Last week, there was an event at my work, open house. We had lots fruit leftover. I brought a bag of them and make them for Rujak Manis. Too bad, I made the sauce too thick, that was not supposed to be. It's still good and spicy (hot).
There are several versions of rujak in Indonesia. As a person who grew up in East Java, I know rujak manis, rujak madura, rujak cingur are difference in sauce. No wonder for traditional Eastern Javanese recipes, I like using the recipes of mbak Lia (Dapurgue).
In Indonesia, it is usually served with tropical fruits, such as, medium riped papaya, unripe mango, pineapple, jicama (Indonesian: bengkuang), starfruit (Indonesian: belimbing), rose apple/water apple (Indonesian: jambu air), guava (Indonesian: jambu), kedondong (I haven't found the English name :-P) and also add sliced of fried tofu.
Rujak Manis
Recipe by Lia of Dapurgue, translated by me
Ingredients:
Fruits:
I used the fruits that I had
Strawberry, sliced
Cantaloupe (In Australia and New Zealand, it's known as rock melon)
Melon, sliced
Pineapple, sliced
Spicy Peanut Sauce for Rujak Manis
100 g fried/roasted peanuts
250 g coconut sugar, warmed up in a microwave for couple seconds to soften
3 tbsp fried garlic
2 tbsp tamarind juice
bird eye's chilies ( as many as you like)
1/4 tsp dried shrimp paste (Indonesian: terasi)
salt as desired
water
Directions:
1. Combine bird eye's chllies, dried shrimp paste, salt and tamarind juice. Process with a food processor until smooth.
2. Add coconut sugar, add a small amount of water at time and increase until reach the desired consistency.
3. Add garlic and peanut, process until done (do not process the peanut to smooth, but some people might like the smoother version). If the sauce is too thick, add water.
4. Serve with sliced fruits.
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3C means Calamansi, Candlenuts, and Coriander. 1S means Shallot. These pictures might help some people who don't know the Indonesian or English name for these ingredients.
I have been there before, where I had no idea about several ingredients in English. Sometimes, in my city, some Asian stores put other foreigns' name, such as in Chinese, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. What to do if you got stuck by those foreigns' names? My suggestion, look up their science names, then through google you can find other foreigns' name by their science names.
Let's take a look calamansi! It might not be popular for Indonesians who live in the Western islands of Indonesia. This citrus is very popular in
Manadonese culinary. It makes sense if this citrus also popular in Filipino's culinary. As you can see on the map that geographically
Manadonese is an ethnic group who live in North Sulawesi, that is very close to the Philippines. You might have a better view of calamansi if you take a look to my previous calamansi post on
this link.
I have posted candlenuts before, you might be interesting to read the explanation on
this link. Candlenut is very popular ingredient in Indonesian culinary, usually it is added to give the flavor as well as a thickener, such as Indonesian curries and
sambals. Candlenuts is an Indonesian waxy nut that looks similar to a large hazelnut.
This post is my entry for
Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) #130, hosted by Margot of
Coffee and Vanilla. I have used calamansi as my entry on
WHB #112 too.
Grouper is known as Kerapu in Indonesian. This recipe uses four my favourite ingredients; candlenuts, kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce), coriander and calamansi.
In this recipe, I did cheat on my sambals. I used sambal terasi from Kokita and for my sambal kecap, I just added calamansi squeezed and more shallot slices into sambal kecap Kokita.
I often have a hard time to capture fish dish. So, I'm not quite satisfied with the fish pictures.
Candlenuts Coriander Grilled Grouper
Recipe by me
Ingredients:
500 g cleaned and scaled whole grouper
5 calamansis (or more for your sambal kecap)
3 candlenuts
2-3 shallots
2 tbsp coriander seed
2 tbsp kecap manis (if you like sweeter you can add more)
salt as desired
Directions:
1. Process candlenuts, shallot and coriander in a spice grinder/food processor until smooth. Mix with kecap manis, now your spice mixture is ready.
2. Rinse off grouper under running water.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut 4 diagonal 1-inch deep slits on each side of the fish. Cut slightly deeper toward the back fin of the fish. The slits will allows the seasoning to penetrate better and help fish to cook more evenly throughout.
4. Season outside with calamansi juice and salt. Fill the inside of the fish with spice mixture. If possible, leave the fish to marinate for several hours to improve the flavour.
5. Brush with a small amount of oil, place on charcoal grill and cook over medium heat. In this case, I used a cast iron grill.
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I guess spring has sprung. The frozen river near my place has melted. Yupss I live near by the Assiniboine River. The Assiniboine River is a 1,070 kilometers (665 mi) long river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A name of this river is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation.
It flows south-east from Saskatchewan and then mainly east to "The Forks" in Winnipeg, Manitoba where it flows into the Red River. The Red River is a North American that flows through several major urban areas along its path including Fargo-Moorhead and Greater Grand Forks in the United States and Winnipeg in Canada. All the information about the rivers is courtesy of wikipedia.
I have four pictures that were taken on different day. All pictures were taken from 9th floor of my apartment. Picture #1 was taken on April 13, 2008.
Three other pictures were taken April 16, 2008. In picture #2, #3 and #4, you can see small pieces of ice floating on the river, most of the ice has melted and they were flowing to The Forks then flowed into the Red River.
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Indonesia is an archipelago country in South East Asia that consists of 18,000 islands and is occupied by 250 ethnic groups. Diversity in culture has influenced the world of pleasure for the culinary adventurer.
Throughout the history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Indonesia's indigenous techniques and ingredients merge with influences from India, the Middle East, China and Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of Indonesia. Indonesian island of
Maluku is famed as "the Spice Island" also gave contribution on the introduction of native spices to Indonesian and global cuisine.
Telur Gabus is my contribution for
SHF (Sugar High Friday) - Asian Sweet Invasion , hosted by Amrita of
La Petite Boulangette.
I know for those who live in Indonesia will not make traditional Indonesian snacks as they are cheaper to buy than make them. I sometimes crave for the snacks that I used to have when I was a kid, I should try to make by myself since I have been living away from my home country.
Thanks to Esti who is really generous to give this book, so I can make Telur Gabus, a sweet snack from sago palm flour. If I have to break down the words of Telur Gabus, it will sound weird. Telur means Egg and Gabus means Snakehead fish, literally translated snakehead fish eggs. I have no clue why they call telur gabus.
Due to my lacking ingredient, I had to substitute sago palm flour for arrowroot flour. Still taste as good as the sago ones. The white sugar covered telur gabus was made from white sugar and the brown one was made from coconut sugar (Indonesian: gula jawa/gula merah). You might wonder what coconut sugar is and how it looks like. Go and visit
this link, where I have posted before.
Telur Gabus
recipe by Yasaboga, modified by me
Ingredients:
250 g sago palm flour (I substituted for the same amount of arrowroot flour)
50 g flour
3 eggs, beaten
50 ml water
1/2 tsp salt
White Sugar Covered
125 g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
65 ml water
Coconut Sugar Covered
100 g coconut sugar*
50 g white sugar
65 ml water
Tips:
To soften the coconut sugar, I usually put it in a microwave just until soft enough about 10 seconds
Directions:
1. Combine arrowroot flour and flour evenly. Add eggs and knead. Gradually add water and salt; knead.
2. Take a small dough and with your palms, roll into a bird's eye chili shape. Repeat this procedure until all dough done.
3. Add oil to a large skillet (keep the oil cold) and place in telur gabus. Turn on the stove to medium heat; fry (stirring constantly) until telur gabus' is dried out. Drain. Divide into 2 parts, one part for the white sugar covered and the second part for the coconut sugar covered.
White Sugar Covered:
In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients to make the white sugar covered. Bring to a boil and let simmer until really thick. Add part 1 of fried telur gabus, stir evenly until all cover with sugar sauce. Remove from the heat and let them cool down.
Coconut Sugar Covered:
In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients to make the coconut sugar sugar covered. Bring to a boil and let simmer until really thick. Add part 2 of fried telur gabus, stir evenly until all cover with sugar sauce. Remove from the heat and let them cool down.
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Raise your hand if you love coriander as I do! Love the flavour of coriander seeds, that is why I like to keep as they are and grind them only if I need.
The seed of the cilantro plant is known as coriander. Although cilantro and coriander come from the same plant, their flavors are very different and cannot be substituted for each other. Some countries refer to the cilantro as coriander, so any references to "fresh coriander" or "coriander leaves" refer to cilantro.
In Indonesian cuisine, coriander seed is widely used, but not cilantro, and a kind of herbs that has parted as cilantro, is Chinese celery leaves. I started to know about cilantro while I learned about Mexican and Thai cuisine.
Coriander Calamari Rings
Recipe by me
Ingredients:
454 g (1 lb) frozen calamari rings, thawed*
Marinate:
1 tsp freshly ground coriander
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
Breaded:
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp freshly ground coriander
salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs with a touch of dried parsley or dried cilantro
Notes:
* Tips to thaw: Place unopened bag of calamari under cold running water for 10 to 15 minutes. Open bag and let drain in colander for about 2 minutes
Directions:
1. Marinate calamari rings with coriander and turmeric and let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Combine rice flour, garlic powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Coat the calamari rings in rice flour mixture, shaking them out to get rid of any excess.
3. Dip them into egg. Dip them into bread crumbs, coating them well, and shaking off any excess.
4. Up to this point may be done in advance, and the calamari rings refrigerated for a couple of hours, until you are ready to fry.
5. While you ready to fry the calamari, heat the oil (the secret to crispy calamari is hot, hot oil, just below the smoking point). Fry the rings (in batches) about 1 minute, or until they are golden. I enjoyed calamari rings with my favourite hot sauce, Indonesian hot sauce. If you feel tartar, honey mustard, mayo, mustard, ketchup or tzatziki for dipping, go ahead.
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Sandwich is always be my husband's favorite. I tried to make a different style of sandwich. The idea was come from
Ina Garten which I have modified lots.
Garten's style sandwich:
1. has used balsamic vinegar to make roasted red peppers
2. has used goat cheese for spreading on
3. has used basil for assembling the sandwich
My style sandwich
1. has used nypa vinegar (cuka nipah palm) to make roasted peppers
2. has used guacamole and hummus for spreading on
3. has used baby spinach for assembling the sandwich
Same things that we have used, ciabatta bread and red onion slices.
So I can say that my sandwich is fusion style which is mixed Italian for the bread and roasted red peppers, South-East Asian for nypa vinegar, Mexican for guacamole and Middle East for hummus.
Just so you know Nypa palm vinegar is from Nypa fruticans, known as the Attap Palm (Singapore), Mangrove Palm or Nipah palm (Indonesia, Malaysia), Nipa Palm (Philippines), Dừa Nước (Vietnam), Gol Pata (Bangladesh), and Dani (Burma) is the only palm considered a mangrove.
Roasted Red Peppers, Guacamole and Hummus Sandwich
Recipe by Ina Garten, modified by me
Ingredients:
4 large red peppers
2 tbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp nypa vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp drained capers, chopped
For assembling:
1 large ciabatta bread, halved horizontally
guacamole as desired
hummus as desired
10 baby spinach leaves
3 thin slices red onion
freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Place the whole peppers on a sheet pan and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the skins are completely wrinkled and the peppers are charred, turning them twice during roasting. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately cover it tightly with aluminum foil. Set aside for 30 minutes, or until the peppers are cool enough to handle.
3. Meanwhile, combine the olive oil, nypa vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Remove the stem from each pepper and cut them in quarters. Remove the peels and seeds and place the peppers in a bowl along with any juices that have collected. Discard the stems, peels, and seeds. Pour the oil and vinegar mixture over the peppers. Stir in the capers. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend.
5. To assemble the sandwiches, spread the bottom half of the loaf with the guacamole and the top half of the loaf with hummus. Add a layer of peppers and then a layer of spinach. Separate the onions into rings and spread out on top. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with the top half of the ciabatta and cut into individual servings.
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Samba Lado Mudo or Sambal Lado Mudo is one of popular condiments in Indonesia. It's originated from West Sumatra province, so if I have to translate the name, it can be Minangese Green Chilies Sambal. If you go to Minangese restaurants in Indonesia, you can ask for this condiment at no cost. Mostly, Indonesians always have sambals for their food, no wonder they have many style of sambals. Still got confused what sambal is? please do visit this link.
As I have posted on
Samba Lado 2 before that I added bilimbis (Indonesian: Belimbing sayur, belimbing wuluh) instead of green unripe tomatoes. Now, I made a different substitute by adding tomatillos.
This recipe is my entry for
Weeekend Herb Blogging #128, hosted by Jai and Bee of
Jugalbandi.
Samba Lado Mudo (Minangese Green Chilies Sambal)
Modified by me
Ingredients:
25 long green chillies
8 shallots (for smaller shallot like in Indonesia, use 16 shallots)
4 tomatillos (original recipe is supposed to add green unripe tomatoes)
100 g teri medan (dried tiny silver anchovies)
5 tbsp oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and sugar to season
Directions:
1. Steam long green chilies and shallots (some people like to steam the tomatoes as well) for about 5 minutes.
2. In a food processor or blender, place tomatillos, steamed green chillies and shallots. Do not process too smooth, just roughly blended. I myself processed too smooth.
2. In a skillet, place oil and heat it over medium-high. Fry dried anchovies until golden brown. Remove the anchovies.
3. Heat the remaining oil in same skillet, stir fry the blended ingredients until wilted. Add fried anchovies, stir evenly. Add lime juice, sugar and salt, stir evenly. Remove from the heat. Ready to eat as a condiment. I put mine in a sterilized jar, so I can keep it longer in the fridge.
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