Buncis Bumbu Taoco (Stir Fried Haricot Beans with Soybean Paste) - My Just in time Idea

I was doing a quick shopping on a very cold day while my husband and kids waiting in our car. Having no idea of what to cook, I just grabbed some wonton and haricot beans and some others. It was really really quick, no more than 15minutes shopping, including the checking out at the cashier. I had never thought of combining the two before, not until I got home that day and needed to prepare something quick and easy. I looked up in the fridge and found some soybean paste...hmm...why not combining the three of them. So here is the quick and easy recipe, oh yeah..btw, my Bianca loves it!

Ingredients:
- bunch of haricot beans, cut into 6cm in length
- 10 wonton (I chose pork and chinese mushroom ones), boiled
- 4Tbsp of soybean paste
- 6cloves of garlic, chopped thinly
- 2Tbsp of dried small shrimp (Indonesian-ebi), soaked in water and drained
- sesame oil for sauteeing
- water

Directions:
In a wok, saute garlic with sesame oil, then add presoaked dried shrimp and stir. Add soybean paste and continue to cook for another minute. Add haricot beans and stir well until changed color. Add some water as desired. Add the boiled wonton and stir it well. Remove it from stove. Serve with steamed rice and other dish.

Kering Teri Pete (Spicy Anchovy with Sator) - My Hatred and My Husband's Love

Call me a devoted wife...yes...as much as I hate the smell, the taste and the after eating smell, my husband loves it..I was still willing to cook it for him. Almost 3 week ago I cooked this dish for him and the smell stayed in our house for about 2days...(hated it!). For you who does not know how bad the smell of sator is, let me explain it...when you consume this sator-also known as stink bean, you will smell something funny when you urinating. These edible beans produce peculiar smell similar to methane gas.
Okay, enough about the hatred part, let's talk about the love part...Many Indonesian loves to have sator in certain dishes. According to wikipedia, they are best when combined with other strong flavoured foods such as garlic, chile peppers, and dried shrimp, as in "sambal petai" or added to a Thai curry such as Thai Green Curry of Duck. Spicy anchovy with sator is one of perfect matches.

Ingredients:
- 400g of dried anchovy, deep fry it until brown and crispy
- 150g of sator
- 8cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 4cloves of shallot, chop thinly
- 100ml of Sambal Oelek
- 4Tbsp of brown sugar
- 4 lime leaves
- oil for sauteeing

Directions:
In a wok, saute chopped shallot and garlic with a little bit of oil until fragrant and crispy. Add sator and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add Sambal Oelek and stir while cooking until boiling. Add brown sugar and stir and cook until changed color to brownish. Add lime leaves and then add fried anchovy and stir it well. Serve it with steamed rice and veggie dish.

Wedang Cemoe (Hot Ginger Drink with Young Coconut Meat)- An (Almost) Forgotten Indonesian Culinary Heritage

This is my entry for a great foodie event called (Almost) Forgotten Indonesian Culinary Heritage hosted by my dear friend Rurie...

Like some of my foodie blogger friends, I found it a bit hard to decide what the (almost) forgotten Indonesian culinary heritage is. The main reason is because geographically I have not resided in Indonesia for almost 5 years and I am not sure whether what I thought to be an (almost) forgotten is almost forgotten and that indeed it is hard to find there in its origin. Even though at heart I am still attached to Indonesia. Thus I just go with memory of my childhood.

I was born and raised in a small village in Pati, Central Java until finishing my high school and then moved to Yogyakarta to study. When I was studying in Yogyakarta, my family decided to moved to Solo, which is an hour away from Yogyakarta. Since I spent my life time longer in Pati than in Solo, I have more fond memories of my home and childhood in Pati. Even though Pati is at coast, it can get a bit cold and wet during rainy days. I remember my Mom used to make this hot ginger drink for us to keep us warm and to comfort us when we had cold or flu. It is called cemoe. It is not just a hot ginger drink, but the uniqueness is on the other ingredient/s added.
In Pati, normally young coconut meat is the only additional ingredient, whilst in Kediri it can be roasted peanut, sago pearls, bread, glutinous rice and coconut milk that are added.

Cemoe is mentioned in a literature and fiction book written by Umar Kayam "Para Priyayi" as a drink of Para Priyayi which has been hard to find. Therefore I believe, this hot drink is an (almost) forgotten Indonesian culinary heritage. The reason why it is (almost) forgotten may lay on practical things. As modernization comes along the way, people choose every thing instant and ready to use. They do not bother to cook/prepare it from scratch. There is instant ginger drink and people can just add some hot water and stir and drink it instantly, no need to peel, no need to boil water nor to add sugar...it all comes in one small package and it is widely available at stores. As for me, the one from real ginger is still the best. So let me share the recipe which used to be our family favorite drink during rainy days.

Ingredients:
- 150g ginger roots, peeled and bruised
- 500ml water
- 1 block of coconut sugar (Indonesian-gula jawa)
- 1/2 can of young coconut meat, cut into small squares
- 3Tbsp of sugar

Directions:
In a pot, bring water into boiling. Then add ginger and continue to cook for another 3minutes. Add coconut sugar and sugar and stir it well until all dissolved. Remove it from stove. To serve, place 2Tbsp full of cut young coconut meat in a cup/glass. Pour the ginger drink in it and serve immediately.

Source: Mom's recipe

Raisin Sponge Cake - A Friendship Recipe

I am thankful to have many great friends from blogging world. And with some of them I am even able to chat almost every day. And from what we are talking about, I have learnt a lot about many things. The other day, while chatting with Deetha and Rurie, I was dragged of the way they described this particular cake. They convinced me that this cake recipe is the best among its class. Thus, I tried it at my little kitchen and yes they are absolutely right. It is the best sponge cake I've ever made. It is super moist and soft. Now, I am happily presenting this sponge cake recipe and dedicating it for our friendships!

Yongki Gunawan's Sponge Cake (modified by me)

Ingredients:
- 10 egg yolk
- 5 egg white
- 10g emulsifier (I used 1tsp of ovalette)
- 150g sugar (I used 120g)
- 100g cake flour shifted (I used all purposed flour)
- 1Tbsp powdered milk (I used baby powdered milk)
- 1Tbsp cornstarch
- 150g butter
- 1Tbsp condensed milk (I used sweetened condensed milk)

I added:
- 1tsp of vanilla extract
- 2tsp of rhum
- raisin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 180C, grease and flour a round or square cake tin. Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk eggs and sugar until just thick and then add emulsifier and continue whisking until it is thick, white and fluffy. Add flour, cornstarch, powdered milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and rhum and mix it well. Add melted butter and mix well again. Pour in the cake tin and sprinkle some raisin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Our Valentine's Dinner

Things are not the same for us with the two kids around. One which a bit hard to do now is eating out or dining in a restaurant. Well our daughter loves to eat in a restaurant, but it is somehow hard to find a family-friendly restaurant in town, especially on specific days like during the weekends. This year, Valentine's day was on Saturday. The fact that it was a special day when people like to have fancy dinner at restaurants and it was on the weekend made all the restaurants were packed with people. So when my husband asked me where to go for dinner, I said no where. We decided to have dinner at home, considering it will be hard to book a place in a family-friendly restaurant or if we could get one, it won't be so comfortable to bring our two little ones. Having said that, it does not mean that we do not love to have kids around nor we regret to have kids. It just something that we must act and see it differently. And we are thankful to have two beautiful kids. Moreover, eating at home does not lessen our love toward each other. In fact we appreciate our partner more while working together to prepare the dinner.
The menu was Korean bbq short ribs and salad. My husband prepared the bbq and I made the salad.

The recipe of Korean bbq short ribs can be seen here.
The salad recipe is as followed

Ingredients:
- bunch of lettuce
- 3 stalks of celery, cut into 4cm in length
- bunch of mini carrot
- 2 tomato, cut into 12 pieces each
- Thousand Island salad dressing
- bacon bits

Directions:
Mix all of the veggie in a salad bowl and then pour the dressing and sprinkle the bacon bits on top.

Ayam Pekak (Star Anise Seasoned Chicken)

Feeling bored with all kind of chicken menu, I began searching on the internet for new recipe, which I'd never tried before. Then I came across Deetha's page where this menu shown. I imagined the combination of star anise and Chinese five spices may contribute to a unique flavor. Thus all at once my brain said this is a must to try! Apparently this menu is good to serve the day after it was cooked for the flavor will be richer.

Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (I used 8pieces of chicken drumstick)
- 1 tomato, cut into 12
- 4cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 1/2cloves of onion (I skipped it)
- 3 dried chili (I used 4 small green chili)
- 2 star anise (I used 4)
- 1.5Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1/2tsp of Chinese five spices
- dash of salt
- 1tsp of ground black pepper
- 500ml of water
- 1 green onion, cut into 3cm in length
- oil for sauteeing

Directions:
In a wok, preheat oil and then saute garlic and star anise until fragrant. Add the chicken drumstick and stir until changed color. Add oyster sauce, five spices, salt and ground pepper and stir it well. Add the water and cook until boiling and thicken and the chicken cooked. Add tomato and green onion and stir it well. Continue to cook for another 1minute. Serve it with steamed rice.

Source: Tabloid Saji through Deetha's

Asinan Sayur (Indonesian Mixed Veggie Salad)

When I went to Calgary last July, I purchased these special Indonesian Noodle Crackers (Indonesian-krupuk mie) which good to go with specific veggie salad. However, I did not have time to prepare the salad. Last week I blogwalked and visited Judith's page where she has this asinan sayur. Since then, I really wanted to prepare it myself, so yesterday I made it and kept it in fridge for a day. Here is my version of asinan sayur.

Ingredients:
- 200g of coleslaw mixed veggie (a great shortcut for lazy people like me...)
- bunch of lettuce, slice thinly
- 1/2 cucumber, slice thinly
- 150g of bean sprout
- 2 blocks of fried tofu, cut into small squares
- 3cloves of garlic, coarsely crushed
- 150g of coconut sugar
- 2Tbsp of Sambal Oelek
- 1/2 lime
- salt
- sugar
- water
- 150g of peanut, fry it with a little bit of oil
- Indonesian noodle crackers

Directions:
In a pot, bring water into boiling. Add coconut sugar and stir until all dissolved. Add garlic, Sambal Oelek, salt and sugar to taste. Continue to cook until boiling again. Remove it from stove, drizzle the lime juice and keep it aside until cooling. Meanwhile mix all of the veggies and tofu in a big container with a lid. Then pour the cool liquid sauce over. Put the lid on and keep it in a fridge overnightly. To serve, place it in a bowl, sprinkle some fried peanuts on top and add the crackers at the side. Serve it cold.