Sambal Kecap (Spicy Sweet Soy Sauce)

 

Kecap or sweet soy sauce is well known in Indonesia as one of essential sauces which used quite often. And in our home, it is always available on the table, since my husband loves to eat every thing with it..yes literally every thing. To participate in the IDFB Challenge 4, with Sambal theme, I would like to share this Sambal Kecap recipe. It can be eaten with various soups or bbq. This time we eat it with chicken on skewer or sate/satay.

Ingredients:
8 chili paddy (add to your level of spiciness), chopped
2 cloves of shallot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 tsp of ground white pepper
1/2 cup of sweet soy sauce
1 jeruk limo (Citrus amblycarpa)

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, then at last drizzle the jeruk limo juice over.

Pecel Lele (Deep Fried Cat Fish with Chili Paste) - IDFB Challenge #1

I have joined a group called Indonesian Foodblogger on Facebook, and every two months they have a challenge that every member can participate and there are prizes to win too! For the very first challenge, they present "Food by Its Country", and here is my entry..

This food reminds me much of my university life in Yogyakarta, where a lot of food hawkers sell this menu around Gadjah Mada University campus. And for sure, this was my favorite menu as a student before and yet today. Here is my version:

Ingredients:
- frozen cat fish, cut or whole, cleaned (available at Asian stores)
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- salt
- water
- oil for frying

To make sambal/chili paste:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of shallot

- 1 big red chilly
- 12 chili paddy
- 1 tomato
- 1tsp of shrimp paste, toasted
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar
- salt

- kaffir lime (jeruk limau)
- used frying oil (the remaining after frying the fish)

Directions:

Since I normally bought the fish which was cleaned, I do not need to clean it myself. Make some slits on the side of the body. Mix crushed garlic, coriander, salt and water to marinate the fish in a container. Then marinate the fish in it for at least 30min. Deep fry it in hot oil under medium high heat until brown and crunchy. Drain off the excessed oil with paper towel.

To make chili paste: fry garlic, shallot, chili and tomato for 2-3minutes. Then transfer it into a grinder, I like to use "cobek" (traditional stone grinder). Add shrimp paste, salt and palm sugar and then grind until coarse smooth. Sprinkle some kaffir lime juice over.

Serve with warm steamed rice and some fresh veggies (lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, tomato, long beans, etc). You may add some sweet soy sauce into the chili paste to reduce the spiciness.

Chili Soy Sauce for Satay (Sambal Kecap Untuk Sate)

Indonesian food is known as spiced food and has a lot of condiments. One of the condiments is sambal, literally means something to add the hotness/spiciness and mostly using chili as source of this hotness/spiciness. There are many kinds of sambal which represent the origin of it. They could use various ingredients and specifically made for different kind of foods. This time, together with my fellow Indonesian foodie blogger, I would like to share our favorite sambal which usually specifically made to accompany satay for this month Masbar event. It is called sambal kecap for the main ingredient is soy sauce.


Ingredients:
- 8 chili paddy or bird's eye chili (reduce or add the number of chili to adjust the hotness to your preference)
- 5cloves of garlic
- 4cloves of shallot
- 1 tomato, cut into small squares
- 1tsp of ground white pepper
- 1/2 lime
- 1/3c of sweet soy sauce
- salt, sugar

Directions:
Thinly chop chili, garlic and shallot. Place all of the ingredients in a small bowl, except lime. Drizzle the lime juice over it. Mix it well. Add some water as needed to adjust the taste and consistency. Add some salt and sugar as needed.

I would like to submit the above picture for Click! event. This month's theme is Allium.

Kering Teri Pete (Spicy Anchovy with Sator) - My Hatred and My Husband's Love

Call me a devoted wife...yes...as much as I hate the smell, the taste and the after eating smell, my husband loves it..I was still willing to cook it for him. Almost 3 week ago I cooked this dish for him and the smell stayed in our house for about 2days...(hated it!). For you who does not know how bad the smell of sator is, let me explain it...when you consume this sator-also known as stink bean, you will smell something funny when you urinating. These edible beans produce peculiar smell similar to methane gas.
Okay, enough about the hatred part, let's talk about the love part...Many Indonesian loves to have sator in certain dishes. According to wikipedia, they are best when combined with other strong flavoured foods such as garlic, chile peppers, and dried shrimp, as in "sambal petai" or added to a Thai curry such as Thai Green Curry of Duck. Spicy anchovy with sator is one of perfect matches.

Ingredients:
- 400g of dried anchovy, deep fry it until brown and crispy
- 150g of sator
- 8cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 4cloves of shallot, chop thinly
- 100ml of Sambal Oelek
- 4Tbsp of brown sugar
- 4 lime leaves
- oil for sauteeing

Directions:
In a wok, saute chopped shallot and garlic with a little bit of oil until fragrant and crispy. Add sator and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add Sambal Oelek and stir while cooking until boiling. Add brown sugar and stir and cook until changed color to brownish. Add lime leaves and then add fried anchovy and stir it well. Serve it with steamed rice and veggie dish.

Tongseng Sapi (Beef Tongseng)

My husband bought a big chunk of meat, a-cut-it-yourself kinda sirloin steak two weeks ago. When he got home, I did not want to keep it frozen as whole, beside it would not be fit in my freezer. Thus, I cut it into four portions and place it separately in four freezing bags. I was able to separate the very lean meat from the fatty, two bags of cut lean meat and another two of fatty ones. I had cooked the very lean into beef rendang and Batavian beef semur.
Now for the fatty one, I decided to make tongseng. Normally in Indonesia, tongseng is made of goat meat. As for me using beef meat does not eliminate the yumminess though...

See the recipe here. This time, I added some freshly cut cabbage to the soup just before serving and some Indonesian crackers at the side.

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.

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.

Oseng Tempe

This is one of our family favorite dishes for it is simple yet delicious. OK, just straight to the point of how to make it...here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
- 2 blocks of tempeh, cut into small cubes and fry it until half cooked
- 250gr of haricot beans, cut into 4cm in length
- 6cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 3cloves of small red onion, chop thinly
- 2Tbsp of sambal oelek (crushed chili, available in jar at Asian stores)
- 3cm of galangal, cut into 3
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1Tbsp of palm sugar (you may replace it with brown sugar)
- 2Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
- 2Tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tomato, cut into 12
- water
- oil for saute



Directions:
In a wok saute garlic and onion with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add fish sauce, bay leaves and galangal and stir it while continue to saute for 2minutes. Add sambal oelek/crushed chili and some water (app. 100ml), stir it well. Add tempeh and beans and stir it well and cook until boiling. Add palm sugar, sweet soy sauce and tomato, continue to cook for another 4minutes. Adjust the taste with fish sauce and sweet soy sauce. Serve it with warm steam rice.

Batakese Seasoned Tilapia (Arsik Ikan) - Apology

Last Thursday I cooked this Batakese meal for my husband to bring for lunch at work. Normally people added long beans, but since I did not find any long beans at Asian store, I just added haricot beans instead. You can find the recipe here, I have posted it before.
These days I can not sit in front of the computer for a longer period of time, since my due date is approaching. Therefore I apologize for any inconvenience I've created by posting short writing. I am still trying to update my blog as time and my condition permit. Thank you!

Buncis Masak Belacan (Spicy Haricot Beans with Shrimp Paste)

My first encounter with this meal was back then when I was still living in Australia. There was a Chinese restaurant closed to my apartment which sells this menu and it tastes soooo good. The restaurant was always full, even though the waiters mostly were not friendly. It's just because they served delicious food at affordable price for students like me.
Then last month, after taking my daughter to swim on a very hot day, we stopped by at a Malaysian restaurant and had dinner there. We ordered this buncis belacan and it tasted as good as the one I used to have in Sydney.
So last week, I convinced myself to prepare it on my own.

Ingredients:
- 350gr of haricot beans (Indonesian=buncis), cut into 8cm in length
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 12 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 tomato, cut into 8
- 2tsp of shrimp paste, grill it
- 1Tbsp of fish sauce
- salt
- sugar
- oil for saute



Directions:
In a chopper, crush all of the ingredients, except beans, tomato, fish sauce and oil until smooth. Then saute it with a little bit of oil in a wok for 3 minutes. Add fish sauce and the beans and stir while continuing to cook until done. Add tomato and cook for another 2minutes. You may add a little bit of water if you like to make it watery (I prefer it dry).

Steamed Banana Leaf Wrapped Beef (Botok Daging)

Inspired by one of Mindy's posts and since I got some banana leaves in my freezer, last week I made this steamed beef. To be honest, Balinese recipe sounds too complicated for me...that's why I did not make that Tum Sapi, but this botok. Thx for inspiring...Min...

Ingredients:
-400gr of ground beef
-1/2can of coconut milk
-3 eggs
-12 Indonesian bay leaves
-banana leaves and tooth picks for wrapping

To be crushed in a chopper/grinder until smooth:
-12 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
-3 cloves of small red onion
-8 cloves of garlic
-1tsp of kencur
-4cm of galangal
-5candle nuts
-salt
-sugar



Directions:
In a mixing bowl, mix well all of the ingredients and the smooth spices except bay leaves and wrapper. Then place 1 bay leaf on banana leaf and top it with 2-3Tbsp of the mixture. Wrap it the way you see on the first picture and seal with a tooth pick.
When all is done, steam it in a steamer for 45minutes. Eat it with warm steam rice.

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.

"Me Style" Spiced Up Sardines

On one of my hectic days, when we were still staying at our friend's town house, I had to prepare something for our lunch, but it should be in blink of eyes as I did not have much time to spend in the kitchen. Safe by canned food...!! Luckily I stocked up some cans of sardines. But we do not normally eat canned food straightly from the cans..we normally add something else and cook it.
So this is what I did to my canned sardines...

Ingredients:
- 1 can of sardines in tomato sauce
- 4 cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 3 cloves of small red onion, chop thinly
- 6 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 tomato
- 4cm of ginger, cut thinly
- 3 potato, peel off the skin, cut into small chunk
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying
- water



Directions:
In a frying pan, fry cut potato with oil until brownish. Put it aside.
In a pan, saute garlic, onion and chili with a little bit of oil for 2minutes. Add ginger and tomato and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add some water app. 100ml. Continue to cook until boiling. Add the sardines with all the sauce. Continue to cook until boiling again and stir occasionally. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Serve it warm with steam rice.

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 Roasted Beef (Balado Daging)

I got a full container of seasoned roasted beef from a friend of mine the other day. It can be consumed just by warming it up or putting it in an oven first. However, considering that Christian is not really into Western food, I decided to get rid of the seasoning by washing it up with warm water and then dividing it into 3 zip lock plastic and keep it in the fridge for future usage.
For the first packaged of beef I decided to use it for simple spicy Indonesian recipe.

Ingredients:
- app. 350gr of roasted beef
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 6 cloves of small red onion
- 14 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 4cm of galangal
- 4 lime leaves
- 2Tbsp of fish sauce
- sugar
- oil for frying



Since I washed up the seasoning off the beef, it was kinda wet, so firstly I spread the meat on a large paper towel to drain the excessed water and then deep fry it with hot oil under medium high heat for 3minutes.
In a chopper, chop onion, garlic and chili until coarse smooth. Then saute it with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add galangal, lime leaves and fish sauce and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add a little bit of sugar to taste. At last add the meat and continue to cook and stir for 3minutes. Serve it with warm steam rice and veggies.

Green Chili Chicken (Ayam Sambal Ijo)

I made this chicken menu 2 weeks ago, the first week we arrived in Edmonton. Since I only did a little grocery shopping, I did not have much stuff in the fridge and chicken always become good choice for simple recipe. I think this menu originally came from Padang, West Sumatra Indonesia correct me if I am wrong..

Ingredients:
- 10 chicken drumstick
- 2tsp of tamarind, mix with half glass of cold water
- 10 small green chili
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 6 cloves of small red onion
- 1 lemon grass, cut into 4cm in length
- 4 lime leaves
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4cm of ginger
- 4cm of galangal
- 3cm of turmeric
- 1tsp of ground coriander
- 5 candle nut
- salt
- sugar
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- water
- oil for saute



Marinate the drumstick with tamarind juice for 15minutes. While waiting, crush all of the ingredients except lemon grass, lime leaves, bay leaves, and coconut milk in a blender until smooth. In a wok, saute the smooth seasoning with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add lemon grass, lime leaves and bay leaves and continue to saute for another 2minutes. You may add some whole chili if you like. Add the drumstick together with the tamarind juice and continue to cook until change color. Add coconut milk and a little bit of water and cook until boiling, stir it occasionally. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Cook until the chicken tender. Serve it with warm steam rice.

Spicy Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar Sambal)

The other day, I came across this blog of Lela from Malaysia and I drolled over her menu there. After asking her permission and getting all the main ingredients that I need, I made this spicy fish. This is really really good...my husband loves it! Thank you Lela for sharing the recipe...I made a little modification, since I do not have the turmeric leaves, I replaced it with lime leaves. And since there is no quantity mentioned on the original post, I just made it up myself. Anyhow..here is the recipe I used.....

Ingredients:
- 1 fresh Tilapia, wash, remove the scales and volume inside the stomach cavity
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 2cm in length
- 3 lime leaves
- 6cm of ginger
- 4cm of galangal
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 10 cloves of small red onion
- 20 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 Tbsp of dried small shrimp
- 1 tsp of ground turmeric
- 2 tsp of ground white pepper
- 1 Tbsp of tamarind, mix with a little bit of water and discard the seed and hard part
- salt
- sugar
-oil for saute


In a blender, blend all the ingredients except the fish and lime leaves until smooth. Then fill up fish's stomach cavity with 2 Tbsp of this seasoning. Place the fish in an aluminum pan and spread some of the seasoning all over the fish (do not use up all the blended seasoning, use app. 1/4 of it). Bake in an oven at 375F for 20minutes each side. After the first 20min flip it over and then spread another quarter of the seasoning on the fish. Continue to bake until the desired dryness (as for me, I like it dry and well done).
While baking it, in a pan saute the rest of the seasoning with a little bit of oil for 2minutes. Add lime leaves and continue to cook until boiling. Put it aside.
When the fish done, take it out from the oven and place it on a serving plate. Pour the sauted seasoning on top. Serve it with warm steam rice, fresh cut cucumber, tomato or other fresh vegetable as you wish.

Chili Sweet Basil Chicken

This food reminds me of my very best friend, Pat whom I met back then in Australia. I am so excited that in less than 7months she will be marrying the guy she loves. I know that it takes lots of energy to prepare the wedding and finish PhD at the same time. But I am sure you can make it my dear...I miss you terribly much and wish I would be able to witness your happy day!
(hey I miss your Tom Yum soup too...!)

Ingredients:
- 300gr of skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
- 150gr of washed cut carrot
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into small pieces
- 6 cloves of garlic
- bunch of basil leaves
- 3Tbsp of chili sweet basil paste (available in a jar at Asian store)
- oil for saute


In a wok, saute garlic with a little bit of oil. Add the chicken strips, stir and cook until change color. Add chili sweet basil paste and mix it well. Add carrot and then bell pepper and continue to cook for 4minutes. At last add the basil leaves, stir it and cook for another 2minutes.
Serve it 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.

Spicy Eggplant/Aubergine (Balado Terong Ungu)

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. Instead of asking me to cook fancy foods, he asked me to make balado terong the spicy one. So yes, I made this specially for him and I made it really really spicy.

Ingredients:
- 3 eggplant/aubergine, cut it in the middle longwise, and then cut into 5cm in length, put it in an oven for 30min at 350F, flip it over in the mid way.
- 16 chili paddy/bird's eye chili (consider to reduce the number please...)
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 5 cloves of small red onion
- 1 tsp of shrimp paste
- 1 tomato, cut into 12
- 3 lime leaves
- salt
- sugar
- 100ml water
- oil for saute

In a chopper, chop chili, garlic, onion, tomato and shrimp paste until coarse smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil for 3minutes. Add salt and sugar and continue to cook and stir constantly. Add some water and continue to cook until boiling. Add the lime leaves and stir it well. Add the baked eggplant, stir it and cook for another 10minutes.

To accompany this spicy food, I also made fried vermicelli (see the recipe here). In Chinese's belief, consuming any kind of noodles on your birthday is a symbol of long-life wish. Happy birthday dear!