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I´m a foodie who lives to eat. A Singaporean living in the heart of Jakarta. My food blog started because I could never remember my recipes back when we travelled back and forth from here and Singapore...and I´m terrible at keeping folders! So this was my savior. I still rely on this blog to cook so just know that the recipes here are all tried and tested!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Panada

Tuesday 21 April 2015 is Kartini Day and the kids have to dress up in traditional
Costumes and bring Sulawesi food .. So I'm practicing making Panada today 

In Indonesian cuisine, panada is a breadsnack filled with spicy tuna or cakalangfish (skipjack tuna). It is actually derived from Portuguese empanada. It is the specialty of Manado city, Minahasa peopleNorth SulawesiIndonesia. The name comes from Spanish pan 'bread'.

Panada dough (recipe makes 9 panadas)

150g flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon coconut cream
1/4 cup water (more or less)
1 egg

Knead all the ingredients until smooth to make a soft dough. Add the water in bit by bit because it depends on the size of your egg. You want a smooth soft dough.
Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.


Make the tuna filling : you can opt for a really spicy filling or a mild one

2 stalks red chilli (more if you want it spicy)
1 small onion 
1 garlic 
1/2 inch lengkuas 
1cm shrimp paste 
1/2 inch ginger
1/2 kemiri
1 small lemongrass or half stalk of the fat ones

Blitz the ingredient and Sautee in oil. 

1/2 tsp pepper 
Salt to taste 
1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste 
1/2 teaspoon sugar
150g boiled and flaked tuna meat or you can use canned tuna, drained from oil or brine 
4 stalks of basil leaves.. Wanted to use kamangi but couldn't get it.

Add in the tuna and the rest of the seasonings. Continue frying until dry.

 
I weigh the dough (approximately 25g each) and roll flat. I also used the epok-epok press because I'm lazy like that .

Fill with the fillings and let the panadas rest for 15-20 minutes 
 Deep fry in oil until golden and puffed up. 

Friday, April 17, 2015

Nasi Dagang Orang Jauh


Reeta.. This is for you... 

One of the reason why I love Malaysia is the food! I
 haven't found a Malaysian restaurant in Jakarta that serves this or Nasi Kerabu at all! Sigghhhh  

I've tried different variations of Nasi Dagang, and some of the gulai is more curry like and some thicker so mine is in between.

First we make the rice.. (Portion is enough for 4 people)

1.5 cups white grain rice 
1/2 cup red unpolished rice

Wash and soaked the rice for 15 minutes. Drain and add the following ingredients into your rice cooker.

1.5 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon fenugreek or biji halba 
1 large onion, sliced or 6 shallots
2 cloves garlic, sliced 
3 slices of ginger
2 pandan leaves

Cook in your rice cooker and once done, fluff it a bit and continue cooking on warm.

Gulai Ikan Tongkol or Tuna Curry

4 tuna, cut in half and boiled or steamed 
2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
1 eggplant, thickly sliced
1 green chilli, sliced lengthwise 

2 large onions
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger 
1 inch belachan
10 stalks dried chilli, soaked
Oil

Blitz all of the above in a blender and sautee until fragrant.

4-5 tablespoon fish curry powder 
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tamarind paste 
1.5-2 cups water
100ml coconut milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon Ikan bilis stock powder
Salt to taste 

Add in the above ingredients and simmer. 
Add boiled tuna and vegetables.


Next we do the side dishes to complete this Nasi Dagang..



Sambal Kelapa or Coconut Sambal

1 Ikan kembong or tuna, boiled and flaked (just the meat of course)

1 cup shredded coconut (I blend half cup to make it really fine)

2 cili padi or birds eye chilli
1 lemongrass 
1 onion 
1/2 inch ginger
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Blitz the above and Sautee with a bit of oil.. Once the spices is fragrant, add in shredded coconut and dry fry with the spices. Add in the flaked fish meat and continue cooking. Salt to taste.

Next we do the Acar or the Pencuk

1 carrot, thinly julienned
1 onion, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
1 red chili, sliced 
1/2 pineapple, sliced
Salt to taste

1 tablespoon vinegar
1 juice of lime or lemon
1 teaspoon sugar

Put all the veggies in a bowl and salt it generously. Leave it aside for 10 minutes and drain out the excess water. Season with lemon juice, sugar and vinegar.

Sambal Lada

The last one! Pheeewwww

10 stalks red chilli
5 birds eye chilli 
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar 
Juice of 1 lime

Again blitz the chili and season accordingly. Boil eggs to serve on the side .. Enjoy .. 





Thursday, April 16, 2015

Kuih Koci


I love kueh Koci that has Lots of coconut filling and very thin skin and lots of santan!

This recipe makes about 15 balls.
First make the coconut filling. 

1 block of gula Melaka
2 tablespoon brown sugar 
1 pandan leaf
1/2 cup water
A pinch of salt
1 cup shredded coconut
1 tablespoon flour

Boil all of the ingredients except for the coconut. You can add more sugar if you like sweeter fillings. Once the sugar is all melted, add the coconut and stir for a while. Add flour and continue stirring.
Set aside to cool.


For the skin, mix all the ingredients into a soft dough. Add the water bit by bit

1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup black glutinous flour
1/2-3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt

In another bowl, mix 1 small packet of Kara santan with a pinch of salt. Prepare 15 pieces of banana leaves around 15cm x10cm. Wilt it over the stove .


Press down a round ball and fill with coconut filling. Close it up.

Pour coconut cream over it. Fold and steam for 20 minutes. Enjoy with extra lashings of santan 

Friday, April 10, 2015

Takoyaki With Okonomiyaki Sauce


I love these balls of deliciousness!  And it actually pretty easy to do as long as you have all the ingredients on hand.


Boiled octopus, sliced around 1cm chunks 

Spring onions, chopped

Prawns, sliced into 1cm chunks

Kraft cheese or any cheese of your choice , chopped in 1cm chunks 


Batter for the takoyaki


1 egg

340ml cold water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp soya sauce

A handful of crushed katsuobushi


Whisk the above until well mixed and then add 100g of flour into the mixture. Whisk until smooth.


You need a takoyaki pan for this. Heat the pan and well grease with oil. Pour batter 3/4 full into the hole. Add your octopus & spring onions and repeat with other ingredients of your choice such as prawns or ham & cheese. Flip the ball 90 degrees to the side to cook the edges and flip again to cook the bottom to ensure all parts are golden brown and throughly cooked.


Okonomiyaki Sauce


This is really simple ..For 1 serving place 1/2 cup worchestershire sauce in a pot, with 2 tablespoon sugar, a pinch of salt

Once boiling, add a mixture of cornstarch mixed with water (1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoon water)

Stir until thickened. Brush over your takoyaki balls.


Squirt mayonnaise, Sriracha, katsuobushi and some seaweed & bonito flakes on top.

I like these because they taste yummy on rice too! So they are great for sprinkling on top of the takoyaki. 



Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Fried Kway Teow

I like my fried kway teow spicy ..  Maybe it's the flu so mild food is tasteless on me today ..

Make the chilli paste

5 stalks dried chilli, soaked
1 garlic
2 fresh red chilli
1cm belacan or shrimp paste
1 onion 

Blend the paste and set aside.

2 garlic, chopped
1 packet of kway teow, washed
3 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon soya sauce
2 tablespoon sweet sauce 
1 tablespoon tomato sauce 

1 egg
Prawns 
Fishballs 
Veggies (taugey, bok Choy etc)

Sautee the garlic in hot oil and add the paste in. Once fragrant and "crispy" add the prawns and fishball in. Stir and add the kway teow in and mix well then add all the sauces. You need to continuously stir this. Add all your veg and season with salt accordingly. This is the semi wet kind of kway teow. Top with fried onions, spring onions and Sambal if you prefer. Serve immediately 

Peanut Butter Cups


Blend about 1/2 cup digestive biscuits in a blender or you can just pound it in a bag.

Melt 1/4 cup butter then add 1/3 cup peanut butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup icing sugar. 

Mix well and add the biscuits in. Press onto paper cups and pour melted choc over it. 

1 cup choc chips or chocolate couverture.
1 teaspoon oil

I melted my choc in the microwave for awhile and then add a few drops of oil so that its shiny and the consistency of the chocolate is smoother . 

Pop it in the fridge or freezer ... That's it

Kue Lumpur Kentang


No idea where the lumpur came about but this is a popular "jajanan pasar" here in indonesia.. The batter is made from mashed potatoes topped with coconut flesh .. If you like klappertart then you would like this too. 

Boil and mash 1 potato or about 120g of potato.
Melt 125g butter. Set aside 

420ml diluted coconut milk. 
(I used 150ml coconut cream and add water to make up to 420ml)
Add a pinch of salt 

2 eggs
140g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

Whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy and all the sugar has dissolved . Add vanilla in. 

Add the mash potatoes into the egg mixture. 

250g flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda

2 drops of yellow food colouring
Flesh of 1 coconut
Raisins 
Shredded Kraft cheese

Add the flour into the egg mixture, then all the liquid. Make sure all the ingredients  are well mixed.

Grease your muffin tins (I use PAM and spray)
Pour the batter in about 1cm in height. Top with coconut flesh, raisins and cheese. 

Bake at the most bottom part of your oven for 15-18 minutes at 230 degrees until the base is slightly golden 
 The Kue has a soft "muddy" texture  which I assume why it's called Kue Lumpur ... Ha ha 

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Boiled Fruit Cake (Kek Buah Kukus)

I love Hari Raya because I get to eat these anywhere I go! This and Kek Lapis Prune!! This is my mom's original recipe but I tweaked it...
This is easier than it looks and no mixer required! Like my mom said "ni kek orang lama.. Tak pakai mixer, Tak pakai oven"

Make the caramel first. 
Once 220g sugar has caramelised, add 1/4 cup cold water. 
Stir then add 180g salted butter (I like anchor butter) and continue stirring. Add 250g (1 box) fruit cake . Let it boil. Add 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda, stir & Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, mix 200g flour, 1/4 tsp bicarbonate soda, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar & 1/4 tsp mixed spices. 

Another bowl whisk 2 large eggs with 1 tsp vanilla essence . Once the fruit mixture is warm, add the eggs and fold in the flour. I used a 6 inch cake tin because   my steamer here is pretty small not the industrial kind . Lol

Line with parchment paper, pour the batter in and cover with alluminium foil. Steam for 3.5-4 hours.

Thursday, April 02, 2015

Halal Tiramisu


This is my super simple Tiramisu.. It's no bake, no fuss and most people tend to get so intimidated by it.

All you need firstly is to make the zabaglione.. Which is egg yolks and sugar cooked on a bain marie.. You need to do this so that you won't have raw yolks and get sick from salmonella!

4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

Whisk on low heat until pale yellow and fluffy.
Set aside to cool.

Next whip 1 cup of heavy cream until stiff. Put it aside (or in the fridge until you're ready to mix)

Take the zabaglione and whisk 250g of mascarpone cheese in. Add also 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Finally fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.

You also need 1 package of Savoiardi or lady fingers and a bowl of espresso or black coffee. (Approximately 1.5 cups)
This is obviously the non alcohol version. If u want to add Marsala wine, add it to the espresso.

I did a mixture of cups and container for the tiramisu so the pictures you'll see is on the container.

Take the ladyfingers and roll it quickly in the coffee and arrange in you container. You want to be quick as they absorb liquid quickly. Trust me a little coffee goes a long way especially when you use espresso!

Top it with the mascarpone mixture and another layer of ladyfingers and more cheese mixture . You can do two or three layers. Chill in the freezer for a couple of hours. Dust with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings before serving.

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