Lontong Cap Go Meh - Masbar Celebration

As for the very first post of 2011, I would like to share this special recipe of Lontong Cap Go Meh, a Chinese influenced dish consists of plain rice dumpling, chicken in thick coconut milk, spicy chicken liver and gizzard, and seasoned panfried soy sprinkle.

A dish which initially served on the 15th day of Lunar New Year, since Chap Goh Meh or Tzap Goh Mei (Chinese: 十五暝; pinyin: shí wǔ míng; literally "fifteen night") refers to the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term originally came from the Hokkien dialect and represents the fifteenth day of the first month, which is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year. On this celebration, there are various festivities and foods to serve, including tangyuan (kue keranjang). It is also known as Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. But in Southeast Asia, it is also celebrated together with Chinese Valentine's Day. On this day young unmarried women throw tangerines into the sea with a hope that their future spouse will find it. This tradition was originally from Penang, Malaysia. In the old times, it was also the only day we can see unmarried ladies going out with their partners. (Wikipedia)

Nowadays, (as I refer to Indonesia, where I came from) we can enjoy this dish not only on that special occasion. Some restaurants, serve this as one of their special menu. And for us, we just had it on our last New Year's Eve dinner. And this is my entry for Masbar event.


Lontong/plain rice dumpling (I use the heat resistant plastic for moulding, originally it was banana leaf to wrap and give specific aroma).
- 1.5c of long grain rice for 1 plastic bag (I made 4 bags)-the rice should fill app. 1/3 of the plastic bag
- water (app. 3L)
- 3 pandan leaves

Seal the plastic bags and make holes with toothpick to allow water to immerse into rice inside plastic bags. Wash and drain each of the bag filled with rice for 2 times. Place them in a jumbo pot and fill the pot with water and boil it. Continue to cook for 2hours, flip around the bag during cooking. Drain off and keep them in a fridge overnightly. Cut into small chunks to serve (warm up before serving)

Opor Ayam (Chicken in thick coconut sauce)
- 3 whole chicken leg, cut into 4 each
- 6 boiled eggs
- 4 block of tofu, cut into 4 each, fry until half-cooked
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 5 cloves of shallot
- 5 candle nuts (Indonesian-kemiri)
- 1 Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1 tsp of ground cumin
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- 4cm of galangal, bruised
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1 lemongrass, cut into 3 and bruised
- salt
- sugar
- 1 can of coconut milk
- water
- oil for frying

Put all spices in a blender except bay leaves, galangal, and lemongrass, blend until smooth. Saute the smooth spices, bay leaves, galangal and lemongrass with a little bit oil until fragrant. Add the chicken and continue to cook until the chicken change color. Add coconut milk, water and stir occasionally. Taste it and adjust the taste with sugar and salt. At last add the fried tofu and egg.

Spicy Liver and Gizzard (Sambal Goreng Ati Ampela)
- 200g chicken liver, boiled and cut into small chunks
- 200g chicken gizzard, boiled and cut into small chunks
- 5 potato, peeled, cut into chunks, fried.
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of shallot
- 6 chilli paddy (I replaced them with 1 Tbsp of sambal oelek/chili paste with vinegar)
- 1 tomato
- 5 lime leaves
- 1 lemongrass, cut into 3 and bruised
- 4cm of galangal, bruised
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp of brown sugar (I used 1Tbsp of grated palm sugar)
- salt
- oil for sauteeing

In a blender crush garlic, shallot, chili, tomato until smooth. Saute it together with lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal with oil until fragrant. Add coconut milk and cook until really really thick and the water almost all evaporated. Add salt and sugar to taste. At last add the chicken liver, gizzard and potato, mix well and continue to cook for another 2min.

Seasoned Panfried Soy Sprinkle (bubuk kedele)
- 200g of panfried soybeans (you may replace it with fried salted/unsalted soybeans available at stores)
- 3 lime leaves
- 3 chili paddy
- 1 tsp of kencur (Kaempferia galanga L.) powder
- salt (omitted when salted soybean is used)
- sugar

Put all of the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.

To serve, place some warm cut rice dumpling in a plate. Pour some chicken in a thick coconut sauce, spicy liver and gizzard and at last sprinkle the soybean. It is also recommended to add some Indonesian crackers (krupuk) at the side (not shown on the above picture).