Laksa Ayam (Chicken Laksa)

It has been a while I have not posted any meal recipes, seems like I am shifting to snack and cake decorating all these while. Nah..I still cooking as I have to feed my family (in case you're wondering). So today I decided to share a meal recipe for you. This soup is good to serve during cold days, as we are approaching autumn.

Ingredients:

4 whole chicken legs

1.5L water

1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into 4, bruised

4cm of galanga, bruised

3 kaffir lime leaves

1 Tbsp chicken broth powder

1 can of coconut milk

oil for sauteing

To crush into puree:

8 cloves of shallot

6 cloves of garlic

6 candlenuts, grilled

1 tsp dried small shrimp (ebi)

1.5 tsp coriander

1 tsp white pepper

3cm of turmeric or 1tsp of ground turmeric

3cm of ginger

salt

granulated sugar

Side dishes:

Vermicelli, boiled and drained

Bean sprout, boiled and drained

Shrimp, salted, half-boiled

Fried shallot and garlic
Egg, boiled (optional)

Directions:

Boil chicken for 30min. Saute the spice puree, lemongrass, lime leaves, galanga with oil until fragrant. Then add this to the pot with the boiled chicken in it. Continue to cook for another 15min. Take out and drain off the chicken, then shred the meat. Keep it aside. Add the coconut milk and chicken broth powder into the broth left in the pot. Re-boil and adjust the taste. Serve it in a bowl together with the side dishes.

Celebrating Our 5th Wed-sary and Canada Day

So, it is always like that...Our wedding anniversary and Canada day..both on the same day. We got our nation celebrating our Wed-sary, with the fireworks! Awesome...
Just like last year, this year we started the day with enjoying the Silly Summer Parade on Whyte Ave. This year participants were not that many, so it was just short parade. Here are some which were caught by my camera.

Clockwise from top left: Jasper the mini donkey, Farmer's Market participants, 2storey bicycles, A lady with a violin.

Clockwise from top left: Old time dressed up (do not think they have stroller that time), cute lil dog, African participant (that man worked so hard to drag that heavy thing on a windy day), Punjab cultural association.

In the afternoon, we went to Hawrelak Park for some bbq-ing and playing kites with kids and our friends. We had batagor as an appetizer. It is fried fish paste-filled tofu with spicy peanut sauce (I will post the recipe later, apologize for the cheap quality picture taken with my mobile phone).

W also had grilled chicken, fish and corn on a cob (somehow I forgot to take picture of the fish)



The recipe for grilled chicken is my husband's, and I would like to share it with you..

Ingredients:
6 whole chicken legs
2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 5cm in length
1Tbsp of ground turmeric
1.5 tsp salt
2L of water

For marinating:
1/2c of fish sauce
1c of sweet sot sauce
1/2c of brown sugar
1Tbsp of ground black pepper
1Tbsp of garlic powder
2Tbsp of coriander powder

Directions:
In a big pot, boil the chicken with water, lemongrass, turmeric and salt until just tender (not too soft). Then marinate the boiled chicken with the marinating sauce for at least an hour. Grill until done (you may dip it back into the marinating sauce once or twice during grilling). Enjoy it with warm steamed rice and chilli paste.

It was a beautiful day indeed and we are thankful for the 5years we've spent together building our family. Happy 144th birthday, Canada!

Soto Kudus

Kudus literally means holy in bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language), this also refer to a name of town in Central Java. And Soto Kudus is kinda chicken soup which originally came from that small town. The things which distinguish this soup from any other chicken soto are the use of a lot of fried garlic and the addition of cumin and nutmeg, which give specific aroma. You may find a lot of side dishes that served in the warung, where this soto is sold, including: sate kerang (cockle on skewer), sate telor puyuh (quail eggs on skewer), perkedel (potato fritter/mashed potato frikadel), tempe goreng (fried tempeh, with or without batter), krupuk rambak (cow's skin cracker), etc. I personally like the cockle on skewer and cow's skin cracker. But it's kinda hard to find those stuff here, so I just prepared some fried tofu and tempeh as side dish.

Ingredients:
- 3 whole chicken leg
- 8 cloves of small red onion/shallot
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 8 pcs candle nut (kemiri-Indonesian)
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1.5 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp shrimp paste (terasi-Indonesian)
- 3cm ginger
- 2cm turmeric
- 3cm galangal
- 1/3 block/cylinder palm sugar
- salt
- 2.5lt water
- frying oil

Complementary dish:
- boiled bean sprout
- crushed chili with sweet soy sauce (sambal kecap)
- lime
- fried tofu
- fried tempeh

Garnish:
- Asian celery, finely chop
- fried garlic

Directions:
In a pot put the chicken, salt and water, bring it to boil. Continue cooking until the chicken tender. Drain the chicken and fry it until brownish. Shred the chicken meat.
Put aside the chicken and the broth as well.
In a blender, blend all the ingredients except galangal and palm sugar until smooth. Saute the blended smooth spices for 2minutes. Pour it into the broth which is put on low heat. Add the galangal and palm sugar. Continue to cook until boiling.
To serve, in a bowl put some steam rice. Then top it of with the shredded fried chicken and pour the hot soto (broth+spices). Add the complementary dish and garnish.

A bonus picture of the potato fritter.

Chicken Soup ala Wedding Reception (Sup Pengantin)

There are various kinds of soup and we can find soup almost in any cultures or nations. One of many soups I remember dearly is the one which usually served during wedding reception in Indonesia. Since this kind of soup is identical to a wedding reception, it is called Sup Pengantin, literally means Bride Soup. It has many kind of ingredients, including meats and veggies and the taste is so refreshing. I would like to share this recipe to all my Indonesian foodie blogger in the event of Masbar February 2010 edition.

Ingredients:
- 3 whole chicken leg, cooked and cut the meat in cubes. Keep the broth aside
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut
- 3 potato, peeled and cut
- bunch of cauliflower, separate the florets
- bunch of snow peas, discard the hard parts
- 3 stalk of celery, cut
- 1 can of button mushroom or other mushroom as preferred
- 1 can of quail eggs
- 1/2 can of luncheon meat or chicken wiener, cut
- some cooked macaroni pasta as preferred
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 6 cloves of shallot, chopped
- 1 Tbsp of margarine for sauteing
- water
- salt
- sugar
- ground white pepper
- ground nutmeg

Directions:

Put the broth in a pot and boil. Once it is boiling, add potato, carrot, mushroom, cooked chicken meat, and quail eggs consecutively. Meanwhile, saute chopped onion and shallot with margarine in a pan until fragrant and add luncheon meat or chicken wiener and continue to saute for 3minutes. Transfer all at once into the chicken broth in the pot. Add pepper, nutmeg, salt and sugar. Adjust the taste. Then saute cauliflower, celery and snow peas in a pan for 2-3minutes. Transfer it into a serving bowl to keep the crunchiness.
To serve: put some cauliflower, celery and snow peas in a bowl. Pour the chicken broth and soup over. Sprinkle some fried shallot.

What We Had For Father's Day Dinner

We have been busy with moving out and in from our old to new place since last week. Our daily activities were mostly sorting and cleaning things up and getting every thing settled. I was so in to it that I almost forgot that the last Sunday was Father's Day. Luckily we had celebration of it at church where we prayed for fathers and lunch were served after the service. Thus, it was kinda reminder for me. I did not have special preparation to celebrate it at home, or at least to greet my dear husband. When we got home and my husband slept, I just prepared this meal for our Father's Day dinner. He has mentioned several times about craving of this particular grilled chicken. So I browsed around on the internet to find the recipe. This one is from one of famous chef in Indonesia. It is good combination of many spices which give delicious flavour and taste.

Recipe by: Rudy Choiruddin, adapted by me

Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, cut into 4 (mine was cut into 8, plus I added 4 drumsticks)
- 1 cinnamon stick (mine was 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon)
- 3 cloves (mine was 5)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 1/2 turmeric leaf (I skipped this one)
- 2 stalk lemon grass (I cut then included into the crushed spices)
- 3 Tbsp of frying oil
- 500ml of coconut milk
- 100ml of thick coconut milk
(I replaced them with 1 can of coconut milk)

To be crushed:
- 4 red chili (I skipped this one considering my Bianca does not eat hot food)
- 3 cloves of garlic (mine was 10)
- 4 cloves of shallot
- 1/2 tsp of coriander (mine was 1.5 tsp of ground coriander)
- 1/2 tsp of aniseed (I skipped this one)
- 1/2 tsp of cummin (mine was 1tsp of ground cummin)
- 1/2 tsp of pepper (mine was 1tsp of ground black pepper)
- 2cm of ginger (mine was 4cm)
- 2cm of galangal (mine was 4cm)
- 3cm of turmeric (mine was 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric)
- 3 candlenuts (mine was 5)

Directions:
Crush all of the second part of the ingredients and lemon grass too in a food processor/chopper until smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil. Add cinnamon, cloves, and lime leaves and continue to saute until fragrant. Add the chicken and continue to cook until the chicken changed colour. Add the coconut milk and turn down the heat and cook until the liquid decreased to minimum. Cool it down. Then place it on a baking tray. Grill in an oven until dry and done. Serve it with warm steamed rice, chili paste-sambal terasi and some veggies.

Kung Pao Chicken - My husband's Favorite Chinese Dish

We have special dish to order when we dine in a Chinese restaurant. I normally order congee (either chicken or seafood) share it with Bianca, and my husband would pick fried rice or kung pao chicken and chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Seems like we never get bored with our order.
So one of those day, I tried to prepare my husband's favorite Chinese dish, kung pao chicken. You know why he likes this Szechuan dish? Coz he likes every thing spicy with his chicken or meat...

I browsed around on the internet and found one on this site.

I copied the recipe without any modification.

Ingredients:
-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks, marinade with:
-2 tsp soy sauce
-2 tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
-1 tsp sesame oil
-1.5 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:
-1.5 Tbsp dark soy sauce
-1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
-1 tsp sugar

Other:
-8 small dried red chili
-2 cloves garlic
-2 green onion
-4 Tbsp frying oil
-1 tsp Szechuan peppercorn (optional)
-0.5cup peanuts or cashews
-a few drop of sesame oil (optional)

s.

Directions:
Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Combine with the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the chicken for 25 minute
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce and vegetables: In a small bowl, combine the dark soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar. Set aside.

Cut the chilies in half so that they are approximately the same size as the chicken cubes. Remove the seeds. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Cut the green onion on the diagonal into thirds.

Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Stir-fry until it turns white and is 80 percent cooked. Remove from the wok.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the chili peppers and the Szechuan peppercorn if using. Stir-fry briefly until they turn dark red.

Add the sauce to the wok. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken back into the pan. Stir in the peanuts and the green onion. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve hot.

Pak Cham Kee Chicken - Thank Louise!

I was talking with my friend Louise, when she told me she was in the middle of cooking this dish. I was not that familiar with this Chinese dish, but the way she described it did sound really yummy, a must to try. So I asked her the recipe. Thank Louise! The next day, I prepared it with a little modification. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 10 chicken drumsticks
- 200g of mushroom, wash and cut into two each (my modification)
- 6 cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 6cm of ginger, slice thinly
- 1/2 cup of light soy sauce
- 3Tbsp of rice wine (my modification)
- 2Tbsp of oyster sauce
- bunch of coriander leaves, chop (my modification)
- 1/4cup of water
- 2Tbsp of sesame oil (my modification)

Directions:
Preheat a skillet for 2minutes and then pour the sesame oil. Arrange the chicken drumstick in it. In a small bowl, mix well soy sauce, rice wine, garlic and ginger, and then pour it over the drumstick. Cover the skillet and let it cooked. Flip over the drumstick once and add water as desired. Put on the lid back and continue to cook until done. Before turning off the stove or the power (if using electric skillet), add the oyster sauce and coriander leave. Mix well again and then turn off the stove or power. Serve it with steamed rice and cut chili with soy sauce.

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.

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

Buffalo Chicken Wings

My husband likes to play billiard games with his friends and usually he gets something for munching during those fun times. His choice goes to Buffalo chicken wings as always. One day he went grocery shopping and brought home some chicken wings and special hot sauce and asked me to make them at home. I browsed around on the internet and found various recipes on Buffalo chicken wings. However they mainly have the same basic ingredients.
As I prepared them, I was also online chatting with Deetha and we agreed to post the same item on the same day. So here it is my homemade Buffalo chicken wings...

Ingredients:
- 15 chicken wings, cut into 2 each
- 3cloves of garlic, crush until smooth

- 1 package of kobe seasoning flour
- 3Tbsp of rice flour
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1Tbsp of ground black pepper
- 1tsp of salt
- 30ml of water
- oil for frying
- Red hot chicken wings sauce (see the picture below)

Directions:
Mix well all of the ingredients except oil, hot sauce and the wings. Then batter the wings in it for at least 10minutes. Deep fry it using oil under medium high heat until golden brown and crispy. Drain off the excesses oil using paper towel. Then in a saucepan, heat the hot sauce for 2minutes and then transfer the fried chicken wings in it. Continue to heat it up and flip over once in a while. Serve it warm with mayo or ketchup and fresh salad, as for us, we like to have it with celery, carrot and ranch dipping

Sweet and Sour Crispy Chicken (Ayam Kuluyuk)

Actually I cooked it two days before Christmas, but I did not have time to download it from my camera and then upload it on Photobucket. So it was a left-over file too. However, since I just worked on it in 2009, let's call it fresh then.
I have posted a similar menu but using fish fillet before, you may find the recipe here.

Ingredients:
To make the battered chicken:
- 500gr of chicken breast fillet
- salt
- ground black pepper
- lime juice
- Kobe brand seasoning flour
- rice flour
- oil for frying

In a bowl, put the chicken fillet and drizzle some lime juice. Add salt and pepper and mix it well. Cover all the surface of it with rice dan Kobe seasoning flour and then deep fry it in hot oil under medium high heat until golden brown. Place it in a serving bowl.

To make the sauce:
- 2 carrot, peel off the skin and cut into matches shapes
- bunch of green haricot beans, cut into 6cm in length
- 6 cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 4 cloves of small red onion, chop thinly (supposed to be onion, but I did not have it)
- 4cm of ginger, crack it pestle
- 1 tomato, cut into 12 pieces
- 2Tbsp of plum sauce (I skipped this one and used tomato sauce instead)
- 1Tbsp of lime juice
- 1Tbsp of oyster sauce
- 1Tbsp of fish sauce
- salt
- sugar
- ground white pepper
- water
- 1Tbsp of corn starch, mix it with a little bit of water
- oil for saute

In a pan, saute garlic, onion and ginger until fragrant. Add tomato and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add cut carrots and green haricot beans, stir it well and continue to cook for 5minutes. Add tomato sauce, lime juice, oyster, fish sauce and water and mix it well. Continue to cook until boiling. Add salt, sugar and pepper to taste. At last pour the corn starch mixture and stir it immediately until thicken.
To serve, pour the sauce on top of the fried battered chicken fillet. Eat it with warm steamed rice.

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.

Ayam Kecap Jahe (Ginger-Sweet Soy Sauce Seasoned Chicken)

I have stocked up some foods in fridge due to bad weather since last week. My husband loves chicken and beef, thus those are mainly what we have at home. This time I wanted to have something warming to balance the cold weather which we have been having, but not spicy/hot since my stomach has been so sensitive toward chili. So I put more ginger to the chicken and it worked wonderfully.

Ingredients:
- 10 chicken drumsticks, deep fry until brownish and crunchy
- 1 clove of onion, chop thinly
- 6 cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 2x4cm of ginger, crack it with pestle
- 2Tbsp of fish sauce
- 4Tbsp of Indonesian sweet soy sauce or more
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- water
- oil

Directions:

In a pan, saute chop onion and garlic until dry. Add ginger and continue to saute for 1minute. Add fish sauce, water (app. 150ml), pepper and soy sauce and stir it well. Put in fried chicken drumsticks. Stir it evenly and let the seasoning immerse for 5minutes.
Serve it warm with steamed rice.

Clear Vermicelli Omitted Kimlo Soup

Having some leftover of steamed tofu rolls and not sure of what to do with it, I just thought to add it into something soupy. But I was kinda bored with ordinary chicken soup. So this time I made kimlo soup without clear vermicelli. Here is my own simple recipe...

Ingredients:
- 3 chicken thighs
- 2 tofu rolls (see the recipe here)
- 15 mini carrots, cut into 3 each
- bunch of cauliflower
- a can of cooked quail eggs
- bunch of dried ear fungus, rehydrate it with hot water and cut into smaller pieces
- 4 chicken wieners sausages, cut into 1/2cm thickness
- 2 green onion, chop thinly
- 4cm of ginger, crack it with pestle
- 5cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 3cloves of small red onion, chop thinly
- water
- salt
- sugar
- ground white pepper

- 2 Tbsp of sesame oil

Directions:
Boil chicken thighs in water until tender and then take out the chicken. Shred the meat and discard the bones. Keep it aside. Use the broth to cook carrot and then cauliflowers. Do not overcook, half cook is good since there will be sometimes to put the rest of the ingredients. After that, put in quail eggs, shredded chicken meat, rehydrated ear fungus, salt, sugar and pepper. Meanwhile, saute chopped garlic, onion and ginger with a little bit of sesame oil until fragrant. Add chicken wieners sausages and fry it for 2minutes. Transfer all of them into the pot which has broth and cooked ingredients. Continue to cook until boiling. Sprinkle some green onion before turning the stove off. Add the cut steamed tofu rolls in the serving bowl.

Pepes Ayam (Steamed Seasoned Chicken)

Here it comes again the monthly event of "Masak Bareng" held by Indonesian Foodie Bloggers. Steamed seasoned chicken is the theme for November. It is kinda strange for my husband's ears since he is more familiar with fish one. He never thought that chicken would be good cooked that way. Unfortunately I did not have any banana leaf, but it did not stop me to prepare this meal and join the event. So I steamed it with no banana leaf to wrap with. The taste was still good though...

Ingredients:
- 8 chicken drumsticks
- 8cloves of garlic
- 3cloves of small red onion
- 8 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 5 candle nuts
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 1cm in length for easy grinding
- 4 bilimbi, cut into 4 each
- 4 lime leaves
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1/2tsp of ground turmeric
- 1 tomato
- salt
- sugar
- 70ml water

Directions:
In a blender, grind all of the seasonings except the leaves and bilimbi, until smooth. Transfer it into a heat resistant container. Then put the chicken in together with the leaves and bilimbi and mix it well. Steam it for 45minutes. Serve it with warm steamed rice. You may add some more whole chili to give an extra spicyness.

Chicken Laksa

On one of my lazy days..I prepared this chicken laksa using instant seasoning. Its hot soup was perfect for that early winter day...

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1/2 jar of instant laksa seasoning (I used Cap Ibu/Mother Brand)
- 1lt water
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- salt
- sugar

Side dishes:
- boiled rice vermicelli
- boiled egg --- I skipped this
- boiled bean sprout
- fried potato
- steamed rice or rice dumpling
- fried onion
- Indonesian crackers or gnetum gemon crackers (Indonesian-melinjo) --- I skipped this

- lime juice

Directions:
In a pot boil chicken with water and the instant seasoning until the chicken tender. Take the chicken out and shred the meat. Keep it aside. Add coconut milk to the broth and continue to cook until boiling. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar.
To serve, in a serving bowl arrange some steamed rice or rice dumpling at the bottom. Then top it up with fried potato, vermicelli, bean sprout and shredded chicken meat. Pour the soup over and sprinkle some fried onion. Drizzle some lime juice. Add crackers at the side.

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.

Modified Soto Banjar

I intended to join the "Masak Bareng" event for Indonesian foodie blogger which is held monthly and last month menu was Soto Banjar. Unfortunately due to my additional activity of taking care my two kids, I could not post it on time. It is supposed to be posted on the last Thursday of the month, which was on September 25.
Since I have cooked it for dinner, I just asked permission to post it without attaching any logo of the event as if I am not joining this event. Let say it is my update to post this menu.
Thank you to Deetha who had sent me the recipe, which I modified according to what I have left in my kitchen.

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breast
- 2lt of water
- 1tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves (I skipped this, and replaced it with 1tsp of Chinese five spices)
- 3 cardamom (I skipped this)
- 3Tbsp of margarine
- 1 clove of small red onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1.5 tsp of ground white pepper
- salt
- sugar

Side dishes:
- 3 boiled eggs, cut into half each
- 50gr of clear vermicelli, boiled and drained
- potato fritter
- fried onion
- lime juice
- 2 green onion, chop thinly
- sweet soy sauce
- crushed chili



Directions:
In a blender crush onion and garlic until smooth. Keep it aside.
In a pot, boil chicken breast in water with nutmeg, five spices and cinnamon stick until done. Take out the chicken and shred it and keep it aside. Discard the cinnamon stick. Saute crushed onion and garlic with margarine until fragrant and transfer it into the broth. Add pepper, salt and sugar to taste.
Serve it in a bowl by placing some steam rice on the bottom then top it up with clear vermicelli and shredded chicken meat, pour some broth over. Add the side dishes. Serve it hot.

Note: the recipe is good for 8 bowl of Soto.
Source: Tabloid Saji, modified by Lidia Sianturi

Monthly Menu: Steamed Seasoned Rice with Chicken and Mushroom Topping (Nasi Tim Ayam Jamur)

Today is the last Thursday of the month and as we - some of Indonesian foodie bloggers agree that the last Thursday of every month is the time for us to post our monthly menu. It does not matter when we cooked it, but we are supposed to post it on the last Thursday of the month. And since my position in this globe is further up north-west, I will be the last to post this writing I believe...(the truth is I am a last minute person, I just cooked it for dinner last nite...hahaha..).
It is so good to see Indo foodie bloggers from all around the world post the same menu on the same date...



August menu is steamed seasoned rice with chicken and mushroom topping (Indonesian-nasi tim ayam jamur). And here comes my version of nasi tim ayam jamur, which is loved by my little family, especially my Bianca...



Ingredients:
To make the steamed seasoned rice:
- 1/2 portion of the broth from boiling chicken legs, app. 1lt
- 3 cups of jasmine rice
- 5cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 1tsp of salt

To make topping:
- 5 whole chicken legs, boil until tender, shred the meat, discard fat and bones and keep the broth aside
- 2can of straw mushroom
- 8cloves of garlic
- 4cm of ginger, slice thinly
- 2Tbsp of sesame oil
- 2Tbsp of fish sauce
- 3Tbsp of oyster sauce
- sweet soy sauce as needed
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 3 green onion, chop thinly

To make soup:
- 1/2 portion of the broth from boiling chicken legs, app. 1lt
- 5cloves of garlic
- 2cm of ginger, slice thinly
- salt
- sugar
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 3 green onion, chop thinly
- oil for saute

Side dishes:
- fried wonton, see the recipe here
- chili vinegar (I skipped this one)



Directions:
To make the rice:
In a big pot, place the broth and boil. Add garlic which was previously sauteed with a little bit of oil. Add salt, pepper and stir it well. Add pre-washed rice and stir it for awhile. Close the lid and let it cook until all the water immersed. Keep it aside.

To make topping:
In a wok, saute chopped garlic and ginger with sesame oil until fragrant. Add fish sauce and oyster sauce and stir it well. Add shredded chicken meat and then sweet soy sauce and stir it well. Add pepper, mushroom and a little bit of broth and continue to cook until boiling. Add green onion and stir. Keep it aside.

To make soup:
Boil the broth in a pot and add sauteed garlic, ginger, salt, sugar and pepper and stir it well. When it is boiling, add chopped green onion and immediately turn off the heat.

To cook/steam:
Put the topping in a heat resistant bowl until 1/3 high. And then top it up with the half-cooked seasoned rice. Place bowls in a steamer and steam it for 15-20minutes until the rice cooked.

To serve:
Place the bowl upside down on a plate and carefully remove the bowl, so that the chicken topping will be on top of the rice now. Serve the soup in a small bowl at side. Add fried wonton and chili vinegar at the side too if you like. Serve it warm.

Chicken Opor with Rice Dumpling (Ketupat Opor Ayam)

This is what I do when I feel like spending more time in the kitchen to prepare complete menu for my little family. That particular day, I made instant rice dumpling, chicken opor and spicy tempeh-chocho-haricot beans.

For chicken opor recipe you may find it here.
For spicy tempeh-chocho-haricot beans recipe may be seen here.
The rice dumpling is made from an instant package, and I just boiled it for 30minutes and let it cool off and then cut it into small pieces.
To serve, place the cut rice dumpling in a bowl, add the chicken opor and spicy tempeh-chocho-haricot beans and sprinkle some fried onion. It is good to eat it warm. And you may add some crackers if you like.