Kue Nagasari (Steamed Banana Snack)

My husband and I have been craving for some traditional snacks which we normally had back then in our country, Indonesia. We have gazillion kinds of traditional snacks with various main ingredients. This time we wanted to have something sweet and savoury in one package. And the choice went to this banana snack. It was the first time for me to make it (oh how we thankful now for all the convenience we had back then when all we had to do was just walked to the street to buy it and enjoy it right-away. We often just take it for granted, dont we?).
Got the recipe from here, and I made a little modification in quantity.

Ingredients:
150g rice flour
200ml thick coconut milk
500ml light coconut milk (or you may dissolve thick coconut milk with some water)
120g granulated sugar
1 pandan leaf
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
3 banana, cut into 6 each
banana leaves for wrapping

Directions:
Dissolve rice flour in thick coconut milk. Boil the light coconut milk+sugar+pandan leaf+salt and stir occasionally. When boiling, turn down the heat and add the vanilla essence. Pour the rice flour mixture little by little into it and stir instantly until thicken and smooth. Remove from the stove.
Place one Tbsp of the dough on a piece of banana leaf. Then add banana and top it up with another spoon of dough. Wrap it and steam it for 30min. Enjoy it with your afternoon tea.

Clam Chowder

We went to the Maritime (New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia) for our honeymoon in July 2006. Other than beautiful scenery, as you expected, seafood were abundantly served over there. We enjoyed the cold and hot served lobster and we luvvv this particular clam chowder, to be honest with you, it was my first encounter with this thick seafood soup. I have been wanting to make it on my own after, but just happened almost end of last year (notice the printed year on the picture). I got the recipe from here claimed as the best clam chowder. The verdict? Not bad..but not as yummy as what we had during our honeymoon, or we were just so happy at that time and food would taste the yummiest!

Ingredients:

- 3 can minced clams
- 1 cup minced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cups cubed potatoes
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart half-and-half cream
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I omit this one, since I didnt have it)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil. Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, season with salt and pepper.

A bonus picture of us having lobster for dinner. Now I'm drooling....aren't you?

Steamed Zebra Cupcakes (Bolu Kukus Zebra)

Bianca is always excited every time I made these cupcakes (sorry for the old picture, back dated 2y ago..oh my..). She just loves them.. How bout the rest of our family? Of course they love them too. Normally I made them not too sweet, so that we can eat it more and more. The recipe source is: here.

Ingredients:

450g granulated sugar (decrease the quantity for less sweetness)
500g all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
4 eggs
300mL water/light milk/coconut milk (the cupcakes on the picture were made with coconut milk)
1Tbsp emulsifier
1tsp choco/pandan/mocha essence (I used orange and choco for the above picture)

Directions:
Mix flour and baking powder all together in a bowl, keep it aside. Whisk sugar, egg, emulsifier until fluffy and thick, then add the flour mixture and coconut milk alternately while keep mixing it. Separate the batter into two and add the essence into one of them and mix it well. Pour into the mould alternately (plain and colored batter) until 2/3 high. Steam for 20min.

A bonus picture to show you how they love the cupcakes..

Colorful Stir Fried Lunch

One of these days, I stocked up a lot of vegetables in the fridge and felt like cooking them all at once, before they were going rotten. Thus, this is what I chose...easy to prepare, healthy and yummy. So happy to see the kids eating it fast..(patting my own chest..you know, how hard it is to get kids eating veggies).
Here is my "not so secret" recipe:

Ingredients:
300g chicken thigh, cut into strips
1/2 red bell pepper, cut
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut
1/2 orange bell pepper, cut
some cauliflower
a bunch of asparagus, cut
some mini carrot
100g mushroom, cut into half
1/2 onion, chopped
4 garlic, chopped
3 cm of ginger, bruised
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp rice wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
Oil for sauteing
water

Directions:
Marinade chicken meat with soy sauce+rice wine+sesame oil+corn starch for 15min. Saute the meat with vegetable oil until changing color. Add chopped onion, garlic, and ginger and continue to saute until cooked. Add oyster sauce and some water (app. 100ml). Cook until boiling, stir occasionally, add sugar and stir well. Add the rest of ingredients accordingly (the hardest first). Cook until just barely cooked.

Steamed Seasoned Tofu+Shrimp+Mushroom (Botok Tahu)

Don't you just love the name of this meal? It is steamed, it's meat free (except for the little tiny shrimp, which you may omit)..it has to be healthy! And it's my husband's fave..it reminds him of a quiet remote place somewhere back in Indonesia. The fact, it is easy to prepare and so tasty..(I especially love the fragrant that came from the banana leaves). No need to believe me, just prove it yourself.

Ingredients:
4 blocks of medium firm tofu, mashed
150g small shrimp (no skin)
1 can of straw mushroom, discard the water
1 can of coconut milk
1 Tbsp of chicken broth powder
1 tsp of ground white pepper
2 egg
6 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
8 chili paddy, sliced (adjust the quantity to your preference)
2 stalks of lemon grass, cut into 4cm in length
4cm galangal, sliced
bunch of Indonesian bay leaves
bunch of lemon basil leaves
salt and sugar
banana leaves and toothpicks for wrapping

Directions:
In a big bowl mix well all of the ingredients, except bay leaves and lemon grass. Take a piece of banana leaves then place one bay leaf and a cut of lemongrass and top them up with the mixed ingredients. Wrap it and seal it with toothpick as shown on the above picture. Steam them for 45minutes. Serve warm with warm steamed rice.