Apem Panggang-Rice Flour Pancake with Grated Coconut Topping-Javanese Style

"Apem" is a traditional snack which originally served during some ceremony at Javanese palaces in Yogyakarta and Surakarta. At later days this snack is also prepared among Javanese household to celebrate some important dates such as celebration of births, Ied Mubarak, 100days of grief, etc.

I love the taste of this snack since it is a combination of sweetness, slightly sour (from the fermentation) of the cake and saltiness of the topping.

This time, I would love to share this with other Indonesian food blogger for the IDFB#2-Challenge.

Recipe source is here

Ingredients:

250g rice flour

100g granulated white sugar

1 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp baking powder

200ml thick coconut milk

300ml coconut juice

3/4 tsp salt

200g grated coconut meat (salted)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix well together all of the ingredients except grated coconut meat. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave it for 30min in a warm place. Preheat the moulding pan and grease with some margarine. Pour the batter, put the lid on and cook at medium-low heat until raising up, pores formed and well cooked. Remove from the moulding pan and serve it with some salted grated coconut meat on top.

Mangut Ayam

Hello again friends and beloved readers, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my apology of not updating my blog for more than a week. Somehow, I had been losing my interest in writing whilst I got so many pictures on my file, I know that busy with my amazing kids is not a good excuse. Well...here I am again, forcing myself to share a little something for you. Thank you for being loyal in visiting my humble food blog.

Normally I cook this dish with smoked fish which gives smokey taste to the coconut milk. For me it is a perfect combination. One day, I did not have any smoked fish, but craving for this dish so much. So I just prepared it with chicken. Without the smokey flavor it still tasted as good.
The recipe can be seen here (just replace the fish with chicken drumstick and boiled eggs). See....now you know how bad I lose my interest in writing! Please do come back again to check out my (hopefully) longer post.

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

Left-over Files of 2008 Series, "Me Style" Javanese Chicken Curry (Kari Ayam Jawa ala Saya)

When Deetha asked me what kind of curry I was making, I really did not have an exact answer to it. Pondering for a moment..I believed it is called Javanese chicken curry (as what she called it too), since it contains carrot and potato. However, it is more of my own version to add fried tofu in it. Therefore, I just called it "Me Style"....

Ingredients:
- 8 pcs of chicken drumstick
- 4 potato, peel of the skin and cut into big chunks
- bunch of mini carrot
- 4blocks of medium hard tofu, deep fry and cut into triangle shapes
- 6cloves of garlic
- 3cloves of small red onion
- 5 candle nuts
- 4cm of ginger
- 6 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1tsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of ground turmeric
- 1tsp of ground cumin
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 4cm of galangal, crack it with pestle
- 1stalk of lemon grass, cut into 5cm in length
- 4 lime leaves
- salt
- sugar

- oil for saute

- water

Directions:

In a blender, crush garlic, onion, candle nuts, ginger and chili until smooth. Then saute it with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add coriander, turmeric, cumin, galangal, lemon grass and lime leaves and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add the drumstick and cook and stir for 5minutes. Add water and coconut milk, stir and cook until boiling. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Continue to cook until chicken tender. Add carrot and potato and cook for 5-8minutes.

To serve, place it in a bowl and add some condiments, such as black bean hot chili oil and fried onion.

Semur Tahu Tempe

There is one particular small stall in Pati, Central Java which sell this kind of menu. It only opens early morning for several hours and always packed with people and food is gone fast there. I remember if I wanted to buy the food I had to get up early around 6am to be able to do so. I like the semur and crispy fried tempeh there.

Since I missed it, I tried to figure the recipe out based on my memory and prepared it in my kitchen last month. Hm...not bad at all...

Ingredients:
- 4blocks of tofu, cut into triangle shape and deep fry it until half-cooked
- 2blocks of tempeh, cut into chunks and deep fry it until half-cooked
- 1fistfull of dried small shrimp, soak in water for 30min, drain
- 6cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 3cloves of small red onion, chop thinly
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 2Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
- salt
- sugar
- water
- oil for saute

Directions:
In a wok saute garlic, onion, ginger with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add bay leaves and galangal and continue to stir for another 2min. Add soaked dried shrimp and cook for 2minutes. Add app. 350ml of water and cook until boiling. Add sweet soy sauce, salt and sugar to taste. Stir it well. Add coconut milk and stir until boiling again. At last add the fried tofu and tempeh and cook for another 2min. Serve it with steamed rice.

Ayam Panggang (Grilled Chicken)

A sweet version of grilled chicken...my girl's favorite meal...

Ingredients:
- 12 pieces of chicken drumstick
- 1 lime
- 6cloves of garlic
- 3cloves of small red onion
- 4cm of galangal
- 5 candle nuts
- 2Tbsp of palm sugar
- 3Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- salt
- pepper
- water



Directions:
Drizzle lime juice over the drumstick and let it immersed for 5minutes. Crush the seasoning except soy sauce and bay leaves in a blender until smooth. Boil the chicken with smooth seasoning and water in a pot. Add bay leaves and soy sauce and stir it well. Continue to cook until the chicken tender and half of the liquid remains. Grill it in an oven at 350F for 25minutes. Serve it with warm steam rice, fresh vegetables and crushed chili.

Rawon

This is a typical beef soup from East Java, which characterized by dark color of kluwek (Pangium edule). The taste is combination of many spices added to the broth. This time, I just made it by adding instant seasoning, coz it is so hard to find kluwek in Canada.

Ingredients:
- 1kg of lean beef meat, boil until tender and then cut into small cubes
- 1 package of Munik brand Rawon seasoning
- beef broth from boiling the beef
- salt
- sugar

Side dishes:
- 4 boiled eggs
- 1 lime
- bean sprout
- crushed chili
- krupuk/Indonesian crackers
- steam rice
- fried onion



Directions:
In a pot, boil beef broth and then add beef cubes and instant seasoning. Stir it well and continue to cook for 15min until the seasoning immersed. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar.
To serve, place the soup in a bowl and add raw bean sprout on top. Sprinkle some fried onion and drizzle some lime juice. Add boil egg, crackers, and crushed chili at the side. Serve it with warm steam rice.

Rempeyek Kacang (Traditional Javanese Peanut Crackers)

I made these two weeks ago for the sake of snack lovers...(not for eating with meals)...It went fast...even my 17mo daughter loves it...

Ingredients:
- 200gr of roasted peanuts, split into half each
- 100gr of rice flour
- 50gr of tapioka flour
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 1 egg
- 4 cloves of garlic, crush until smooth
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of turmeric powder
- 2tsp of ground kencur
- 5 lime leaves, slice thinly
- water as needed
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying

Directions:
In a big mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients and stir it well. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Mix well again. Preheat the frying oil and then fry the mixture under medium high heat. Try to pour the mixture at the side of the pan, so that it will form a thin layer. If you find that it is too hard to form a thin layer, you may need to add some more water to the mixture until you get a perfect consistency. Fry until golden brown and transfer it on a plate which has been layered with paper towel. Wait until it is cool enough to keep in a jar or other airtight container.

Terik Daging (Sweet Spiced Beef Stew)

Getting bored with rendang and other spicy recipe, this time I made sweet spiced beef and added with some tempeh and tofu. This meal came from central Java I guess, since the dominant taste is sweet. But it took us several days to finish it up.

Ingredients:
- 800gr beef flank, boil in water until tender and cut into small cubes
- 3 blocks of tofu, cut into 8 pieces each, deep fry it until half-cooked
- 1 block of tempeh, cut into 24 pieces, deep fry it until half-cooked
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 5 candle nuts
- 1tsp of seedless tamarind
- 1 block of palm sugar
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4cm of galangal, cut into 2
- 2tsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of ground cummin
- salt
- sugar
- oil for saute
- water



Directions:
In a blender, blend onion, garlic, candle nuts and tamarind with a little bit of water until smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil in a pot until fragrant. Add bay leaves, galangal, coriander and cummin and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add cooked beef, fried tofu and tempeh and then some broth. Cook until boiling. Add coconut milk and palm sugar. Stir it will until all the palm sugar dissolved. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Cook until boiling again and the water decreased by half and then turn of the heat. Serve it with warm steam rice.