Nasi goreng ayam (Fried rice with chicken )

I have not been updating the recipes for a while now. Bit busy with un-important stuffs recently. And also been playing with non Indonesian food recipes. Well, I must said all food are just delicious, no matter where they are from, aren't they?

So after learning Indian, Japanesse sushi and miso soup, it was my turn to held an Indonesian cooking class. It was a group of women from my neighborhood. When I asked my friends who had been to Indonesia what's they have in mind, they mentioned "Nasi Goreng". So let's make one,

Ingredients:
5 cups of cooked rice (better if after cooked let it cooled over the night); sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt
1 chicken breast; cut in small squares, add some salt and pepper and 1 tsp of ground coriander.
1 egg
5 cloves of garlic; sliced thinly
4 cloves of shallots or 1/2 onion; sliced
2 scallions; sliced
1 tbs dried fried onion to garnish

1 tbs sambal oeloek/ sriratcha chillie sauce
2 tbs tomato sauce
2 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 tsp shrimp paste (trassi)

4 tbs of vegetable oil
sprinkle of black pepper
Directions:

1. Stir the rice and the salt.
2. Heat the wok and add 2 tbs of  oil, then stir the chicken, flip frequently till it's cooked (5 mins). Then move it to the side.
3. Add oil if necessary then stir in shallots and garlics, stir them till the delicious smells is out, then add all other ingredients except rice, black pepper, sweet soy sauce, scallions and eggs.
4.  Add the rice and mix it with the spice and sauces, keep stirring till it well blended.
 Make a space in the middle of the wok and add a bit oil then crack the eggs, let it cook for a while then mix it with the rice.
5. Add the sweet soy sauce, black pepper. Stir the mix.
6. Nasi goreng is ready to serve and garnish with dried fried onion and scallions.

PS: for Vegetarian option: skip the meat, oyster sauce and shrimp paste and add vegetables like carrots, and green peas instead.

Kue Nagasari (banana and rice coconut cake)

I have been missing this kue for a while. One of the reason was that I did not have a steamer. I checked one at local Asian market and the size is huge, cukup untuk orang sekampung (the quantity probably enough to feed the whole village, well I exaggerate a bit). Then last week, a friend of mine asked if I would like to have a steamer; since she and her family is relocating back to Bandung, Indonesia.

Well, I was just so happy and this kue nagasari was playing in my mind and other steamed foods, like pepes ikan, siomay and etc,etc. This is my very first attempt to make the nagasari. It was so easy to find in any traditional/modern cake shop in Indonesia so one did not really feel to cook it (isn't that the case with most food there? you might ask :) well, that's perhaps true.

So let's make our nagasari, here are the ingredients:

1 can coconut milk
1.25 cups rice flour
4 cup of water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 pandan leaves or 2 tsp pandan essence
1 big plantain banana; cut into three parts and then each part sliced into 6 smaller pieces
banana leaves to wrap

Directions:

1. Mix the coconut and the water split into two
2. Boiled one part of the mix, add the pandan leaves or essence, sugar and salt.
3. Mix the other part with flour and stir well into the other part (the boiling mix)
4. Stir the ingredients and low the fire (app 3-5 minutes). Set aside.
5. Meanwhile prepare the banana (cut into slices)
6. Cut the banana leaves into app. 10x12 cm or 1.5 palm size
7. Put two spoon of the mix on to banana leaves and top with sliced banana and wrap it. Do the same with the rest of ingredients
8. Steam the wraps for about 20 minutes.
9. It taste better when served cool (store in fridge)

Tempeh Mendoan

Tempeh mendoan is thinly sliced fried tempeh battered in flour and spices. It is good to go with rice or eaten as snack with tea. Dont forget to eat this with cabe rawit (thai green small chilles).

Here is the recipe:

1 block of tempeh cut into two and then sliced each thinly
1 scallion thinly sliced
1 cup all purpose flower
1/2 cup white rice flour
3/4-1 cup water
vegetable oil to fry

Ground these spices:

3 cloves garlic
3 candle nuts
1 table spoon corriander
1.5 teaspoon salt

Direction:

1. Mixed the flour with water then add the spices and scallion
2. Add the thinly sliced tempeh in
3. Heat the wok with lot of vegetable oil when it hot enough fry the tempeh
4. Pick the tempeh before it becomes dry and crispy
5 Serve with small thai chilles or chopped of chilles with sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)