, shredded
7. 6 slices of galangal
8. 5 slices of ginger
9. 2 lemon grass, bruised
10. 1 tsp of salt
11. 3 tbsp fried shallots
12. 3 tbsp shallot or garlic oil (whichever you have at home)
13. 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Add coconut milk into the rice pot, then add water until the total water and milk level is about 3.5 cm above the rice (or depending on the type of rice that you use)
2. Add all other ingredients into the pot, stir to mix, and press the cooking button in your rice cooker
3. Stir 3 times during the cooking process and 1 time after the cooking process is done. Turn off the rice cooker 15 minutes after the cooking process is done
4. Serve hot with fried shallot sprinkle on top and together with malbi daging sapi

 

Yellow Achar (Acar Kuning)

Acar or achar or also known as vegetable pickle, is one of Indonesian side dishes that often accompanies many of Indonesian main dishes such as nasi kuning (yellow rice with coconut milk), nasi uduk (savory white rice in coconut milk), fried rice, fried noodle, fried and grilled chicken, beef, or even seafood. Achar taste is the combination of sour, sweet, savory, and sometimes spicy. It can be raw or cooked and there are many varieties of Indonesian achar. I like almost all kinds of achar as I am a vegetable lovers.

For this recipe, I made yellow achar which was cooked but the vegetables were still crisp and not soggy (although you can adjust the firmness of softness of the vegetables according to your preference. Acar kuning or yellow achar is usually eaten with yellow turmeric rice which I will post the recipe alongside an Indonesian beef stew to accompany the rice and achar.

I used cucumber, carrot, and whole shallots for this dish and no chili was added so my family could also enjoy my cooking. You can add red and green chili, French beans, and even pineapple (which I really love). It’s really fresh and easy to make.

Ingredients:

1. 3 large Japanese cucumbers, cut vertically into 4 and remove the seeds, then cut into long thin strips
2. 4 carrots, cut into long thin strips
3. 10 whole shallots
4. 5 tbsp cooking oil
5. 1 tsp salt, or to taste
6. 1 tbsp sugar
7. 1 tbsp white vinegar
8. 200 ml of water

Spices:

1. 5 shallots
2. 5 garlic
3. 5 candlenuts, stir fry without oil until fragrant
4. 1 thumb of ginger
5. 1 tsp ground turmeric

Method:

1. Blend cooking oil, 5 shallots, 5 garlic, 5 candlenuts, and ginger until smooth and form a paste. Transfer to a wok and add ground turmeric
2. Stir fry until fragrant, the mixture has changed into brownish color, and starts to dry
3. Add water and bring to a boil
4. Add carrots and whole shallots, followed by cucumbers. Stir and cook until the vegetables has reached the texture that you like (I like them to be still crisp, firm, and not too soft or mushy, so I only cook for a little while). Turn off the heat and add vinegar. Serve with meat and rice