SAUTE CELERY WITH TOFU

This is very easy to cook! What you need are:
1 pack medium firm tofu - diced
5 stalks celery - finely chopped
3 cloves garlic - thinly sliced
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dashida (optional)
_________

*Heat oil in skillet, deep fry tofu, turn as necessary until golden brown - set aside
*Saute garlic until slightly brown,add celery, salt, pepper, Dashida, stir frequently, add 1/4 cup of water. Then add tofu and stir for a few seconds and remove from heat.



-Eat little, sleep sound-

TEKWAN

Tekwan is a fish ball soup from Palembang, South Sumatra. The fish balls are made from fish paste and tapioca starch - similar to empek-empek and siomay bandung :)

#1. FISH BALLS
Ingredients:
13 oz fish paste.
7 tbs tapioca starch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
___________

* Mix fish paste with sugar,pepper,salt, and tapioca starch.
* Bring water to boil in a pan.
* Use two teaspoons to make the fish paste into round shapes and add in boiling water. The cooked fish balls will float in a pan. Remove and set aside.

#2. THE SOUP
Ingredients:
10 tbs dried shrimp - soak in water, drain, and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 handful dried lily flowers - 金针 (^available @ 99 Ranch Market)
1 handful black fungus (^)
4 tbs butter
4 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs Dashida
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt.
4 tbs sugar
2500 ml water
3 stalks celery - thinly sliced
1 medium size jicama
___________

*Soak dried lily flowers and black fungus in hot water for 5 minutes or so. Rinse and drain.Cut black fungus into 2 or 3 pieces. Knot lily flowers. - set aside
*Peel and cut jicama into strips
*Heat butter in skillet,add garlic and dried shrimp^^, stir frequently until slightly brown.Remove from heat - set aside
*Bring 2500 ml water to boil, add garlic + dried shrimp^^, Dashida, fish sauce, pepper, salt, sugar. Then add fish balls,jicama, black fungus and lily flowers.Cook for 2 minutes.

___________

* Move to a serving bowl, garnish with celery and fried shallots. I like to add 2 tbs vinegar, ABC sweet soy sauce, and ground chilies. It tastes better ;)

SIOMAY BANDUNG

Siomay Bandung is an Indonesian steamed fish dumplings served with peanut sauce.It's ubiquitous in the city.You can find it from restaurants to street vendors.
Here is the recipe! (Enough for 4 servings)

Ingredients:
26 oz fish paste (I usually buy fish paste in a plastic container weigh 13 oz each)
8 tbs tapioca starch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pack medium firm tofu
3 medium size white potatoes
1 head of medium size cabbage
2 medium size bitter melons
2 eggs - hard boil, peel the skin and cut in half - set aside
key limes
1 pack of peanut sauce(sambel pecel-can be found at Asian grocery stores)
ABC Sweet soy sauce
Ketchup (optional)
Sriracha Hot Sauce (optional - if you love spicy, this is a MUST)

How to cook:

* Clean the cabbage, thin the stem on the leaves and boil it for a few seconds. Remove form heat and drain. Roll each of the leaf. - set aside.
* Cut each bitter melon into 4 parts and remove the seeds with a spoon. Soak in hot salt water for 5 minutes or so then rinse them.
* Cut tofu into 6 thin slices, and cut each slice in 2, then cut diagonally to make triangles.
* Rinse and peel potatoes, cut into 4 parts.
__________

* Mix fish paste with pepper,salt,sugar,and tapioca starch in a large bowl.
* Stuff 2 tbs fish paste into the bitter melon.
* Take a piece of tofu, use the end of the spoon to make a cut on one side of the triangle and stuff with fish paste.
* Steam the bitter melons, tofu, and potatoes until they're fully cooked.
(Note: if you can't stuff all the fish paste into tofu or bitter melons, simply make a few cylinder shapes out of it and steam them!)
* Bring 500 ml water to boil. Add a whole package of peanut sauce and stir until dissolve.Remove from heat.
__________

Place bitter melons,tofu,potatoes,cabbage,and half of the egg in a plate. Pour peanut sauce on top along with the sweet soy sauce, ketchup and sriracha sauce.Squeeze key lime juice on it.



-A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body (Benjamin Franklin)- 

POTATO CROQUETTE

This is one of the popular snacks in Indonesia. The origin of this snack is from the Netherlands.I guess the Dutch call it Kroketten(?) Let's start cooking :)

#1. SKIN BATTER
1 lb white potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
5 tbs wheat flour

*Peel and steam/boil the potatoes and crush them with potatoes masher
*Add pepper, salt, egg, and wheat flour into mashed potatoes; mix until mixture is smooth.

#2. CROQUETTE FILLING
5 cloves garlic
5 shallots
1/2 lb ground beef
1 large size carrot - peel and finely diced
100 gr green beans - sliced 1/2 cm
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon sugar
1 stalk of scallion - finely sliced
1 tbs tapioca starch - dissolve in 3 tbs water
3 tbs butter

*Heat butter in the skillet, saute garlic and shallot until slightly brown
*Add ground beef and stir frequently then add diced carrot and green beans.
*Add salt, pepper, sugar, scallion and stir until it's fully cooked then add tapioca starch and stir until thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.

#3. COATING
2 Eggs, use a fork to whisk
400 gr breadcrumbs

Now, we're ready to make croquette :)
> Take 2 tbs of mashed potatoes, put it on your palm and flat it, then add 1 tbs of croquette filling and shape it into a cylinder.
> Roll it on breadcrumbs and into egg mixture then roll back on breadcrumbs.
> Heat oil in the pan, and deep fried until golden brown.



-Good food ends with good talk (Geoffrey Neighor)-

INDONESIAN STEAM RICE WITH CHICKEN & MUSHROOM

Easy to cook.What we need to prepare are ingredients for the chicken mushroom, garlic oil, and pickled cucumber (optional).


#1. CHICKEN MUSHROOM
Ingredients:
1 pack of chicken leg/ thigh - cut into small pieces ; set aside the bones^
1 pack of shitake mushroom - thinly sliced or you can use 1 can of button mushroom; cut in half.
5 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 inch ginger - finely chopped
1/2 tbs pepper
1/2 tbs salt
2 tbs sugar
5 tbs ABC sweet soy sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs sesame oil

* Heat oil in the pan, saute garlic and ginger until slightly brown.Then add chicken, pepper, salt, sugar, sweet soy sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil.Cook for 15 minutes, add button mushroom and cook for another 10 minutes. It'd be better if it tastes a little bit salty, because we have to cook it together with rice.

#2. GARLIC OIL
Ingredients:
1 bulb of garlic - chopped into small pieces
7 tbs oil

*Heat oil and add garlic, stir frequently until slightly brown. Remove form heat.

#3. PICKLED CUCUMBER (OPTIONAL)
Ingredients:
3 medium size cucumbers - peel the skin, seed them, and thinly sliced.
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
3 tbs vinegar

* Mix well all of the ingredients and refrigerate it.

Now, you can either steam or cook the rice in the rice cooker. I always choose the second one: cook in the rice cooker. :)
* Put 3 cups of rice in the rice cooker and wash it.
* Add 6 or 7 tbs fully cooked chicken mushroom, mix well with uncooked rice, add water and cook it.
* When it cooks, sprinkle the top with thinly sliced scallion and garlic oil. Serve with pickled cucumber

Enjoy!



-There is no love sincerer than the love of food (George Bernard Shaw)-

FRIED GINGER CHICKEN IN WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE*

Most of us know Ayam Goreng Mentega, don't we? :) But, we might forget that one of the ingredients is WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE a.k.a saus Inggris :D
Yes, this is a recipe of Ayam Goreng Mentega. I came up with the name* because when we cook something, we can actually name it as we wish to make it sounds more tempting hahaha...

STEP 1. Prepare the chicken
We need:
2 packs of chicken wings/drumettes(approximately 2 lbs)
3 inches fresh ginger - finely chopped
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1 medium size lime

>> Squeeze lime juice onto the chicken wings/drumettes and mix with other ingredients; marinate for 1 hour or so.


STEP 2. Prepare the sauce
The ingredients are:
4 tbs butter
3 cloves gralic
3 tbs Kikkoman soy sauce
3 tbs worcestershire sauce
3 tbs sweet soy sauce
salt to taste
2 small size key limes - squeeze the juice

How to cook:
>Add oil in the skillet.When oil is hot add chicken pieces into skillet. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes or so.
Uncover skillet, turn chicken and continue to cook for another 7 minutes or so. Turning as necessary to ensure both sides are golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet and drain on paper towels - set aside.

>Heat butter and fry garlic until slightly brown, add all the rest of sauce ingredients and stir frequently until the sauce thickens. Then add chicken and mix them well.



-If hunger makes you irritable, better eat and be pleasant (Sefer Hasidim)-

DEEP FRIED SOFT SHELL CRABS

Who can resist seafood? Not me. Even though I know cholesterol in some seafood is very high, but it's okay to eat them once in a blue moon :) This time I'm gonna jot down a simple recipe how to make soft shell crabs.

Ingredients:
1 pack of soft shell crabs
1 egg
200 gr wheat flour
Pepper and salt to taste
Bread crumbs
Water
Oil

How to cook:
Clean the soft shell crabs - drain and set aside.
Mix wheat flour and water, add the egg, pepper and salt. mix them well
Dip the soft shell crabs into the batter and roll them in bread crumbs
Heat oil in the pan and deep fry.



-The belly rules the mind-

CHICKEN MUSHROOM NOODLES

For those who love noodles and don't mind to spend a little more time to cook, here I wanna share this recipe! :)
I will split the ingredients into 3 parts; for the noodles, the soup, and the topping.

FOR THE NOODLES
250 gr dried egg noodles
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs garlic oil * (see how to cook)

FOR THE SOUP
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped, saute and set aside.
500 ml water
1 stalk of scallion - thinly sliced
pepper to taste
Chicken or beef soup stock to taste - I usually use DASHIDA
Beef balls

FOR THE TOPPING
Chicken mushroom * (see how to cook)
1 stalk of scallion - thinly sliced
Fried shallot - ( available at Asian grocery stores)
5 stalks of choy sum - wash, cut, and boil it - set aside

Now, let's start!

* CHICKEN MUSHROOM
Ingredients :
1 pack of chicken leg/thigh, cut into small pieces - set aside the skin.
4 tbs ABC sweet soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
2 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs fish sauce
1 can of straw mushroom

How to cook:
Heat oil in the pan, add garlic and ginger, saute until slightly brown.
Add chicken fillet,sweet soy sauce, fish sauce,oyster sauce and stir frequently until the chicken fully cooked.Then add straw mushroom and cook for another 5 minutes. (You can add salt and sugar if it's less salty/ sweet).

*GARLIC OIL
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic - thinly sliced
chicken skin
3 tbs oil

How to cook:
Heat oil in the pan, fry the chicken skin together with the garlic until slightly brown, remove from heat and set aside.

SOUP
Bring 500 ml water to boil then add garlic, pepper,chicken soup stock, and beef balls.Remove from heat and sprinkle the scallion.

PREPARATION :
Boil noodles approximately 1 minute, drain and mix it with 1 tbs garlic oil and 1 tbs fish sauce in a bowl. Add choy sum and chicken mushroom on top of the noodles. Sprinkle with fried shallot and sliced scallion.

NOTE: THE CHILI SAUCE
Mix ground Thai chilies,minced garlic, sriracha sauce, sprinkle of salt, and 2 tbs of vinegar.Add a little bit of water.



- Man is what he eats (Ludwig Feuerbach) -

SAUTE SHRIMP WITH BASIL

The last time I cooked shrimp basil leaves was last year. It's been long time ago. The reason I don't cook shrimp very often is to avoid high cholesterol food ;)

The main ingredients are:
1 lb shrimp (you can use calamari instead, whatever you like)
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2-3 Thai chilies (or jalapeno) cut into pieces
Chicken broth to taste
Salt and sugar to taste
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tbs fish sauce
Basil leaves
Oil to stir fry

How to cook :
Clean the shrimp,then boil approximately 5 minutes in hot water. Remove and drain.
Heat the oil and add garlic, chicken broth, fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, sugar, and salt into the skillet.
Add shrimp and stir frequently then add chopped onion, chilies, and basil leaves.
(don't overcook the onion, chilies, and basil leaves)



- The food tastes great when you cook with your heart - :)

EMPEK-EMPEK - INDONESIAN FISH CAKES

Empek-empek is an Indonesian fish cake made of fish and tapioca starch; served with sweet and sour vinegar sauce. To make it simple, I buy fish paste from Asian grocery store and mix it with tapioca starch, a little bit of pepper and salt;
(13 oz fish paste : 7 oz tapioca starch). Since the paste has been mixed with garlic powder, I don't have to add garlic anymore. Then I make cylinder shapes out of the dough, boil until it's fully cooked and fry it.

Now the most important part to me is the sauce :)
The ingredients are :
200 gram palm sugar
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 or 3 Thai chilies, depends on how spicy you like. I usually grind the chilies.
100 gram of tamarind paste - dissolve in 1/2 cup of hot water and discard the pulp. Use the juice only.
A little bit of salt and vinegar.
500 ml water

Bring the water to boil and put all the ingredients in the boiling water and mix them together. Once it boils, switch off the stove. What you have to do next is taste the sauce. Seriously! It has to be sweet and sour :)

* You can also put fresh chopped cucumber in the sauce ( optional) before you serve it.



-Trial & Error is important to make good foods - :D