GrowinKitchen

Chocolatey Celebration

2012-02-12T13:08:00.000+07:00

This is a festive time of year for GrowinKitchen. Not only it celebrates first anniversary today, but two of my friend also have birthdays on the 11th and 14th. And there's Valentine's Day too. That can only means one thing for me, a great chocolatey celebration. Since I still suck at baking, I try gather up some rather easy chocolate cake recipes and my heart instantly set on a flourless chocolate cake from Masterchef Australia. Super simple ingredients, a bit tricky for amateurs like me, yet a perfection.

Ingredients.

Plus, fresh whipped cream and berries for serving.

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake
(Adapted from Masterchef Australia)

Ingredients:

400 g dark chocolate
4 eggs, separated
150 g caster sugar
2½ tablespoons orange liqueur (you can alter it with grated orange zest and orange juice)
300 ml whipping cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
a handful of raspberries (strawberries work well too)
melted butter and cocoa powder for greasing

Preparation methods:

Preheat oven to 180°C/356°F.
Line the bottom of cake pan with baking paper, grease pan with melted butter and dust with cocoa powder.
Slowly melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously until smooth, then remove and allow to cool.
Beat yolks and sugar until pale and thick, pour in the melted chocolate. Add orange liqueur then mix to combine.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, carefully fold into the mixture.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the cake pan, place in a bain marie then bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Take out from the oven and let cool.
Meanwhile, whip cream and icing sugar until stiff.
Remove cake from cake pan, dust with icing sugar then serve it with cream and raspberries.

Yield 12 serves.

In the past few months I've been practicing my hand drawing, and after rediscovered a 9 years old Windsor & Newton's Cotman WaterColours in my college box now I am practicing it too. That's why I can't help but to make an illustration of this recipe and it is so very much fun.

Enjoy your (upcoming) Valentine's everyone!

Illustrated recipe.

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #82.
The food blog event is hosted by five awesome Iowa bloggers, Diana, Annette, Alicia and Wardeh.

Adaptation of Classic Ragù alla Bolognese

2011-06-25T23:46:00.016+07:00

Have I ever told you that above all Italian pasta sauce my favorite so far was ragù alla Bolognese? No? Well, I just did.

Based on Indonesian adaptation of pasta sauce, I always prefered alla Bolognese first (followed by Aglio e Olio). And even though the only nearly-original pasta alla Bolognese experience that I had was from local Italian restaurant in Bandung, but the tangy taste kinda caught me in the heart. It has fresh sweet and sour yet meaty flavors that I love, so much. Honestly, I always wandered how the original ragù tasted like. If I were going to take my Master Degree in Milan two years ago, I would probably took a leap and stayed in Bologna until I could make the classic ragù properly. But since I was not, I googled about ragù alla Bolognese instead and found a classic recipe of it.

Evidently the ingredients consist of minced beef, pancetta (Italian bacon), tomato, carrot, celery stalk, milk, stock, tomato paste, red/white wine and olive oil. No herbs added, unlike in the pasta alla Bolognese that I had tasted at the local Italian restaurant (nor in the bottled ready-to-wear Bolognese sauce I used to buy).

Curious that I am, I tried to make it my own this morning. But I had to alter the recipe using information I gathered from the internet because I don't eat pork nor have wine. So, basically, this one is 'pork and alcohol free' version of classic ragù alla Bolognese.

Adaptation of classic ragù alla Bolognese. Pork and alcohol free.

Classic Ragù alla Bolognese
(Adapted from Accademia Italiana della Cucina and GialloZafferano)

Ingredients:

100 g carrot
100 g celery stalk (use the yellow one if possible)
100 g onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
50 g unsalted butter
600 g minced beef (as substitution for 250 g beef, 250 g pork and 100 g dried pancetta/bacon)
1 to 2 tablespoons red/white wine vinegar to taste (diluted in 100 ml of water, as substitution for 250 ml red/white wine)
30 g tomato
250 ml beef broth
250 ml whole milk (boiled until half reduced)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation methods:

Finely chop carrot, celery and onion together.
Heat the skillet in medium, pour in the olive oil. Melt butter then stir in chopped carrot, celery and onion. Cook for 10 minutes in low heat.
Add the minced beef, stir evenly and continue cook until caramelized.
Pour in the diluted vinegar and cook until half liquid evaporated. Stir regularly.
Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to boil. Take the tomato core out then slice the peel diagonally and vertically. Blanch in the hot boiling water, drain and move to cool water. Remove the peel and seed, then squeeze into chunks. Mix with beef broth.
Pour in tomato and broth mixture into the skillet.
Simmer for two hours, keep stir regularly and add reduced milk little by little. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield 6 serves.

From what I've read, ragù alla Bolognese is essentially a meat-based sauce. So supposedly the beef and the pork can be substitute with other animal flesh used for food. But when I tried to make the chicken version of this ragù for a friend who does not eat beef, it was okay but never as good as the beef one. This make me wandered, again, how great it would be with pork and pancetta. And real wine.. Oh my, this just make me more eager to experience Italy!

Penne alla Bolognese with chicken. (I like the version with herb better. So I served my own pasta alla Bolognese with fresh basil and oregano leaves, plus some red chili and fried garlic topping.)

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #49.
The food blog event is hosted by five awesome Iowa bloggers, Diana, Annette, Alicia, Wardeh and Mare.

This post is also linked to Presto Pasta Nights #220.

This week's PPN is hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. (Link to the full round up of superb pasta recipes from around the globe will be attached soon.)

GrowinKitchen At Bandung Berkebun

2011-05-25T14:39:00.304+07:00

I've always wanted to have a big, beautiful garden, almost similar to the one in Jamie At Home. The idea that I would be able to pick fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables then directly cook them in the kitchen was somehow alluring. But, because I currently share house with a lot of people (plus the owner's family with two toddlers), the dream will have to wait.

Nevertheless, I still want to learn gardening elsewhere. So on the 21st of May, with an invitation from a friend, I joined Bandung Berkebun event 'Tanam Perdana'. The garden is located at a vacant space in the middle of a residential area around Sukamulya Indah, Pasteur. It's only a couple of hundred square meters, but more than enough to plant loads of vegetables.

Front area: junior's plot.

One of the junior gardeners.

My watch pointed at 08.00 AM local time when I arrived there. In the front area, I saw three large bean-shaped plots for local kindergarten pupils and several other junior gardeners to plant green and red amaranth. Meanwhile, in the back, a couple of workers prepare the space into small plots of approximately 45cm by 60cm each. Every four plots are numbered and surrounded with some kind of gutter. There will be planted green and red amaranth seeds too, alongside water spinach, pak coy, red bean, long bean and chayote.

I myself got a small plot number 9D to work on, while the rest of the 9th plots are shared by my new friends Samii, Diah and Ade. Together we planted red amaranth. But before that, we had to clear up weeds, rocks, glass fragments, plastics and any other things that could detain the growth of our vegetables. Now, this is the 'endless' part. The more we dig, the more garbage we found. I barely believe what was beneath our soil, we even found this..

Tazos! (Tazos were popular free toys that we collected from packs of certain snack during early to mid nineties.)

After an hour (or so) trying to get rid whatever garbage in our plots, we gave up. Arbitrarily concluded that a couple of plastic and a handful of rock would do no harm. So we spread the amaranth seeds (and planted red chili that I brought from home, in every corner), watered the plots, then moved to another plots to help planting red bean. Dozens of people were busy digging, seeding and watering (and laughing) that very morning.

Red amaranth seeds.

Somehow this little garden remind me of my mum's. She used to have a little garden in the front of our house when I was still at primary school. There she grown some local herbs and spices, and allowed me to sow watermelon, orange and grape seeds. Sadly, the plants never bear fruit. Some even died earlier because I was too lazy to pull the weeds.

Well, that was old story. I hope our laziness this time won't cost the four of us our red amaranth babies. Because I already have several red amaranth recipe ideas for later. We will continuously visit our garden every Saturday while daily maintenance are scheduled to a local resident. Oh, can't hardly wait to see our sprouts spring..

Fingers crossed.

Bandung Berkebun is a part of a project called Indonesia Berkebun, which aims to create green spaces in the middle of town that (hopefully will) also benefit the surrounding communities. Visit their website for more information.

This post is also featured on Simple Lives Thursday #49 round-up.
Special thanks to the five awesome hosts from Iowa, Diana, Annette, Alicia, Wardeh and Mare.

The Sweet Comfort of Pisang Goreng (Plantain Fritters)

2011-05-11T12:15:00.004+07:00

The opulence of glazed natural plantain caramel.

In Indonesia, particularly west part of Java island, you will find a lot of street food vendor selling fried snacks. Such as bala-bala (also known as bakwan, fried wheat flour batter with added vegetables), fermented soybean fritter, fried cassava, cireng (tapioca starch batter filled with peanut paste), comro (fried cassava batter filled with oncom), misro (a kind of sweet comro with palm sugar filling), gehu (bean curd filled with vegetables and fried with batter), sweet potato fritter and plantain fritter. All in one cart.

One of the famous fried snack vendor in Bandung is the one around Dalem Kaum. I must say their plantain fritters are winning, using several kind of plantains with different ways of processing. The most I love is their gegodoh, which use a very ripe plantain. A sweet, tender, greasy treat, with the opulence of glazed natural plantain caramel. And, by the way, it tasted even better when served with a cup of tea or black coffee.

Heaven is as simple as a plate of plantain fritters and a cup of jasmine tea with The Famous Five.

Pisang Goreng - Gegodoh
(Plantain Fritters)

Ingredients:

1000 ml oil for frying
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
300 ml water
3 ripe plantains

Preparation methods:

Heat the skillet in medium, pour in the oil.
Meanwhile mix flour, vanilla, salt and water to make a batter.
Peel the plantains and cut it anyway you like.
Cover plantains with batter, fry in fair heat until tender. Drain and put on kitchen towel.
Serve while hot, with tea or black coffee.

Yield 3 serves.

Sweet comfort. Don't you care to dive in? Go on, I know you want to..

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #49.
The food blog event is hosted by five awesome Iowa bloggers, Diana, Annette, Alicia, Wardeh and Mare.

WHB #279: Pisang Bakar dengan Gula Aren dan Keju (Grilled Plantain with Palm Sugar and Cheddar Cheese)

2011-04-11T05:00:00.185+07:00

Before moving to current address, I was living at Ciumbuleuit. Still in the north part of Bandung; less than a mile away from my home now. There, in Ciumbuleuit, is a private college where I studied Architecture for one and a half year. With number of students living in, it was no wonder that a lot of business began to grow in the street. And that included food.

One of my favorite was a little café named after bird's eye chili—only in Indonesian. Me and friends used to hang out there talking, playing cards, waiting for the sun to set while enjoying cup of coffee and plate of grilled plantains.

Grilled plantain with palm sugar and Cheddar cheese.

The grilled plantain was their specialties, and served in (slight) different way from any other vendors here in Bandung or in my hometown. It was sprinkled with palm sugar instead of chocolate, but still used Cheddar cheese. I claimed it to be the best grilled plantain I ever had.

Unfortunately, the last time I went to that place, their grilled plantain menu is off the table. But, fortunately, it is easy to make at home. Even simpler than 'a piece of cake'. All I have to do is grilling the plantain in a non-sticky skillet or a charcoal grill, sprinkling it with palm sugar powder and cheese, and, bam! I got a sweet creamy little dish for snack.

Grilling with non-sticky skillet.

Sweet and creamy little dish.

Sweet and creamy big bite. Yum!

Pisang Bakar dengan Gula Aren dan Keju

(Grilled Plantain with Palm Sugar and Cheddar Cheese)

Ingredients:

3 ripe plantains
3 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon palm sugar powder
20 g young Cheddar cheese (thinly sliced, or grated)

Preparation methods:

Heat the skillet (or charcoal grill) over medium heat.
Smear butter onto the plantains, put it in skillet or grill. When grilling with skillet, use the smallest heat as possible. Cook it for 15 minutes each side, or until both browned to your taste.
Put it in the serving plate, sprinkle with palm sugar, then top it with Cheddar cheese.

Yield 3 serves.

There are more food I had experienced in my glorious Ciumbuleit era. I shared some with my architect-slashed-chef friend, Ayesha. And, today is her day. May she be blessed with wonderful years ahead. (P.S. We really need to hang out in the kitchen sometime, dear.)

This post is also linked to Weekend Herb Blogging #279.

This week's WHB is hosted by Anh, A Food Lover's Journey. Read the full round up of superb recipes around the globe here.

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #39.
The food blog event is hosted by five awesome Iowa bloggers, Diana, Annette, Alicia, Wardeh and Mare.

WHB #278: Tumis Oncom dan Leunca (Sautéed Fermented Soybean Waste with Black Nightshade)

2011-04-05T07:01:00.007+07:00

If you wonder why I post quite a lot (and will post more) of Javanese traditional food, it is because I am half Javanese descend. My father grew up in East Java, so did my mother. She even born there. So they brought Javanese culture into our eating habits.

The other half is Sundanese. My parent move to West Java more than 25 years ago and I was born and raised midst of Sundanese culture. I moved to Bandung, capital of West Java region, for college and reside here since then. (Actually, my father's mother is originally from Bandung too, before she moved to East Java with my grandfather and their children.) So besides Javanese, I also grew up with typical Sundanese dishes. And today, I will share some of the flavor for you.

Tumis oncom dan leunca.

Oncom is one of the traditional foods of Sundanese cuisine. Most Indonesian cooking books written in English referred oncom as fermented soybean waste.

Indeed it considered to be closely related to tempeh (fermented soybean). But instead of soybean, oncom is actually made from natural by-products of other foods. For example, soy bean tailings from bean curd making, peanut presscake from peanut oil making, cassava tailings from the starch extraction or coconut presscake remnants after the milk squeezed out. These wastes are then fermented using molds. Thus, said to be, increases the economic efficiency of food production.

There are two kinds of molds used in making oncom, Rhizopus oligosporus which produced black oncom and Neurospora intermedia var. oncomensis which produced red oncom. The reds are reported to be the only human food produced from Neurospora; and also able to reduce cholesterol levels.

Overseas, oncom is commonly sold in Asian Market under the names Textured Vegetables Protein (TVP) Mince, soya granulat, or soya mince. It is dried and need to be brewed before use. In fact, have no idea how it tastes, but it is said to be almost the same with the ones we consumed here in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, leunca (Sundanese term) is also known as buah ranti (in Indonesian) or black nightshade (Solanum nigrum). Here, this berry is popular for lalapan (fresh vegetable and fruit to be eaten with sambal), a kind of salad-like side dish; and to be cooked with oncom and chili.

Sautéed Fermented Soybean Waste with Black Nightshade

(Tumis Oncom dan Leunca, adapted from The Best of Indonesian Cooking)

Ingredients:

1½ tablespoons palm oil
4 shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 green chilies
1 red chilies
5 bird's eye chilies
2 salam leaves
½ cm galangal (bruised)
15 g dried shrimps (soak in hot water)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
150 g oncom (red or black, rinsed and ground)
75 ml thin coconut milk
50 g black nightshade
1½ teaspoons chili paste
a pinch of salt
a pinch of brown sugar
25 g lime basil leaves

Preparation method:

In a pan, heat oil then add shallot and garlic, chilies, salam leaf, galangal, dried shrimp, shrimp paste and tamarind juice. Stir until aromatic.
Put in oncom, continue to stir until all mixed thoroughly. Add coconut milk and wait until sauce thickens.
Add black nightshade, chili paste, salt, brown sugar and, lastly, lime basil leaf. Cook until sauce absorbed.
Serve with rice.

Yield 3 serves.

P.S. This is also dedicated for the birthday girl, Arini (she's Sundanese too, so I think it matched). My wish is, may she.. learn to cook! :)

This post is also linked to Weekend Herb Blogging #278.
This week's WHB is hosted by Rachel, The Crispy Cook. Read the full round up of superb recipes around the globe here.

Onion Soup for The Cold

2011-04-04T00:11:00.005+07:00

This morning I sneezed a lot, and ended up with a runny nose. Actually the symptom have lasted for quite a long time now and I've already paid a visit to a doctor. However, after I drugged all the medications as prescribed, the symptom persists.

Yes, I put chemical substances into my body (and cost myself a fortune) for nothing.

Probably it was resistance because I simply didn't believe chemicals could help. Oh well, isn't it always the way it worked? That was why I so did not want to take any more chemical drugs today. I'd better cook something to help me through this runny nose.

I remembered my housemate, Irna, once made an onion soup when she caught cold. She said it could warm her body and clear phlegm. This sounded like perfection. Besides, I've always wanted to try Jamie Oliver's onion soup recipe. So I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of Allium family. Onion, garlic, shallot and leek got moving into action..

Members of the Allium family, (back row from left to right) yellow onion, red onion, leek, (front row from left to right) shallot, garlic and pearl garlic (also known as single/solo garlic).

Cooking this soup turned out to be harder than I thought. Required a lot of ingredients, time and, of course, the part that I like the least, a lot slicing onions. The lachrymatory-factor gas of onions never failed making my eyes red and teary before.

Actually this problem can be solved with chilling the onions in the fridge for an hour or so before slicing. It'll help to slow the activity of the enzyme which produces the allyl sulfate that is responsible for eye irritation. It is also important to slice onions with sharp knife while standing, keeping the eyes away from the gas radar.

Anyway, I must say this slow cooker was the first non-Indonesian cooking that thrown me upside down. But the taste worth the wait, really. Nothing compares to the sweetness of caramelized onions combined with salt, croutons and bubbly melted cheese. Aside of the slight onion breath, the soup did freshen my body. Warm and happy!

Sweet and salty soup with bubbly cheese and croutons.

Onion Soup

(Adapted from Jamie at Home)

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
4 red onions (peeled, finely sliced)
3 yellow onions (peeled, finely sliced)
3 shallots (peeled, finely sliced)
3 cloves garlic (bruised then chopped)
6 cloves pearl garlic (buised then chopped)
300 g leek (cut most of the green part, finely sliced)
a handful of fresh sage leaves, left some for serving
½ teaspoon cloves
5 cm cinnamon
a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg (can be substitute with 1-2 blades mace)
1 tablespoon salt
a great pinch of fresh ground black peppercorn
1000 ml beef stock
1000 ml chicken stock
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 medium baguette
100 g Gruyère cheese (grated)
100 g Parmesan cheese (grated)
8 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Preparation methods:

In a non-stick skillet, heat olive oil then add butter until melted.
Put in red onion, yellow onion, shallot, garlic, pearl garlic, leek, sage, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and black pepper. Put the lid on, cook it down until caramelized in the lowest heat. Stir regularly.
When onions are golden browned, add beef and chicken stock. Put the lid back and simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, pre-heat oven 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.
Slice baguette into 2 cm thick.
Mixed well crushed garlic with chopped parsley and salted butter, then spread it to the baguette. Bake for for 5 minutes to make croutons.
When the onion is done, divide into 8 bowls (or cups, or ramekins). Put in the croutons and top with grated Gruyère and Parmesan. Add a sage leaf then drip one teaspoon Worcestershire sauce in each bowls.
Bake until cheese melted. Serve while still hot.

Yield 8 serves.

Onion soup for the cold.

Back at Roman times, onion soup were seen as food for poor people, as onions were plentiful and easy to grow. The modern version itself, with croutons and cheese, was originated from the 18th century in French culinary.

Nowadays, a lot of studies have claimed that as little as two servings of onions a week have showed quite some health benefits such as cholesterol, blood pressure levels, diabetic heart disease and served a far more nutritious and vital purpose in a balanced diet. (Read more here.) Although some was not scientifically proven yet, thus this dish became more popular.

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #37.
The food blog event is hosted by four awesome Iowa bloggers, Diana, Annette, Alicia and Wardeh.

This post is also submitted to Souper Sundays.
Souper Sundays is a weekly food blog event about soup, sammie and salad, hosted by Deb from Kahakai Kitchen.

This post is also linked to I Heart Cooking Club: Happy Days with Jamie.
'This cooking club aims to grow and change with its members and explore other cooks and books in the future.'

WHB #277: Urap Sayuran (Javanese Mixed Vegetable Salad with Spiced Grated Coconut)

2011-03-28T22:05:00.062+07:00

I swelled. (Oh, no! Mayday! Mayday!)

This was because I've been skipping yoga class for a month now, while my appetite increases since returning from Yogyakarta. You know, there were too much indulging delicacies. In result, I gained several pounds. And when exceed my normal weight I always feel heavy, limp and easily get sick. Very unpleasant. So, guess it's diet time until my weight back to normal.

As a start, today I make urap sayuran. A mixed vegetable salad 'dressed' with spiced grated coconut, that usually served as side dish of Javanese traditional yellow rice (especially in Central part of Java island). This is a sample of Indonesian simple dish; the vegetable are blanched and the coconut dressing is steamed or toasted with refined spices. Then both tossed together. As simple as that.

I have a new mortar and pestle which I brought in Beringharjo market, Yogyakarta, almost two weeks ago. Now is the time to play with it!

Trying the new mortar and pestle.

Javanese Mixed Vegetable Salad with Spiced Grated Coconut

(Urap Sayuran, adapted from The Best of Indonesian Cooking)

Ingredients:

3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
5 red chilies
1 teaspoon coriander (roasted)
1½ teaspoons of chopped kencur (Kaempferia galanga)
3 kaffir lime leaves (finely chopped)
½ tablespoon tamarind
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons palm sugar
250 g grated coconut
50 g carrot (peeled, cut in fingers with 2 cm lengths)
50 g white cabbage (sliced)
50 g cassava leaves
50 g string beans (cut in 2 cm lengths)
25 g bean sprouts
25 g winged bean (sliced)

Urap sayuran (Javanese mixed vegetable salad with spiced grated coconut).

Preparation method:

Refine shallot, garlic, chili, coriander, kencur, kaffir lime leaf, tamarind, salt and palm sugar until become paste.
Mix the paste with grated coconut, and steam for 15 minutes. (Or toast it until aromatic if you'd prefer.) Remove and allow to cool.
In boiling water, blanch the bean sprout for 1 minute. Drain and set aside. Boil the rest of the vegetable until tender, then drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss vegetable and spiced grated coconut altogether.
Serve with mixed rice and fried yellow bean curd.

Yield 6 serves.

Served with mixed rice and fried yellow bean curd. Yum!

It is not necessarily carrot, nor string bean, nor bean sprout, nor cassava leaf, nor winged bean. You can substitute with spinach, water spinach, papaya bud, papaya leaf, kenikir leaf, or maybe add some lime basil leaf—or even stink bean if you like. Just experiment with your taste. It won't matter because the core of the dish is the spiced grated coconut. The scent of kencur is highly evocative.

Kencur, or loosely translated as lesser galangal, is widely used in Asian culinary. It has a peppery camphorous taste that it commonly used as spice in Indonesia, especially in Java and Bali, as well as in Malay, Thailand and China. It also has potential medicinal use for treating indigestion, colds, pectoral, abdominal pains, headache, toothache, rheumatism, and also a potent insecticides.

I have read in some articles that urap sayuran is perfect for diet or vegetarians. While it meets my need right now, I think this is an interesting topic to share in Weekend Herb Blogging event too. I'm going to sent submission to this week's host. So, bye bye for now. Take care, dear.

This post is also linked to Weekend Herb Blogging #277.

This week's WHB is hosted by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook. Read the full round up of superb recipes around the globe here.

Indonesian Cooking With Komikoo.Com: (Kari Kambing dan) Roti Jala

2011-03-27T15:39:00.133+07:00

This is an intermezzo. I tried making a comic a few weeks ago. It was a submission for an event at a local online comic community. They have a monthly comic event with theme, and this March is all about Indonesian cooking. Could it be more appealing to me? Nope.

My comic was a simple slice of life story with simple drawing. It is in Indonesian, entitled ~~Kari Kambing dan~~ Roti Jala. (Yes, the strikethroughs was meant to be on the title.) Here's the result..

Page 01.

Page 02.

I am not a comic artist, per se, and personally I think that making comic is more difficult than making a flash animation. I do, really do. Most notably because making a good comic requires the ability to communicate the idea into well designed panels, in a way readers can understand the story we're trying to tell.

It was hard to be persisted in sketching characters repetitively, in various gesture of expressions. Especially if you're not wonted. But, worth to try.. Right?

This comic is a submission for Komikoo.com Event Maret 2011: Masakan Indonesia. Komikoo.com is an online community of comic lovers in Indonesia. Read and rate this comic here.

Go Healthy with Mixed Rice (Is Our Topic Today)

2011-03-26T11:01:00.041+07:00

(Left to right) black rice, brown rice, white medium-grain rice, unmilled medium-grain rice, wheat, job's tears.

Once my housemate, Vicky, asked me, 'Do you ever run out of topic for the blog?'

Ohoho. Of course, I did. Most notably in the early days of Slurp! (my first food blog). But after a year learn about blogging, I think I began to accustomed to it. Now, each time is like I'm doing a storytelling about food and words come out just like that. There's always a reason to write. (Whenever I have time to—now this is the hardest part.)

For example, at the current moment I am crazy about a mixed rice dish consists of black rice, brown rice, white rice, unmilled white rice, wheat and job's tears (as known as vyjanti beads or Chinese pearl barley).

This mixed rice is a new experience for me. Some of you might have already know about it, but some other might not. Thus we can see food as a matter of culture, and we know how our culture differs. It's not merely about the influence of our surrounding but also our preferences above all. And, differences make us learn. When we learn, we grow. So I think, in this case, it is a good idea to share about the mixed rice. There, I already have a topic for today.

The mixed rice.

I first bought bought a 250 g pack of this at a food market around my neighborhood last week. It turned out to be more fibrous than the regular medium-grain white rice I used to cook. I think it is a clever idea to mix several kind of rice with grain and job's tears. It is easy, and most importantly healthy. Okay, I might not know its precised nutrition and calories per serving. But I know it tasted delish as well as good for digestion.

Care to taste it, anyone? Let's try making it on our own.

Mixed rice with garlic.

Mixed Rice with Garlic

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 cloves garlic (bruised)
½ teaspoon salt
50 g basmati rice
50 g brown rice
50 g unmilled rice
50 g black rice
25 g job's tears
25 g wheat/grain
550 ml low-salt broth

Preparation method:

In a pan, heat olive oil then add butter until melted. Add garlic, stir until aromatic, and salt.
Rinse the rice, add into the pan until all grain coated with oil. Add barley and wheat, stir for 3 minutes.
Pour broth and coconut milk to the pan, bring to boil. Then turn the heat into very low, put the lid on and cook for 30 minutes. (Or put in jar cooker.)
Stir carefully, put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat, keep the lid on for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield 4-5 serves.

Tips: If you're using jar cooker, unplug the power cord whenever rice is cooked. Open the lid, and let cool. Re-heat before serving. This will help the durability of rice, so it's not easily stale/smell.

Easy healthy side dish. Yum!

Happy Earth Hour, 26 March 2011 8.30-9.30 PM local time.

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #36.

The food blog event is hosted by four awesome bloggers from Iowa: Diana, Annette, Alicia and Wardeh.

This post is also submitted to Cooking with Seeds March 2011: Wheat Berry.
This month's food blog event is hosted by Suma from Veggie Platter.

This post is also submitted to Wholesome Wholegrain Cooking March 2011: Barley for Breakfast. This month's food blog event is hosted by Priya from Priya Easy n Tasty Recipes.

Save (and Share) It For A Rainy Day: Ginger Clove Cinnamon Milk with Honey

2011-03-23T16:14:00.001+07:00

The part of Bandung in which I currently reside is rather cold-temperature for a tropical land. In rainy season, usually the end of the year, it is very wet here with a quite high rainfall rate. Even more than Bogor, my hometown, which was popular as Kota Hujan—literally translated as rain city (kota means city and hujan means rain).

Now Bandung become the new Kota Hujan while Bogor is more appropriate to be called Kota Angkot—angkot is abbreviation for angkutan kota, loosely translated as urban transportation. As (I think) there were more angkot units than the number of passengers that can be transported, nor, number of vehicles that can be accommodated by the roads of that commuter town.

Because Bogor public transportation colored with green and blue, our distance imaging must be consists of irregular blue-green tiny, lengthy, serpents. Or at least I imagine it that way..

Anyway, the climate of Bandung is fluctuating lately. It fluctuates without any notice, just like our WiFi connections. Sometimes sweltering and the other time freezing with the bitter cold wind. Such weather usually makes our body (mine, to be exact) more susceptible to catch flu and/or fever.

My family used to make wedang jahe (Indonesian ginger tea) to prevent any disadvantages from weather like these. Honestly, I used to dislike this Javanese traditional beverage because of the intense minty peppery taste. Until one night in February. It was rainy and I was trouble sleeping, my body weakened from cold and my temperature raised. There were no drugs in my first aid box but ginger and palm sugar in the kitchen, so, I had no other choice than made a cup of wedang jahe. And it worked very well.

Later I made it almost every night, and started to add things into my recipe until eventually it developed into ginger clove cinnamon milk with honey.

Ginger, clove, cinnamon, milk, honey.

Ginger Clove Cinnamon Milk with Honey

(Susu Rempah dengan Madu)

Ingredients:

600 ml fresh milk
1½-2 tablespoons sliced ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
5 cm cinnamon
1½ tablespoon palm sugar
1½ tablespoons honey

Preparation method:

In a saucepan, put milk with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil in simmer heat, for about 30 minutes.
Drain the remnants, add honey.

Yield 2 serves.

It is dead simple. For beginners, with less ingredients and minimum amount of time. Yet, powerful enough to expel cold. If you don't like milk, you can always substitute it with water. But I think milk makes it great.

What could be better for a rainy day (or night) than a cup of hot milk, warm blanket, some good music and a book? Or perhaps a movie? Or even a few rounds of game board with your friends? Don't forget to share this ginger clove cinnamon milk with honey with your beloved Honey. Enjoy!

Save and share it in the rainy day.

This post is also linked to Any One Can Cook: Series 20.
Any One Can Cook is a weekly food blog event hosted by Ayeesha from Taste of Pearl City.

This post is also linked to Simple Lives Thursday #35. The food blog event is hosted by Diana, Annette, Alicia and Wardeh. (This post is also voted as one of Alicia's favorites of the week! Thank you.)

This post is also linked to Treat To Eyes: Series-2.

Treat To Eyes is a weekly food blog event hosted by Rumana from Spice Ur Senses: My Way of Cooking.

WHB #276: Bubur Ketan Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk)

2011-03-21T19:54:00.089+07:00

As a kid I always love bubur ketan hitam, a rice pudding made from black glutinous rice and served with coconut milk. In Bali and Nusa Tenggara islands, this dessert is as known as bubur injin. It is similar with bubur pulut hitam in Malaysia and Singapore. Years ago my mum often cooked it for snacks and it was me who ate it all, mostly. I just loved the combination of the sweet sticky pudding and the salty sauce.

Every bubur ketan hitam recipe I found online is served with coconut milk sauce only. But here in Bandung (as well as some other region) I found a distinctive style: it served together with bubur kacang hijau (a kind of mung bean compote) by the street food vendors. When first tasted the mixture of both eight years ago I was quite amazed, I like them better when served separately.

These bubur ketan hitam vendors are rarely found around my neighborhood. They usually appeared around my campus and even then only certain days—most notably in Friday, coincided with Pasar Salman. So when I craved for it yesterday afternoon, I went to the traditional market nearby and bought some black glutinous rice. Then I made a small batch for myself at home this morning. It was dead simple! Perfect for this week Weekend Herb Blogging #276 which hosted by Cinzia from the Cindystar. (Oh, non può aspettare per questa settimana raccolta!)

Bubur ketan hitam.

Black Glutinous Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

(Bubur Ketan Hitam)

Ingredients:

1500 ml water
150 g black glutinous rice (rinsed and soaked overnight)
1 pandanus leaves
150 g brown sugar
a pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
200 ml thin coconut milk
a pinch of salt
1 pandanus leaves

Preparation method:

Bring water to boil with black glutinous rice and pandanus leaf. Cook until thickened in medium heat. Season with brown sugar and salt, take off heat.
In simmer heat, cook coconut milk with salt and pandanus leaf until boiling.
Serve rice pudding with coconut milk sauce while still warm.

Yield 2-3 serves.

The main ingredient ketan, or glutinous rice, is a type of short-grained rice grown in Asia, that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called 'glutinous' in the sense of being glue-like and not of containing gluten. This rice can be used either milled (bran removed) which is white in color, or unmilled—whereas the bran can give a purple or black color. However, black and purple glutinous rice are different strains from the white. Both are widely used in Southeast and East Asian culinary.

Mozzarella Chick in Tomato Paste with Hugs and Wishes

2011-03-20T09:20:00.168+07:00

Time does travel fast. I can't believe this is the third week of March already. Eventually I get more and more anxious every single second because of an academic deadline. But I'm not gonna talk more about it for in fact this blog is my escape from thesis madness.

Well today, March the 20th, is the birthday of a friend whom now working somewhere in the middle east. The last time we've seen each other was last May or June, at his farewell before joining French Foreign Legion. That night he (and Dita) made us a huge pot of delicious penne alfredo and fruit salad.

I remembered every time our fun gang hang out we always involved food. Our favorite spots were a sushi restaurant at Sumatra street, a grilled rib street-food vendor at Cipaganti, soto (Indonesian traditional soup) and seafood in Cilaki, and, a Thai suki and grill restaurant at Cihampelas. Oh yes, we are all avid eaters. (I really miss them.) So, today, I'd like to share food on their honor. (Ahem!)

Actually, at first I thought of sharing some bakpao. It used to be our birthday boy's 'favorite' dish. But unfortunately I have not been adept at making dough. So I opt to share something else. Something that I made up on my own, at random, a few months ago..

(Well, actually, I watched too much Jamie at Home at that time, especially the episode Pizza. Then this recipe popped up in my head, just like that.)

Mozarella chick in tomato paste.

Mozarella Chick in Tomato Paste, with Wild Rocket Salad

Ingredients:

3 large tomatoes
1 chili (seeded and finely chopped)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fresh oregano (or a pinch dried)
1 fresh regular basil (or a pinch dried)
2 rods fresh rosemary (or a pinch dried)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
a great pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
150 g chicken thigh (with or without bone)
25 g mozzarella cheese (sliced)
A handful of wild rocket
6 tablespoons olive oil
¼ lemon (squeeze out juice)
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper

Preparation method:

Pre-heat oven 180°C/356°F.
Boil tomatoes briefly, peel off skin and smash with your hand until become a lumpy paste. Add chili, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Get your chicken on a bakeware, coat it with tomato paste, put sliced mozzarella on top, cover with wet baking paper. Bake it for 45 minutes.
Dress the wild rocket in a large bowl with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss it with your hand.
Serve mozzarella chick together with the wild rocket salad.

Yield 1 serve.

I also would like to send hugs for them along with this dish, especially for the birthday boy.

Happy birthday Blobs, wish you all the best.

A Gift for GrowinKitchen

2011-03-18T04:00:00.037+07:00

We got an anonymous package today! With our name misspelled as Grown Kitchen :)

Sealed in a tight box. With the bombing issues happening in Jakarta, this package gives us quite a fright. At first I have no idea how to open it, I've tried with fork and spatula. Of course, it didn't work.

Then I remembered having a hammer, and Mala help me with it. Apparently the package contained two bottles of palm oil, a tube of margarine, a small cookbook, a can of soda and a mug; from sukamasak.com, for being their first 100 members.

Well, thank you very much :)

This post is not an advertisement.

WHB #275: A Taste of Semur Betawi

2011-03-17T05:27:00.045+07:00

What do you think about tasting semur betawi on St. Patrick's day? Me, very excited. And I hope you're with me because I want to share you some.

(Actually I really want to share this with my housemate Mala too, whose birthday is today, but unfortunately she doesn't eat beef. So, it's just happy birthday I guess.)

Semur betawi is a Batavian beef stew dish. There's quite a few version of semur recipes in our culinary. I got this one from Kompas Female and it is said to be the original semur betawi recipe from RM. Betawi Hj. Amih at Jakarta Timur. This one is salty sweet, but basically taste the same with the other beef stew recipes.

Semur most essential ingredient is sweet soy sauce, a condiment prepared by fermenting soybeans with mold (commonly used is either Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae) for around six to twelve months. Later the fermented beans are pressed and strained to take the liquid known as soy sauce. (Read more about the process here.)

As usual, I make a little ingredients improvement and experiment a different style. I will share the other version of semur later, but for now let's see what's in this one..

Batavian Beef Stew

(Semur Betawi, adapted from Kompas Female)

Ingredients:

5 large shallots
3 large cloves garlic
½ tablespoon of finely chopped ginger
3 candlenuts (fried)
½ teaspoon shrimp paste
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
5 tablespoons palm oil
2 cm galangal (bruised)
2 salam leaves
2 stalks lemon-grass (bruised)
100 g beef (preferably filet mignon or tenderloin)
1 large potato (peeled and cut to your taste)
oil for frying
5 green beans (chopped)
1 small carrot (chopped)
½ teaspoon finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon oil
250 ml water
1 teaspoon white peppercorn (toasted)
1 teaspoon cumin (toasted)
Fried shallot and garlic for serving

The refined spices looked like this.

Preparation method:

Refine shallot, garlic, ginger, candlenut, shrimp paste and salt using mortar and pestle.
Mix the refined spices with soy sauce, oil, galangal, salam leaf and lime-grass.
Marinate the beef and store it for 1 hours.
Meanwhile, fry the potato until golden brown.
Boil green bean and carrot briefly, stain from water. Saute onion with oil, then add green beans and carrot.
In a pan, stir in beef sauce until aromatic, add the beef and water. Cook until half liquid evaporate.
Ground white peppercorn and cumin.
In a plate, arrange beef and fried potato. Pour in the sauce, sprinkle with white pepper and cumin. Serve with green beans and carrot.

Yield 1 serve.

My Batavian beef stew experiment.

There's a little story behind the name of batavia and betawi. For as far as I know (and you must know that I'm not brilliant in history), batavia is a latin name for the land of Batavians in Roman times. Batavi itself probably derived from batawjō (now betawu), meaning 'good island'. It (batavi) is the name of an ancient Germanic tribe, the ancestor of the Dutch. Later, the term Batavians refers to them as they promoted themselves so during the Renaissance.

Subsequently, they took the name Batavia to their colonies. Includes a city they founded in Indonesia in 1619. The city now called Jakarta, the capital of our Republic, and its inhabitants called the betawi people. (I'm not really sure where the term betawi came from, perhaps derivation from batavi.) Instead of name, this colonization also brought European culinary influence to the creation of semur betawi.

Or at least I thought so.
Oh well, let's leave the business to historians. I'm done typing now.

A Taste of Semur Betawi is written as a Weekly Herb Blogging #275 entry, hosted by Chris from Mele Cotte.

Bakpia, the Sweetened Bit of Yogyakarta

2011-03-14T10:39:00.354+07:00

Before we start, GrowinKitchen would like to convey deep condolences to victims of tsunami quake in Japan, especially for our friends and colleagues there: may God protect you all. Hugs and kisses.

Last weekend me and family went to Yogyakarta to visit my aunt. This town has always been my favorite for its culture; beautiful tour sites, unique traditional textiles and crafts and, of course, food!

So far I have been experienced quite some of Yogyakarta culinary. From gudeg at Wijilan street to beef satay in Beringharjo market, to soto and wedang secang in Gejayan, to nasi kucing and kopi arang at Angkringan, to vintage ice cream in Mangkubumi street, to rujak es krim, jadah, bacem, pecel, cenil.. and many more. But, my favorite is always bakpia kumbu kacang hijau. It's a kind of pastry puff filled with mashed mung beans.

Bakpia kumbu kacang hijau.

This cake is a descent of Chinese tou luk pia, which means 'mung bean cake'. Bakpia began to be produced in Pathok village, Yogyakarta, around 1948, and was traded in baskets without label until 1980, when these commodities began to be packaged appropriately and trademarked with the maker's house number. Bakpia business was developed rapidly since then, and became booming in 1992. There have been some development in bakpia filling, such as durian, cheese and chocolate too. Yet I think mung bean is still the best (followed by cheese).

For over twenty years now, bakpia have been famous as souvenirs from Yogyakarta. Even my mother would never leave the town without it. She bought fifteen boxes last weekend, and I took two..

The sweetened bit of Yogyakarta.

Smooth and delish!

But these, are the bribes for my boss and colleagues (because I suddenly skive off work yesterday, hehe). And for you, I already prepared a bakpia recipe from my relative as souvenir.

Bakpia Kumbu Kacang Hijau

Ingredients:

Mung bean filling:

100 g mung beans (soak in water for 2 hour, peeled)
1 pandanus leaf
100 g brown sugar
20 ml oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Batter A:

250 g all-purpose flour
75 ml vegetable oil
150 ml water (or substitute it with milk)
½ teaspoon salt
50 g cane sugar
5 g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Batter B:

250 g all-purpose flour
150 ml oil

Preparation method:

Pre-heat oven 180°C/356°F.
Steam mung beans with pandanus leaf for 20 minutes. Take off the leaf then mashed the beans. Add brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir well, set aside.
Mix flour with oil, water, sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth. Form a spherical shape, cover with damp cloth, set aside.
Mix flour with oil until well blended.
Take 15 g of batter A, flatten and top with 10 g of batter B. Flatten again until thin and long, then roll, fold from left to right, flatten again, set aside. (Just like making puff pastry.) Repeat with the rest of the two batters.
Take one of batter mix, fill it with a bit of mashed mung bean, form small spherical shape, put in the baking tray. Repeat with rest of batter and filling.
Bake for 10 minutes, take off the oven, flip the cake the bake again for another 10 minutes. Flip again and bake for 5 minutes, flip again and put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. (Total baking time 30 minutes, but if you bake it for 15 minutes straight the cakes will crack.)
Let cool at room temperature.

Yield 25 pieces.

I might not have test the recipe on my own (someday I will) but I did have watch the making and taste the result, and it was great. So, good luck, dear!

Simply Superb Italian-style Swiss Chard

2011-03-11T10:22:00.011+07:00

It's murky in here. The kitchen light is broken, and nobody intends to fix it yet. Not that I don't want to, but the ceiling is almost four meters in height and I'm kinda high-phobic. Not in freaky way though. It's just every time I stepped a little higher above the ground my feet shakes and gives me anxiety. But I still enjoyed my every flight, it's a different circumstance.

Anyway, the situation reminds me of a café, here in Bandung, which concept is serving customers to eat in darkness. They said that it is a more sensational eating experience. Well, I think we—me and my housemates—'ve beat them. Not only eating, we've been cooking in dark too for the last three days. I don't know which one is more sensational: trying to scoop the food that barely visible, or trying not to cut our fingers instead of onion, or burn our food for that matter..

Thereupon I prefer cook an easy dish today. I have two packs of Swiss chard (also known as silverbeet or spinach beet), one ruby and one yellow, that I bought yesterday from the food market. As a matter of fact, I never cooked chard before because it is quite hard to find here. But I've read somewhere (I forgot, sorry) on the web that chard is garlic's and chili flakes' best friend, this is said to be Italian-style chard. So I'm experimenting..

Italian-style Swiss chard.

Italian-style Swiss Chard

Ingredients:

75 g spaghetti
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
a pinch of coarsely ground black pepper
150 g Swiss chard (stem removed, separate leaves from stalks, cut both into one-inches)
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic (finely chopped)
3 medium-sized chili flakes (finely chopped)
a pinch of salt
grated Parmesan cheese (or cheddar cheese)
Italian parsley leaves for serving

Preparation method:

In a large pan, boil spaghetti with salt until al dente.
Heat a skillet, put in olive oil, strain the spaghetti straight into the pan, season with black pepper. Set aside.
Bring water into boil, put in chard stalks and cook for one minute. Add the leaves and cook it for another minute.
Saute garlic with olive oil, add chili flakes until aromatic. Turn off heat, add chard and toss until all covered with oil, season with salt.
In a plate, arrange spaghetti and put the chard on top. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and parsley leaves.

Yield 1 serve.

No wonder if Swiss chard is called spinach beet, for it is indeed taste like spinach with beet stalk. The ruby chard also gives magenta nuance to the dish, just like beet. So my spaghetti has a beautiful purple-pink vibe.

Magenta-nuanced spaghetti.

I gotta tell you this is my favorite. Superb simple dish! I have looked up for chard nutritions here, and turned out that it has high nutrition benefits for blood sugar, antioxidant and bone health. So it is not only simple, but also healthy food. Oh, this is so brightening my day. Yum!

WHB #274: (Lacy) Pancake Day

2011-03-08T21:50:00.324+07:00

When Michael of Me, My Food and I mentioned Pancake Day to me, my left eyebrow raised and I mumbled, 'What day?'

At first I have no idea what he's talking about, because I never heard of this food occasion before. But then I looked up on BBC Food and found it filed on Occasions: March 8th, Pancake Day.

It is funny enough that I spent most of my spare time browsing on the site, but never really paid attention to that particular section. And, coincidentally, I made roti jala with tuna salad for today breakfast. I've planned to share it for Weekly Herb Blogging #274, which hosted by Winnie from Healthy Green Kitchen, some time this week. But then I reconsidered, why not posting it now? Could it be more perfect than today? Nope. Thanks to Michael for telling me inadvertently.

Roti jala literally translated as net bread, but some people called it as lacy pancake too. It is more savory than common pancakes, because the use of coconut milk. I've known this as a side dish from Aceh, but it also widely found in Malaysian cuisine. In Aceh, roti jala usually served along lamb curry. Since I don't have any curry, nor enough time to cooked it, instead I used leftover tuna and wild rocket dressed with vinagraitte. Surprisingly, they worked very well together.

Roti jala with tuna salad.

Roti Jala with Tuna Salad

Ingredients:

250 g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
500 ml coconut milk
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or melted butter in the same amount)
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon of cumin powder
½ bird's eye chili (seeded and finely chopped, optional)
150 g tuna in oil
1 pack of wild rocket

Preparation method:

Mix flour with salt, egg, coconut milk and olive oil (or butter). If you don't have roti jala mold (like me) just put the mixture in a plastic, bind tightly and cut one end.
Pre-heat pan and put in a little butter until melted. Pour the mixture in circular order to form a net (or anyway you like it). Allow pancake to set on top then flip. Repeat to the rest of the batter.
Put oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, cumin and bird's eye chili in a jar. Add 1 tablespoon oil from tuna, shake well.
In a large bow, mix tuna and wild rocket. Dress with the vinagraitte.
Serve roti jala and tuna salad together in a plate.

Yield 8 serves.

Happy Pancake Day (and International Women's Day)!

Opor Ayam Special for WHB #273

2011-03-05T08:27:00.054+07:00

Hi there, long time no see. How are you doing?
Happy Nyepi (or Balinese Lunar New Year) for those who celebrate.

Last Monday I found a link to Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) from Indonesia Eats; the link brought me to Haalo whose cook (almost) everything, whom managing the event. WHB was created by accident in Kalyn's kitchen, October 2005. And now, experiencing its 5th year, have been gathered food bloggers from all over the world in one community. Isn't it amazing?

Shortly after reading the recaps I decided to join the party this week, which is host by Yasmeen the health nut. So I spent almost the whole week sorting topics and opor ayam was the chosen one. It is an Indonesian chicken dish originated from central to eastern part of Java islands. This is usually served to enliven Eid ul-Fitr in our tradition.

Opor uses loads of ingredients that refined and poached along with coconut milk and, of course, the chicken. Among the ingredients are kaffir lime (Cytrus hystrix DC.) leaves that give a distinctive tangy trait to the dish.

The use of kaffir lime juice and leaves is quite popular in Indonesian cuisine—especially Sumatran, Javanese and Balinese—also in Malaysian and Burmese, as neutralizer the stench of meat or fish to prevent nausea.

Opor ayam.

Opor Ayam
(Adapted from The Best of Indonesian Cooking)

Ingredients:

1 small free range chicken (cut into eight or leave whole)
1 lemon (squeeze the juice out)
1 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin seed
4 candlenuts
½ teaspoon white peppercorn
½ teaspoon chopped turmeric
½ tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped galangal
5 cloves garlic
7 shallots
3 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cane sugar
2 stalks lemon-grass (bruised)
5 kaffir lime leaves
3 salam leaves (can be substitute with bay leaves)
750 ml thin coconut milk
250 ml thick coconut milk
a handful of lime basil leaves (optional).
Fried shallot for taste.

Preparation method:

Soak chicken with lemon juice for 30 minutes then rinse off.
Toast coriander, cumin and candlenut. Refine them using mortar and pestle, along with peppercorn, turmeric, ginger, galangal, garlic and shallot.
Pre-heat a pan with oil. Add spice paste and stir until aromatic. Add tamarind juice, salt, cane sugar, lemon-grass, kaffir lime leaf and salam leaf.
Put in the chicken until all coated with spices, add coconut milk. Continue to boil for 30 minutes, then add lime basil leaves. Cook for another 15 minutes.
Serve in bowl, sprinkle with fried shallot.

Yield 2 serves.

Well, opor ayam had practically taken a great part of my childhood memories. It reminds me of my late grandmother who loved to cook this dish specially for me. A long nostalgic story it is, but I am not going to bored you with that. So.. have a nice weekend everyone!

The Best of Indonesian Cooking..

2011-02-27T14:36:00.047+07:00

Is our new friend. Let's say hello to this beautiful little darling,

The Best of Indonesian Cooking by Yasa Boga.

It is written by Yasa Boga, a group of bestselling cookbook authors. They are four Indonesian who were both career women. From years of experiences as food editors in women's magazine, they've gained their specialties and published a lot of cookbooks. The Best of Indonesian Cooking is just one of their bestseller.

The book first published in 1998, have been sold 200,000 copies worldwide ever since and therefore been reprinted four times. I was dying to have a copy of it, and finally got paid off.

First chapter started with a brief explanation of Indonesian cooking equipments, and followed later with basic ingredients, herbs, spices, seasoning, fruits, buds and leaves. Then the recipes divided into seven sections; rice and noodles, vegetables, poultry, meat, seafood, soybean and eggs. All written in English, and described very well. If you're looking for Indonesian cooking references, you should take this book into your consideration.

Sneak-peek.

Hmm, yum!

The title really did explain the book as it is. You can find a lot of great, famous Indonesian dishes in this book. I can't wait to test all of the recipes. Don't worry, I will absolutely share the best of my Indonesian cooking experiences here. In my version, of course. You do not expect me to copy paste all the contents, do you? Because I think they would not allowed it. Copyright matters.

Actually, there is another book entitled The Best of Indonesian Desserts from the same author. They (the books) are like twin, and I'm thinking to reunite them within a month or two. Wish me luck, dear!

GrowinKitchen's recipes adapted from The Best of Indonesian Cooking:
Opor Ayam
Javanese Mixed Vegetable Salad with Spiced Grated Coconut

Fish and Chips, and Friends

2011-02-27T09:25:00.008+07:00

Our kitchen poured with music early this morning as Rikha, my (other) housemate, played aloud a number from an Indonesian female pop singer whom showed up to last year Grammy Awards red carpet. Honestly speaking, I can not stand her singing. But apparently Rikha kept listening to her the whole morning, one song after another. So I plugged my earphone in and tuned on some Iga Mawarni as I prepared to cook for brunch.

Anyway, for those of you who were wondering what have I done with my spiny dogfish, please be relieved for I am about to reveal to you now.

My fish and chips, and friends.

Fish and chips is a classic British take-away food popular since the mid of 18th century. The dish then invaded other continents. Original fish and chips recipe used salt and pepper seasoning, but I've made some spice improvement. Just for fun.

Not just spice, if you saw the dark and coated sprigs there that would be crispy herbs. Yes, I did fried herbs as well as other ingredients I found in the fridge; from rosemary, oregano, basil, parsley, onion, mozarella to chili. But I think parsley's the best companion of all, followed by onion rings.

Fish and Chips, and Friends

Ingredients:

750 ml oil for deep frying
200 g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon cumin powder
2 tablespoon black mustard powder
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoon turmeric powder
3 large potato (thinly sliced or wedge cut)
250 ml beer (cold, or substitute with 250 ml cold water and 1 teaspoon baking powder)
1 egg white (optional)
300 g spiny dogfish fillet (substitute with other fish fillet, cut in fingers)
1 small onion (sliced)
a handful of fresh Italian parsley leaves
Tartar sauce, ¼ lemon and salt for serving

Preparation method:

Pre-heat the pan with oil.
Mix flour with salt, garlic, cumin, mustard, chili and turmeric powder (and baking powder, if using). Take a bit to slightly coat potato, onion and fish. Whisk in cold beer (or water) into the flour mix until well incorporated. Store it in fridge.
Meanwhile, deep fry potato until golden, lift and drain straightly into kitchen towel.
Take out the batter, whisk in egg white.
Dip in fish fillet and onion. Deep fry in several batch, don't get too crowd, until golden brown. Lift and drain. Repeat with parsley leaves.
Deep fry potato again until golden brown and crisp.
Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice, serve with tartar sauce.

Yield 3 serves.

Jamie (Oliver) noted that the only way to keep the batter crisp is to serve it straight away. Indeed, no matter how crisp the batter was, after one hour it'll become all mushy. So make a nice little batch and enjoy while still hot, with your friends and probably with some beers too. They'll love it, like my housemates do.

Rendang, the Delicacy of Minangkabau Legacy

2011-02-26T13:11:00.026+07:00

Who does not know rendang? Almost all Indonesian must be familiar with this particular meat dish in spicy coconut milk sauce, that can be found in every Padang restaurants across the country—and abroad too.

For you who do not know yet, rendang is a delicate legacy of Minangkabau ethnic (also known as Minang or Padang). They are the indigenous of West Sumatran highlands. This dish is served with rice or ketupat to honor guests, notably in ceremonial occasions, and has been become a prima donna in Indonesian cuisine.

Cooking rendang needs a lot of patience as it is a slow cooker. The meat is boiled in seasoned coconut milk for hours until the sauce become concentrated and oily, in that way it become very tender and all condiments become well absorbed. Commonly, rendang recipes use beef, but not necessarily. It can also be substitute with other meat or even vegetable.

The beef rendang recipe that I share later on this post is adapted from my relative whom a Minangkabau descend. Over all of rendang recipes that I have tested before, this is by far the best—tasted nearly as the authentic one. May be because the use of turmeric leaf (which also made the dish can be stored for months) and kerisik.

Some alterations have been made though. My version uses half thick coconut milk and half beef stock which then poached with the rest of ingredients in the traditional way to make a sauce; and beef steak that cooked separately (I grilled it medium rare). Excluding these changes, the composition of basic ingredients remain the same. Even so, the result still have core taste of rendang.

Beef rendang a la GrowinKitchen.

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Beef Rendang (a la GrowinKitchen)

Ingredients:

200 g beef filet mignon (or substitute with regular tenderloin)
4 tablespoon olive oil
a pinch of salt and pepper to taste
50 g garlic
40 g shallot
100 g chili
½ cm ginger
2 cm galangal
1 tsp coriander seed (toasted)
½ tsp cumin (toasted)
a pinch of salt
2 stalks lime-grass (bruised)
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 turmeric leaf (chopped)
1 teaspoon tamarind
1 star anise
3 tablespoons of kerisik (toasted shredded coconut)
400 ml thick coconut milk
400 ml beef stock
200 g small potatoes
1 teaspoon onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon spring onion (chopped)

Preparation method:

Cut beef into two big chunks and marinate with salt, pepper and olive oil.
Refine all garlic, shallot, chili, ginger, galangal, coriander, cumin and salt.
Boil the refined ingredients with coconut milk, beef stock, lime-grass, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric leaf, tamarind, star anise and kerisik. Stir well.
Continue to boil until become concentrated oily paste. Take off heat, take off tamarind remnants, then blend it with food processor.
Boil potatoes until cooked through, sauté with onion and spring onion.
On a grill, put in the beef (smear a little sauce gradually if you like). If your chunk is 2 cm thick or less, cook 5 minutes each side, but if it is thicker then put a little longer until the surface is dark-colored.
Serve steak with sauce and potatoes.

Yield 2 serves.

Note: Original version use light coconut milk and young coconut water, instead of beef stock. If you want to cook it the old fashioned way, bring light coconut milk and coconut water to boil together with turmeric leaf, lime leaves, star anise and refined ingredients. When liquid half evaporate, pull in the beef and thick coconut milk and cook until the sauce is dry and dark-colored. Serve with rice. This dried style rendang can be stored up to three months.

Creamy Caramel Custard

2011-02-23T07:02:00.391+07:00

Bit a shocking news today, I made crème caramel.
Crème caramel. For heaven's sake!

Cause to tell you the truth, I never made a non-instant pudding before in my entire life. But yesterday I managed the making of six creamy caramel custards from scratch and cool them overnight. Even I myself can't believe I did. It may not be winning crème caramel, but not so bad for first trial either.

Here, may I present you.. (Drum roll please.)

Ahem! My first crème caramel ever.

I first saw a puding karamel (this is how we called the dessert in Indonesian) recipe on a local cooking community site. I could not bear the temptation so I googled for more. There were load versions of this dessert under the name caramel flan (the term used in Spanish-speaking countries and North America), pudding or custard. Amongst them I found a great caramel custard plus a caramel sauce recipes from separate sources. Then I combined both and, as usual, made few changes.

The caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce
(Adapted from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients:

240 g caster sugar (or you can use cane or brown instead)
2½ tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
90 g unsalted butter
120 ml heavy whipping cream

Preparations:

In a saucepan, simmer sugar with lemon juice until melt. Do not stir.
When sugar all golden, stir in the butter—careful, melt boiling sugar stings more than boiling water (my left index-fingertip is only one of the living proofs)—until wholly dissolve. Take pan off the heat.
Count to three, then gently whisk in whipping cream.
Store in a mason jar, reheat briefly in a boiling water before use.

Yield 1 jar (approximately 400 g).

The creamy custard.

Crème Caramel

(Adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

Half recipe of caramel sauce
230 g cream cheese
5 eggs
350 ml evaporated milk (or can be substitute with fresh milk)
400 g sweetened condensed milk
1 vanilla bean (take the filling, or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence)
½ teaspoon plain agar or gelatin powder (or can be substitute with 2 tablespoons cornstarch)—optional, only if you're using fresh milk.

Preparation method:

Preheat a bain-marie or steamer.
Meanwhile, make the caramel sauce and pour into the mold. (I used 1 part of caramel sauce to 5 part of custard mixture.)
Straightly beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in yolks and eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Beat in all the milk and vanilla until smooth. (If using fresh milk, simmer first until boiling. Take a part and mix with agar until all fused, mix again with the rest of the boiling milk.)
Pour over caramel sauce in the mold and cook for 30 minute in bain-marie.
Let cool in room temperature for an hour, chill it in fridge for another eight hours or overnight. To unmold, put in boiling water briefly, run a knife around edges and invert on a serving platter.

Yield 6 serves.

Vulnerable Spiny Dogfish

2011-02-21T10:43:00.057+07:00

The fish monger displayed an unusual commodity today..

A pigmy, stunted shark.

For some of you this might be familiar, but not me. I did asked the monger and he said it was a marble goby. But, judging by its cover, I just could not believe him. So, I dig it up.

The closest information I could get was that this is—correct me if I'm wrong—a spiny or smooth-hound dogfish, Squalus acanthias, one of the smallest shark species. Preferably known as cape shark in the United States market, rock salmon or huss in Great Britain (used in classic fish and chip), small salmon or saumonette (from its salmon-pink flesh when skinned and beheaded) in French, sea eel/zeepaling/seeaal in Belgium and Germany.

Yet, my most important finding is from Wikipedia. It said that their conservation status classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. In the Northeast Atlantic their populations have decreased significantly, by at least 95%, over the past 15 years. It was also added into Greenpeace International list of fishes which with '...risks of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries', in 2010.

Squalus acanthias.

Substitutes: Shark, swordfish and monkfish in which have similar firm-textured flesh may be used as substitution.

GrowinKitchen's recipes using spiny dogfish:
Fish and Chips

Another Weekend with Chicken Kiev

2011-02-19T18:12:00.036+07:00

A moment ago, just when I was about to create this post, a thought came through my mind. Is this another weekend already? Oh, shoot, where did my weekdays go so fast? There were Magnums, this part I remember vividly. Been whirligig cracking a lot of Belgian chocolate pleasure lately. Others than that are vague.

Yet the weekend itself started pretty nice. On my way to a yoga class this morning I saw a modest couple sat on a curb and laughed onto something. The husband was visually impaired and the wife stared with sparks at him. Between them a plate of bakwans—simple snacks, which probably their only breakfast, bind them together in joy. They're just so sweet I can't take them off my mind. The only thing I was sorry for is that I didn't bring a camera.

Anyway, back at home, a half pack of French tarragon leaves stood still on my fridge. After my failure of Simon Rimmer's Chicken Kiev before, I had no intention to use it. Until this noon. Since I also have a piece of chicken breast, I decided to remake the stuffed chick dish. The leftover tarragon eventually transformed into another batch of filling.

Chicken Kiev is a dish similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu, a stuffed boneless skinless chicken that is coated, fried and/or baked. Main difference between the two chicks is the filling—if Cordon Bleu use cheese and ham, Kiev use cold garlic butter with herbs. The recipe is said to be Russian, from early twentieth century. Up to this very moment, I still have no idea how the original recipe is. But what I have did with mine was this..

The remake of Chicken Kiev.

Modified Simon Rimmer's Chicken Kiev

Ingredients:

175 g chicken breast
½ tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic (blended)
½ teaspoon salt
a pinch of fresh ground black pepper
a handful of fresh tarragon (or a pinch of dried)
60 g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons of flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of finely ground black pepper
1 egg (beaten)
5 tablespoons of fine breadcrumbs
palm oil for frying (could use olive or vegetable oil, which-ever you like)
cherry tomatoes and cos lettuces salad dressed with vinagraitte
1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon leaves for finishing

Preparation method:

Slice chicken breast thick-wise into two, do not cut off but left a centimeter. Spread the lemon juice into the inside cutlet.
Mix well garlic, butter, tarragon, salt and pepper, chill it then put over the chicken and reel tightly.
Season flour with salt and pepper (or you can use ready mix seasoned flour). Roll in the chicken, the coat need to be even but thin.
Dip into the egg, and cover it with breadcrumbs.
Deep fry until golden brown.
Serve in a plate together with salad, sprinkle with chopped fresh tarragon.

Yield 1 serve.

In the original Simon Rimmer's, he suggested to fry it lightly brown then bake in oven for 18-20 minutes, 200°C/400°F/Gas 6, until completely cooked through. But I did not have any oven. And deep frying did well too. For I (there was no one else at home, I was left alone) love how my remake looked and tasted, I considered it as a success.

Well, enough about me now. How's your weekend doing?

Meet the Tarragon

2011-02-16T01:24:00.013+07:00

I never heard of tarragon until about two years ago when I was walking around in herbs and spices section at a supermarket nearby. This herb was not common in Indonesian traditional dishes. For as far as I know, not a native plant either. Although nowadays a lot of local farming industries planted it.

I never used it in any of my cooking too, until recently. Last week I went back to the supermarket, and impulsively bought a pack of fresh tarragon—not that I know what to do with it, but only a matter to satisfy my curiosity.

Fresh French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L. var. sativa) leaves.

I was told that the best way in learning ingredient is to taste it. So when I got home, I took a bite of one long-narrow-lance-shaped soft green tarragon leaf and experienced a distinctive sweet, strong and complex aromatic flavor. I then spent almost an hour searching on my Larousse Gastronomy e-book, before I realized tarragon is not 'tarragon' in French. I know, I know, it was so silly of me. I totally lost in translation. Well, I did not finish any of my French courses, so forget it. For now. I better just asked the omniscient Mr. Google instead.

It turned out that tarragon is one of the four fines herbs of French cooking; an aromatic plant of the Compositae family, native to central Asia. Tarragon was once known for its curative powers against bites from venomous animals, and its therapeutic properties have always been recognized. Meanwhile, its bright green leaf has been used in cooking since the sixteenth century. Many source says that it resembles the taste of anise and licorice.

Tarragon is particularly suitable for seafood, egg, and a perfect match for chicken dishes. It can flavor consommes, cream-soup, terrine, fraichés, salads, butter, mustard, vinegar, purée, sauces (e.g. béarnaise, tartar, etc.) and even make a liquor. It can be used whole or chopped, and keeps well by various method—boiled, frozen, or even dried.

Even though the species has many varieties that grown in a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across Asia to America and Mexico, French tarragon is the variety generally considered best for the kitchen. I have no picture of the whole plant, but here is how a French tarragon like growing on ground.

Substitutes: Some says that an equal amounts of parsley and cinnamon powder together, tagetes or Mexican mint marigold, marjoram, half amount of anise or chervil, or a dash of fennel seed can substitutes tarragon.

GrowinKitchen's recipes using tarragon:
Chicken Kiev

The Indonesian is Rice

2011-02-15T14:41:00.033+07:00

If you are what you eat, then the Indonesian is rice.

Almost 78% of our carbohydrate source dominated by rice, the rest are wheat and roots. Yet we are only the third largest rice-producing country worldwide. Food diversification programs are intensively attempted to redeem our dependency. Still, the average rice consumption of Indonesia comparatively high in Asia—it reached 139 kilograms per capita per year according to a December 2010 article in a local newspaper.

Well, as a matter of fact, we knew rice ever since before we could belch the alphabet. Prior to our lands' mutation into commercial high-storey buildings and estates, we used to have a vast paddy field from Sabang to Merauke. Rice, is in our blood. There even an anecdote amongst us, if you do not eat rice that means you have not eaten—at all.

We sure believe that rice is important not only to Indonesian. They just don't consume it as much as we do.

Rice is a grain of monocot plants, Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima, that has been separated from the chaff. As a cereal grain, it is the uppermost staple food for a large part of human population. In some cultures, rice is even considered sacred. It is also the second-highest worldwide food production, after corn.

More than 100 countries cultivate rice, result more than 110,000 varieties including sticky rices, wild rices and fragrant/aromatic rices. All can be categorized as long-, medium- or short-grain. Long-grain rices are thin, dainty, pointed and contain less amylopectin therefore relatively less sticky. While medium-grain and short-grain are plumper, starchier and more absorbent.

Indonesian medium-grain rice (Oryza sativa var.).

Unmilled medium-grain rice.

Substitutes: A lot of carbohydrate source can substitute rice for its nutrient. But so far, nothing can replace its characteristic as main ingredient in rice-based dishes.

GrowinKitchen's recipes using rice:
Javanese Red and White Rice Pudding
Mixed Rice with Garlic

Feast the Javanese Way: Red and White Rice Pudding (Bubur Merah Putih)

2011-02-14T08:18:00.032+07:00

Happy valentine's day.

In every feast of traditional Javanese serves a two-colored rice pudding. We called it 'bubur merah putih' (red and white rice pudding) in Indonesian—even though it is not actually red, but more of a brownish. The given name might be derived from the use of palm sugar, which here some time some one might call it red sugar (if translated literally).

Red itself figuratively speaks wealth, beauty, bravery, fortune, passion and happiness in eastern culture, as far as I can remember. While white, is often associated with purity and death. According to that, I can only assumed the two colors represent the celebration of life. Or so.

Bubur merah putih.

Not only in Java, this dessert can be found in several region of Indonesia. And, in Malaysian cuisine too. Regarding we are from the same tribe, the malay. Long story short, wear your apron and get ready.

Bubur Merah Putih
(Javanese red and white rice pudding)

Ingredients:

100 g rice
50 g sticky rice (can be substitute with glutinous rice flour)
1 pandanus leaf
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
500 ml water
400 ml light coconut milk
100 g palm sugar (you can use brown sugar, but I think palm sugar taste better)
1½ tablespoons cane sugar

Preparation method:

Soak rice and sticky rice (if using) in water for 15 minutes, then coarse-ground it with food processor or blender. Boil with pandan, salt and water into purée. If you're using flour, it is better to mix with water first before pour it in to pan to avoid lumps. Stir constantly.
Add coconut milk and continue to cook in simmer—it is important in order to keep the texture. Continue stirring, and turn off the heat prior to your desired consistency. Divided into two.
Refine palm sugar and cane sugar, into a half rice pudding and stir well in simmer. Arrange it in a plate or bowl to your taste, serve while still hot.

Yield 6 portions.

The result.

Some of you probably wondering why in a sudden I share this dessert, on this day. I mean, valentine's is practically chocolate. Then, what, are we celebrating this rice pudding for?

Well, not necessarily. We can celebrate anything, anything that we have in mind. Me, I'll go with my blog transitions: the new concept, name and home. Not to forget my friend's birthday, Niken, whom now stays in the Hague studying—may this (pictures) make her feel like home. I wish us all a happy healthy life along with this salty sweet pudding. Love is in the air.

How about you?

Sugary Sap of Palm

2011-02-13T08:11:00.004+07:00

Last week, I accidentally overheard the conversation between my housemate and our housemaid. It was about palm sugar and brown sugar. Mrs. Wiwi, our housemaid, said to Mala that they are two different things. As far as I could recall, my relatives always cited all kind of brownish block sweeteners as brown sugar. Apparently, so did Mala's. Hence we—me and Mala—raised our brows and perplexedly respond, 'Really?'

Oh my, it really is.

Arenga palm sugar.

Palm sugar is a natural sweetener made from nira (Indonesian term), the sugary sap of palm. Commonly from Borassus species (Palmyra palm), Phoenix sylvestris (Date palm), Arenga pinnata (Aren palm), Metroxylon sagu (Sago palm) or Cocos nucifera (Coconut palm) sap that collected by binding tightly and/or making slits into the bud. Thereof, it may be sold as arenga (or aren) sugar or coconut (palm) sugar.

In the traditional way, the sap then boiled until thickens and poured into bamboo tubes, left condensed to form cylindrical blocks. It sometimes sold in bowl-shaped too. As a product of cottage industries, its color, flavor, sweetness and consistency varies from batch to batch—light-colored or dark, soft and gooey or hard. Some palm sugar found in the market is not a 100% pure but is blended with cane sugar and/or malt sugar. These tend to result white hard blobs, which will distinguish it with the pure one.

Commonly sold in cylindrical blocks (in various size), or in bowl-shaped.

The dark-colored and hard one.

As I have previously mentioned, here in Indonesia, particularly in some part of the Java region (where I grew up and had been reside), we often misplaced it as brown sugar—which is made from sugar cane. Although, the taste of pure palm sugar indeed resembles that of brown sugar. Yet more tender, dense and chewy without the intense ending flavor.

For cooking purposes, palm sugar has a very low melt temperature and an extremely high burn temperature, makes it suitable for confectioners. Compared to other sweeteners, palm sugar also has has an extremely low glycemic index and an extremely high nutrient. That is why it is sometime used as replacement of cane sugar in culinary, in order to maintain sugar intakes.

Substitutes: Brown sugar and maple sugar. These both will have to be moisten first, with molasses or maple syrup, to attain a similar consistency as palm sugar which is generally soft and pourable.

GrowinKitchen's recipes using palm sugar:
Javanese Red and White Rice Pudding
Ginger Cloves Cinnamon Milk with Honey
Javanese Mixed Vegetable Salad with Spiced Grated Coconut

Yeay.. My First

2011-02-12T23:52:00.037+07:00

Cookbook. And by that, I do not intent to say that I had written and published a book. What I mean is I just bought a cookbook, on my own, for the first time.

Last night I went grocery shopping at a food mart nearby. They also have a Periplus store in the building, and I stopped by on my way home. There, I found an interesting cookbook on sale for almost 75% off. The book was always on my wish-lists, a copy of Rosemary Brissenden's South East Asian Food: Classic and Modern dishes from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. What an unexpected discovery!

Southeast Asian Food by Rosemary Brissenden.

BFF.

I haven't got the chance to read it thoroughly as I typing this, so I will save the book review for later. Meanwhile, we have a visitor in our kitchen this morning. A hairy caterpillar was found racing through the edge of our table which was the set of today's photo session. Mala, my housemate, asked me to move him out. But I kinda like having him around. Hereby I declare him as GrowinKitchen's first associate.

Hello, little fella!

Indeed he will have to metamorphose and get off ground soon. But for now we're just going to have some quality time together in the kitchen, and we still need more companions—a management team to taste, share, encourage, discuss.. anything to keep this merriment. So, an open call it is. Interested?

Let's grow!