Soto Betawi with Acar

I love love this.... especially now that it's cold and rainy....



Blend the following ingredient and sautee in oil until fragrant

8 cloves garlic
8 cloves red onion
4 cm ginger
4cm galangal
6 candle nuts

once fragrant add the following item and sautee again for 5 minutes. Add more oil if necessary

1 lemongrass
4 bay leaves
4 lime leaves
1 cinnamon
1 star anise
1tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground coriander

1 can (250ml) coconut milk
500ml water (adjust according to preferred consistency.. I like mine thick
salt sugar
1kg beef (sliced)

Cook for another 10 minutes after adding the beef or until beef is tender and the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste. Serve the Soto Betawi in a bowl with the following toppings:-

Chopped Tomatoes
Fried Potatoes
Spring Onions
Sliced Lettuce
Lime Slices
Fried Onions
Emping Belinjo (I used the spicy belinjo)

Acar Cuka (Pickles)
Cucumber, Carrots, Shallots, Chilli Padi (All chopped)
Vinger, Salt & Sugar

Combine * leave overnight

Vinegar Chili

2 stalks green chilli
10 stalks chilli padi
vinegar, salt, sugar

Blend all the ingredients and sauteed in oil. Add water to dilute a bit.

Serve with rice topped with fried onions

Cheese Tarts

This is so simple and yet it will appease all cheese lovers..

Tart Casings

125g butter
60g sugar
250g flour
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp cold water

Cheese Filling
250g cream cheese
20g butter
60g sugar
1 egg

For the tart shells, simply do a rub-in method. Chill in the fridge for an hour for easy handling and blind bake for about 10 minutes in180 degree oven. Once cooled, pour the cheese mixture up to 3/4 and bake for 10-15 minutes until set.
My mom likes plain tarts but my kids love the flavoured ones.. for the chocolate variety, take some cheese mixture & add cocoa powder. Dollop some at the base and pour the cheese mixture and decorate the top (see picture).
For the blueberry & strawberry ones, use preserves or jams for the same effect.

Steamed Cakes - Apam Tepung Beras Kukus

I love this because I can use leftover rice from last night's dinner to make a wonderful dessert!!

1 cup cooked rice
2 cups rice flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp yeast (3g)
1 small packet of Eno (4.3g)

Firstly, blend the cooked rice with water. Once smooth, add sugar, rice flour & yeast and then blend again until smooth.
Transfer to container, cover & leave to ferment for at least 3-4 hours. Once ferment, add eno and leave for another 15 minutes. Pour onto moulds, add colourings as desired and steam for 20 minutes until the Apam opens up. Cool aside and remove from container. Serve with steamed coconut.

Kueh Kosui / Kueh Koswe

While I'm in the mood, I better upload all the recipes I've did in the last couple of months ... especially these ol skool kueh.. so hard to get really nice ones.. from what I gathered from my aunts, my mom made really good Kueh Koswe back but she lost her recipe and when she tried again, she was as awful as I was !!.. I tried one recipe online and boy that didnt turn out at all.. it was too clumpy after only 45 min in the steamer..So cooking is all about trial and error ... you could make it a little sweeter if you have a sweet tooth ....

This yields a big loyang, so if you have a normal size steamer like I do, half the recipe....

Simmer the following item until the sugar dissolves

700ml water (350ml)
400g gula melaka (roughly about 6 blocks) (200g)
pandan leaves

Once the sugar dissolves, cool, strain and combine into the dry ingredients.

Dry Ingredients

2 cups flour (1 cup)

3/4 cup tapioca flour (1/4 + 1/8 cup)

1 tablespoon corn flour (1/2 tablespoon)

a pinch of salt

add 500ml of water, 1/2 tsp of alkaline water (air kapur) to the mixture and blend in a blender. Why a blender? BECAUSE... its less messy and the batter is smooth and lumpfree... (Half a recipe would be 250ml water, 1/4 tsp alkaline water)

shredded coconut

slivers of pandan leaves

salt

To ensure that the mixture is smooth, strain again all the blended ingredients again before steaming for an hour. Once the kueh is steamed, cooled in room temperature, chill in the fridge overnight .... overnight?? Am I that patient?? Are you kidding me! Of course not!!! I chilled for about 2 hours in the fridge, cut it into small cubes and serve with fresh shredded coconut thats been steamed with pandan slivers and a bit of salt. Usually i make half the recipe and use 5x5 alluminium or disposable container for steaming.

Corn Custard - Puding Kastad Jagung

Growing up I loved it when my Mama made these! Okay granted there were not so many desserts back then but I just loved it!

1 cup custard powder (I use Bird's)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup creamed corn (it was almost the whole tin so i dumped everything in)
3 cups water
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh milk
A pinch of salt

Mix everything throughly then cook it on the stove on low fire stirring constantly until it bubbles and looks shiny... Pour onto individual pudding moulds or a 6 X 6 container and chill for about 2 hours, slice and serve....