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.

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.

Spicy Grilled Silver Pomfret (Ikan Bawal Bakar Pedas)

My husband and I really like silver pomfret fish, especially when it is grilled. Two weeks ago when doing some shopping at an Asian store I found these fish at good price. Thus I bought some and cooked them the next day. Here is my special recipe...

Ingredients:
- 6 silver pomfret fish, clean up the stomach cavity and make several cut on each side of the body
- 1 lime
- 5cloves of small red onion
- 8cloves of garlic
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 1cm in length for easy grinding
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 4 lime leaves
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 6 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 tomato
- 5 candle nuts
- 100ml water
- salt
- sugar

Directions:
Clean up the fish and drizzle some lime juice all over it. Let it immersed for 10minutes. Then grind all of the remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. Fill up the stomach cavity with the smooth seasoning and put some all over the body as well. Place the fish on an aluminum pan and grill them for 45minutes at 350F. Flip it over on the mid way.
Serve it with warm steamed rice and fresh vegetable such as cucumber, tomato or lettuce.

Korean BBQ

All of a sudden my husband wanted to do bbq-ing at home, so one of those quite evening we did it on our balcony...just us, my husband-my Bianca-and me..
The menu was simple...but it was soooooo good!

Ingredients:
- 1kg of pork ribs
- 450ml of Korean bbq sauce with sesame seeds
- 100ml of red wine (we used fine ruby porto)

Side dish:
- tomato
- lettuce, cucumber (I did not have it that day)
- hot chili sauce
- baked potato or steam rice



Directions:
Mix the bbq sauce and red wine in a big container, and then marinate the ribs for at least an hour. Grill it for 25minutes or until it is done the way you like...
Better to eat right after it is done, do not keep it for the next day, it won't taste as good. Serve it with baked potato or steam rice, hot chili sauce and some veggies.

Grilled Ribs

I made this grilled ribs two weeks ago, but somehow I misplaced the picture files, and just found it yesterday. So I am glad to share the simple recipe for you...
I used the left over of marinating sauce for sweet satay.

Ingredients:
- 600gr of spare ribs, could be pork or beef
- 1 lime, use the juice
- left over of marinating sauce for sweet satay, you may find the recipe here



Directions:
Cut the ribs according to the size you like. Drizzle some lime juice over it and keep it aside for 10minutes. Then place all the ribs into the marinating sauce and marinate them for at least 1hour (I prefer to do it overnightly in the fridge ). Arrange them in an aluminum pan or other oven dish and grill them at medium heat for 45minutes to an hour. Flip it over to distribute the heat evenly. Serve it hot with some salad.

Grilled Banana Leaf Wrapped Mackarel (Pepes Ikan Makarel)

I have been missing this food for a long time. The reason I kept procrastinating in making it was that I did not have banana leaves...hehehe..not a strong reason, is it? So the other day when we did a visit to an Asian store and saw frozen banana leaves, I decided to buy the fish and prepared it for this food I long for. I made it quite spicy since my husband likes spicy foods. And this time I did not steam it first as what we normally do, I just grilled it in an oven.

Ingredients:
- 4 good size mackarel, wash, remove the scales and volume inside the stomach cavity and make 3 good cuts on each side of the body
- 1 lime, use the juice
- 6 cloves of small red onion
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 16 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 tomato
- 6 candle nuts
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of turmeric
- 4cm of ginger
- 2 lemongrass, cut into 4cm in length
- 8 lime leaves
- 8 Indonesian bay leaves
- 2 green onion, chop thinly
- bunch of lime basil leaves (I skipped it this time)
- 1tsp of shrimp paste
- 2tsp of ground black pepper
- salt
- sugar
- water
- banana leaves and toothpicks for wrapping

Drizzle the lime juice over the fish and let it immerse for 15minutes. While waiting, blend onion, garlic, chili, tomato, candle nuts, galangal, turmeric, ginger, and shrimp paste in a blender until smooth. Add a little bit of water as needed. Pour it in a big container and add pepper, salt, sugar, and green onion. Mix it well. Fill up the fish's stomach cavity and cover the body with the seasoning. To wrap the fish, first place 1 lime leaf, 1 bay leaf and 2 cut of lemon grass on a piece of banana leaf. Then place the fish on it and top it up with another lime leaf and bay leaf. Wrap it and seal it with toothpick. Do it for all the fish. And then place them on an aluminum pan or other oven dish and put it in an oven. Set the oven at low heat grill program, to avoid fast burning of the banana leaves. Grill it for 45minutes to an hour, and flip it over at half way.
Serve it warm with warm steam rice.

Spicy and Sweet Beef Satay (Sate Sapi Pedas Manis)

I was a bit disappointed of the picture I took..it looks like the satay burnt. In fact it was not...but since I edited the brightness it turned out to be like this, and I was not able to safe the original picture. Oh well, bear with the burnt appearance okay? The taste was still good tho...

Ingredients:
- 1kg beef meat, cut into small cubes
- 10 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 5 cloves of small red onion
- 6 candle nuts
- 4cm of galangal
- 1 block of palm sugar, grate it
- 2 lime, use the juice only
- 1tsp of ground turmeric
- 2Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of ground cumin
- 1Tbsp of ground white pepper
- 6Tbsp of fine-granulated brown sugar
- 100ml sweet soy sauce
- 2Tbsp of soy sauce
- 6Tbsp of fish sauce

In a blender, blend chili, garlic, onion, candle nuts, galangal and palm sugar until smooth. Place it in a big container and add the rest of the seasoning. Mix it well. Marinate the meat cubes for at least 1 hour, the longer it takes the better, in a fridge. Take it out of the fridge and then arrange the cubes on a skewer, 4-5 pieces each. Grill it until cooked. Flip it over as needed. Serve it with spicy soy sauce (Indonesian-sambal kecap) at the side.

To make sambal kecap:
- 5 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 1 tomato
- salt
- sugar
- sweet soy sauce
- 1 lime, use the juice only
- 1 tsp of ground white pepper

Chop thinly chili, garlic, onion and tomato. Place it in a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Then mix it well.

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon (Salmon Panggang Bumbu Teriyaki)

Last night we just wanted to have something simple, easy and quick to prepare. This salmon needs a little time to prepare, yet so tasty.

Ingredients:
- 2 horseshoe shaped salmon
- 200ml teriyaki marinating sauce
- 4cm of ginger, peel of the skin, wash and slice thinly

Side dish:
- a bunch of broccoli, cut, wash and steam it for 6minutes
- mashed potato

In a bowl, marinate the salmon with teriyaki sauce for 15minutes. Place it in an aluminum pan and add some thin slices of ginger on top of it. Grill it in an oven at 400F for 30minutes. Flip it over on the mid way. Place the remaining sauce in a small pot and add some ginger. Cook it until boiling and stir it constantly.
To serve, place the grilled salmon on a plate and pour some cooked sauce on top. Add the steamed broccoli and mashed potato at the side.

Lime-Grilled Chicken (Ayam Bakar Jeruk Nipis)

It has been a while I have not been cooking chicken, whilst chicken is my husband's favorite meat. So yesterday I cooked this yummy grilled chicken for him. He likes it so much.

Ingredients:
- 6 whole chicken legs/chicken maryland
- 3 lime
- 5 cloves of small red onion
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 5 lime leaves
- 1/3 can of coconut milk
- sweet soy sauce as much as you like
- salt
- oil for saute

Side dish:
- green salad
- mandarin orange Asian dressing with sesame seeds

Drizzle 1.5 lime on chicken legs, sprinkle some salt and let it set for 15min.
While waiting, chop the onion and garlic in a chopper. Saute them with a little bit of oil in a frying pan for 2min. Add lime leaves and continue to saute for another 2min. Add the lime-salt marinated chicken legs. Cook for 10min. Add sweet soy sauce and coconut milk. Bring to boil and flip over the chicken occasionally. Continue to cook for another 10min.
While cooking, slice thinly the rest of lime. Preheat an oven at 350F for 5min.
When it is ready, place the chicken on aluminum pan and put sliced lime on top of the chicken one each. Grilled for 15min for each side, or until it is well cooked.
Serve with warm steam rice, green salad with your favorite dressing and belacan chili paste (Indonesian-sambal terasi)

Teriyaki Steak

Having a good compliment from my husband when I made Western food for him, makes me want to make another one. Moreover, I found good priced beef when I did grocery shopping the other day and I have some teriyaki sauce in the fridge.

Ingredients:
- good beef for steak (ex: sirloin, tenderloin, thinly cut round beef)
- teriyaki sauce and dip
- all ingredients to make mashed potato and veggies (see: Grilled Salmon with Lemon-Dill Sauce)

In a casserole bowl, place the beef and pour some teriyaki sauce. Make sure all the meat surface are covered with the sauce. Put it in the fridge and marinate it for at least 1hour (the longer it is the better, I normally keep it in fridge for a night).
Grill it or place it in an oven at 400F until done (depend on how well you like your meat to be done, if it's too well normally it would be hard and dry).
To serve, place it on a plate and pour some teriyaki dip. Add the mashed potato and veggies.

Grilled Salmon with Lemon-Dill Sauce

I rarely cook western food, since Christian prefers Indonesian food over western one. But for his lunch today I made this grilled salmon. This time, mostly I used instant ingredients. He does not mind though. And he called from work, he said that the salmon is yummy, and he may like to have it again sometimes.

To make grilled salmon:
- 2 slices fresh horseshoe shaped skin-on salmon
- 1 lime
- ground black pepper
- salt

Marinade the salmon with lime, salt and pepper for 5minutes. Grill it until done but not too dry.

To make mashed potato:
- 1 package of instant mashed potato (I preferred roasted garlic or butter and herb flavor)
- 1.5 cup hot water
- 0.5 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp butter or margarine
- salt

Put the hot water, milk, butter/margarine and a pinch of salt in a big casserole bowl. Empty the package and add to the bowl. Stir it evenly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave one corner uncovered to release the heat and steam. Microwave it for 4-6minutes at high power. Take it out with care. Stir with a fork until smooth.

To make lemon-dill sauce:
- 1 package of lemon-dill sauce mix
- 0.5 cup cold water
- 0.5 cup milk
- 2 tsp butter

Put the mix powder in a microwavable bowl. Add cold water, milk and butter. Stir it evenly. Microwave it until boil (app. 3minutes) and stir it with a fork in every minute. Continue to heat it for another 1-2minutes. Stir before serving.

To make veggies:
- 1 cup mixed vegetables
- water
- butter

Boil the vegetables with water in a pot. Do not overcooked. Drain and add butter while it is still hot and serve.

Spicy Pork Satay

Last Friday, October 26 '2007 Christian prepared this meal for my birthday. Well, I told him that he doesn't have to do it for me, since we have already gone for late lunch at a restaurant with friends on my birthday last Sunday. However, he insisted to make it for me and to invite good friends to come over for dinner Saturday evening. This is one of his favorite recipes which he got from his aunt - Ida. As for him, spicy means really really hot...so I know what to expect..

Ingredients:
- 1kg pork meat (shoulder part), cut into small cubes
- 8 pcs lemongrass
- 4cm of galangal
- 4cm of ginger
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 10 cloves of small red onion
- 8 pcs lime leaves
- bunch of basil leaves
- chili paddy=bird's eye chili=cabe rawit-Indonesian (as many as you like)
- 1 lime
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Put all the ingredients except lime, vegetable oil and the meat into a blender and blend it until smooth. In a big bowl, put the meat and mix it with the smooth blended spices and add lime and vegetable oil. Mix it well and then keep it in fridge for 24hours.

On the next day, take the bowl out of the fridge and place the meat on the skewers (4 cubes each). Broil until well cooked.

Note: 1kg of meat is good to make approx. 40 skewers. The spicier it is the better! (Christian's philosophy). It clears out your nose...
Good thing that we have smokeless broiler at home, so we are able to grill it inside when the outside temperature is not friendly.