Pepes Udang-Tahu (Grilled Steamed Seasoned Shrimp and Tofu)

Shrimp is one of our favorite foods. For us, cooked with anything, it always tastes great. So when the Masbar event announced that this month theme is Shrimp for Indonesian Dishes, I was literally leaping in joy. Well, you may know that I have skipped this event for two months, so I think this is the time to get back to it. This time, I chose to prepare the shrimp through 3 steps, seasoning, steaming and grilling. Yes it took time, but the taste was superb.

Ingredients:
- 800g headless shrimp (too lazy to discard the skin)
- 3 block of medium firm tofu, mashed
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 6 cloves of shallot
- 15 chili paddy or bird's eye chili (adjust to your preference)
- 6 candle nuts
- 2 stalk of lemon grass
- 5 lime leaves
- 5 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1tsp of shrimp paste
- 1tsp of turmeric powder
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 3 green onion, chopped
- 1 tomato
- salt
- sugar
- banana leaves and toothpicks for wrapping

Directions:
Blend all of the ingredients except shrimp, tofu, lime leaves, bay leaves and green onion in a blender until smooth. Pour it in a big container and add lime leaves, bay leaves, green onion and mashed tofu and mix it well. Add the shrimp and mix it well again. Place 3-4Tbsp of the mixture in a piece of banana leaf and wrap it (cylinder-like) and seal it with toothpick. Do it for all of the mixture. Steam it for 40minutes. Then place them on an aluminum pan or other oven dish and grill it for 15minutes for each side. Serve it warm with steamed rice.

MFM#2 NOVEMBER 2009 - WORLD CUISINE - APPLE CRISP

This time I am early in submitting my entry to the MFM (well it could be the host that so actively encouraging me to post a world cuisine recipe). I picked Apple Crisp as my entry related to this month theme. Apple crisp in the US or apple crumble as it is known in UK is categorized as dessert. It consists of baked apples topped with a crispy crust. It has become an American and British tradition especially during autumn when there are lots of apple harvested. It also common in Canada to mix it with berries. I personally like the recipe I got from Joy of Baking, where they add cinnamon and nutmeg to enrich the flavor. So here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
Topping:
65g flour
50g granulated white sugar
55g brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
84g unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
30g old fashioned rolled oats (I used quick oats)
40g chopped walnuts

Filling:
1.2kg apples (cut into chunks, I used Granny Smith)
1/2 lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
40g granulated white sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F, prepare baking dish. Make the topping by mixing all of the ingredients in a food processor until crumbly and then set aside. For the filling, place the apple chunks in a large bowl. Add some lemon zest and toss with lemon juice and sugar. Transfer to a baking dish and then spread the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 30-40min until bubbly and the topping turns golden brown.
You may add some berries into the filling and serve the apple crisp with your favorite ice cream.