Chocolatey Celebration

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:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/356°F.
2. Line the bottom of cake pan with baking paper, grease pan with melted butter and dust with cocoa powder.
3. Slowly melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously until smooth, then remove and allow to cool.
4. Beat yolks and sugar until pale and thick, pour in the melted chocolate. Add orange liqueur then mix to combine.
5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, carefully fold into the mixture.
6. 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.
7. Meanwhile, whip cream and icing sugar until stiff.
8. 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

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:

1. Finely chop carrot, celery and onion together.
2. 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.
3. Add the minced beef, stir evenly and continue cook until caramelized.
4. Pour in the diluted vinegar and cook until half liquid evaporated. Stir regularly.
5. 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.
6. Pour in tomato and broth mixture into the skillet.
7. 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

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)

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:

1. Heat the skillet in medium, pour in the oil.
2. Meanwhile mix flour, vanilla, salt and water to make a batter.
3. Peel the plantains and cut it anyway you like.
4. Cover plantains with batter, fry in fair heat until tender. Drain and put on kitchen towel.
5. 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)

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:

1. Heat the skillet (or charcoal grill) over medium heat.
2. 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.
3. 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)

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:

1. In a pan, heat oil then add shallot and garlic, chilies, salam leaf, galangal, dried shrimp, shrimp paste and tamarind juice. Stir until aromatic.
2. Put in oncom, continue to stir until all mixed thoroughly. Add coconut milk and wait until sauce thickens.
3. Add black nightshade, chili paste, salt, brown sugar and, lastly, lime basil leaf. Cook until sauce absorbed.
4. 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

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:

1. In a non-stick skillet, heat olive oil then add butter until melted.
2. 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.
3. When onions are golden browned, add beef and chicken stock. Put the lid back and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.
5. Slice baguette into 2 cm thick.
6. Mixed well crushed garlic with chopped parsley and salted butter, then spread it to the baguette. Bake for for 5 minutes to make croutons.
7. 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.
8. 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)

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:

1. Refine shallot, garlic, chili, coriander, kencur, kaffir lime leaf, tamarind, salt and palm sugar until become paste.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. In a large bowl, toss vegetable and spiced grated coconut altogether.
5. 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.

Go Healthy with Mixed Rice (Is Our Topic Today)

(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:

1. In a pan, heat olive oil then add butter until melted. Add garlic, stir until aromatic, and salt.
2. Rinse the rice, add into the pan until all grain coated with oil. Add barley and wheat, stir for 3 minutes.
3. 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.)
4. Stir carefully, put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. 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

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:

1. In a saucepan, put milk with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil in simmer heat, for about 30 minutes.
2. 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)

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:

1. 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.
2. In simmer heat, cook coconut milk with salt and pandanus leaf until boiling.
3. 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.

WHB #275: A Taste of Semur Betawi

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:

1. Refine shallot, garlic, ginger, candlenut, shrimp paste and salt using mortar and pestle.
2. Mix the refined spices with soy sauce, oil, galangal, salam leaf and lime-grass.
3. Marinate the beef and store it for 1 hours.
4. Meanwhile, fry the potato until golden brown.
5. Boil green bean and carrot briefly, stain from water. Saute onion with oil, then add green beans and carrot.
6. In a pan, stir in beef sauce until aromatic, add the beef and water. Cook until half liquid evaporate.
7. Ground white peppercorn and cumin.
8. 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.