Mangut Ikan Bandeng Asap (Smoked Milk Fish in Coconut Sauce)

This was one of my childhood menus, which Mom used to cook for us. I really like the combination of smokey aroma and spiciness of it. Normally we used smoke stingray fish, but since it could not be found in Canada, I replaced it with this smoked deboned milk fish.

Ingredients:
- 1 smoked deboned Milk fish, cut into 4
- 1 block medium firm tofu, cut into triangle shapes, fry until half-cooked
- 1 block tempeh, cut into triangle shapes, fry until golden brown
- 3 bilimbi, cut into small pieces
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4cm of galangal, crack it with pestle
- 3 lime leaves
- 10 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 5 cloves of shallot
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 6 candle nuts
- 1 tsp of shrimp paste
- 1 tsp of ground turmeric
- 1 can of coconut milk
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying and saute
- 700mL of water

In a chopper, chop chili, onion, garlic, candle nuts and shrimp paste until smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil in a pan for 2minutes. Then transfer it into boiling water in a pot. Add bay leaves, lime leaves, galangal and ground turmeric. Continue to cook until boiling again. Add fried tofu, tempeh, and bilimbi. Add coconut milk and adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Stir it while cooking. At last add the smoked fish and continue to cook for another 2minutes.
Serve warm with steamed rice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sweet Marinated Tempeh/Tofu (Tempeh/Tahu Bacem)

This was my last batch of tempeh which was kept in freezer. I should finish it up before we are moving away in 2 weeks from now. Bacem is the word for marinating with sweet and tasty seasoning. This food is high in fibre and protein and it might go with rice or good as a finger food.


Ingredients:
- 1 package of tempeh, cut into 12 pieces of triangle shapes
- 5 blocks of tofu, cut into 10 pieces of triangle shapes
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 6 cloves of small red onion
- 1 Tbsp of ground coriander
- 1 tsp of ground cumin
- 250g palm sugar, grate
- 1 tsp of tamarind, mix it with water and use the juice
- 4 Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
- 6 candle nuts
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 3 Tbsp of brown sugar
- water
- salt
- oil for frying


In a blender, crush onion, garlic, and candle nuts until smooth. Bring a large pan of water into boil (make sure that the water volume is good enough to cover all tempeh and tofu). Add the spice puree and the rest of ingredients, except oil (including tempe and tofu). Reduce heat and simmer, stir occasionally, until half of water is removed. Take out the tempeh and tofu, drain off the water and then deep fry it with hot oil under medium heat for 2-3minutes.

Quail Eggs with Black Shrimp Paste (Telur Puyuh Bumbu Petis)

Initially I wanted to make soup with quail eggs, but then I found out that I did not have enough veggies to put it together. At the end I just browsed around some recipes online, and chose this one from eresep.com and made modification, since I do not have black fish paste (Indonesian-petis ikan), I replaced it with black shrimp paste (Indonesian-petis udang).
The taste is a combination of spicy, sweet and savory with strong aroma which came from lemon grass and lime leaves.

Ingredients:
- 20 quail eggs, boil and then remove the shells
- 1 block of tempeh, cut into small squares and fry it until golden brown
- 3 blocks of medium hard tofu, cut into small squares and fry it until golden brown
- 6 cloves of garlic, chop it thinly
- 5 cloves of small red onion, chop it thinly
- 8 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 3 Tbsp of black shrimp paste
- 3 lime leaves
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 4cm in length and then crack it with pestle
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- water
- salt
- sugar
- oil for saute and frying

In a wok, saute garlic and onion with a little bit of oil until fragrant. Add lemon grass, lime leaves and chili, continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add app. 200ml of water and black shrimp paste. Stir it well and continue to cook until boiling. Add quail eggs, fried tempeh and tofu, stir it well. Add coconut milk and stir it while cooking. Wait until boiling and adjust the taste with salt and sugar.

Fried Battered Tempeh (Tempe Goreng Tepung)

This is our family favorite's nibble. It goes fast after frying, Bianca likes it too. It is also good to eat as side dish with steam rice and veggies.

Ingredients:
- 1 block of tempeh, cut into 12 slices
- 3 cloves of garlic, grind it until smooth
- 2 green onion, chop thinly
- 2 Tbsp of Kobe flour
- 2 Tbsp of rice flour
- 1 Tbsp of ground coriander
- water app. 150ml
- salt
- frying oil

In a mixing bowl, mix well all the ingredients, except tempeh and frying oil. Add water as needed. Do not put too much salt, since Kobe flour has already contained salt. Batter the tempeh with this mixture and deep fry it under medium high heat until golden brown.
Serve it with chili or hot sauce.

Smoked Fish in Coconut Milk (Mangut Ikan Asap)

This food is originally from Pati and its surrounding area (Kudus, Jepara, Semarang) in Central Java, Indonesia. Normally, smoked Stingray fish is used, but I was not able to find this specific fish here in Montreal. So I used smoked deboned Milk fish to replace it. I copied the recipe from Ayin's page and made a little modification (thank Yin..).

Ingredients:
- 1 smoked deboned Milk fish, cut into 5
- 1 block medium firm tofu, cut into triangle shapes, fry until half-cooked
- 1 block tempeh, cut into triangle shapes, fry until golden brown
- 3 bilimbi, cut into small pieces
- 3 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4cm of galangal, crack it with pestle
- 3 lime leaves
- 10 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 4 candle nuts
- 1 tsp of shrimp paste
- 1 tsp of ground turmeric
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying and saute
- 1L of water

In a chopper, chop chili, onion, garlic, candle nuts and shrimp paste until smooth. Saute it with a little bit of oil in a pan for 2minutes. Then transfer it into boiling water in a pot. Add bay leaves, lime leaves, galangal and ground turmeric. Continue to cook until boiling again. Add fried tofu, tempeh, and bilimbi. Add coconut milk and adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Stir it while cooking. At last add the smoked fish and continue to cook for another 3minutes.
Serve warm with steam rice.

Stir Fried Tempeh-Tofu with Soybean Paste (Oseng Tempe-Tahu Bumbu Taoco)

Since I have tempeh in stock and drooled over bucil's Buto Ijo, last week I made this stir fried menu. It is simple yet delicious.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of tempeh, cut into small squares, fry until golden brown
- 1 block of medium hard tofu, cut into small squares, fry until half-cooked
- a bunch of haricot beans, slice
- 6 of big green chili, slice thinly
- 5 cloves of garlic, chop thinly
- 4 cloves of small red onion, chop thinly
- 8 chili paddy or bird's eye chili, slice thinly
- 4cm of galangal
- 2 Tbsp of soybean paste (Indonesian-taoco)
- 2 Tbsp of sweet soy sauce
- 1 tomato, cut into 12, you may replace it with tamarind juice
- water
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying and saute

In a wok, saute garlic and onion with a little bit of oil for 2minutes. Add green chili, chili and galangal and continue to saute for another 2minutes. Add soybean paste, sweet soy sauce and app. 200ml water, mix it well and continue to cook until boiling. Add tomato and fried tempeh and tofu and mix it again. Adjust the taste with salt and sugar. Continue to cook until boiling again. Serve it with warm steam rice.

Fried Tempeh with Chili (Sambal Tempe)

My in laws were in town during Easter long-weekend, spending times with us and especially with their granddaughter. They also brought me some packages of tempeh-fermented soybean, which we ordered from their town..well I should say lots of it, it was like 100 packs and we intended to sell it to our friends in Montreal considering that it is kinda hard to find tempeh in Montreal. Moreover the taste of this tempeh is much better and the price is cheaper than what they have here.
Sunday morning, the last day they stayed in our place, was quite hectic for us...I did not have much time to prepare fancy meal for them, so I just made this sambal tempe before they were heading home. Everybody enjoyed the sambal..especially my husband who likes spicy food.

Ingredients:
- 2 packages of tempeh, cut into 12 pieces each
- 7 cloves of garlic (3 cloves for marinating and 4 cloves for making sambal)
- 4 cloves of small red onion
- 12 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 1 Tbsp of ground coriander
- 2 tsp of ground lesser galangal (Indonesian-kencur)
- oil for frying
- salt
- sugar
- water

Crush 3 cloves of garlic until smooth and then place it in marinating bowl. Add ground coriander, salt and water and mix it well. Immerse the cut tempeh in the bowl and let it marinated for 20minutes. Take it out, drip off the water and then deep fry it with oil under medium heat until golden brown.
In a stone/wood grinder (Indonesian-cobek), grind onion, garlic, chili, lesser galangal, salt and sugar. Add the fried tempeh and crush it and mix it well with the sambal (crushed chili and other ingredients). Pour a little bit of oil which has been used to fry tempeh and mix it well again. Serve it with warm steam rice, fresh cucumber and sweet peas or with sayur bening bayam.

Crunchy Tempeh-Anchovy (Kering Tempe-Ikan Teri)

A friend of us bought 4 packages of dried anchovy last week and I got frozen tempeh in the freezer. Today I decided to make kering tempe-ikan teri (Crunchy tempeh-anchovy). In Indonesia, usually we eat it with yellow rice (nasi kuning) or savory rice (nasi uduk). But I had a little time to cook before Christian went home from work, so I did not make the yellow rice nor savory one, we are going to eat it with steam rice.

Ingredients:
- 1 block of tempeh, cut it 1x4cm, fry until brown
- 300gr dried anchovy, fry until brown
- 6 cloves small red onion, slice thinly
- 6 cloves garlic, slice thinly
- 6 chili paddy or bird's eye chili, slice thinly
- 4cm of galangal, cut into 4
- 4cm of ginger, cut into 4
- 5 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1 block/cylinder of palm sugar, grate it
- 2 tsp of tamarind, mix it with 100ml hot water, discard the seed and skin
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying

In a pan, saute garlic and onion with a little bit oil for 1-2 minutes. Add chili, galangal, ginger and bay leaves. Continue to saute for another 1minutes. Add the tamarind mix and palm sugar. Stir it evenly, until all the sugar dissolved. Add the fried tempeh and anchovy. Lower the heat and continue to stir until all the liquid absorbed. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Padang Green Jackfruit Gulai with Rice Dumpling (Ketupat Sayur Padang)

Yesterday Christian asked me to make Jackfruit Gulai and sambal terasi (Belacan chili paste) to eat with rice dumpling. Instead of making sambal terasi, I decided to make sambal goreng tempe-buncis (spicy tempeh-haricot beans), therefore I can make it less spicy, considering that Christian has sore throat and cough recently. It took me longer time to spend in the kitchen, but I feel content with it.

Green Jackfruit Gulai

Ingredients:
- 1/2 kg beef and bones, cut into small chunk
- 2 can green jackfruit, drain and cut into small pieces
- 6 pieces of tofu, cut into triangle shapes, fry until half cooked
- 1/2 can coconut milk
- 1 lemongrass, cut into 4cm length
- 4 Indonesian bay leaves
- 4 lime leaves
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4 cloves small red onion
- 4 chili paddy or bird's eye chili
- 5 candle nuts
- 4cm of galangal
- 3cm of ginger
- 3cm of turmeric
- 1Tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp tamarind (without seed)
- 1/2 block/cylinder of coconut sugar
- 3lt water
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying

In a big pot, boil water and cook the meat and bones until tender.
Put garlic, onion, chili, candle nuts, ginger, turmeric and coriander into a blender, and blend it until smooth. Pour it into the pot and add the rest of ingredients except coconut milk. Cook until the jack fruit tender. Lastly add the coconut milk and bring it to boil, stir occasionally. Taste and adjust it with salt and sugar.

Spicy tempeh-haricot beans

Ingredients:
- 1 block tempeh, cut it 1x4cm, fry it until brown
- 1lb haricot beans, clean the hard part and slice it thinly
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 6 cloves of garlic, slice thinly
- 5 cloves small red onion, slice thinly
- 4 chili paddy or bird's eye chili, slice thinly
- 4 cm of galangal, cut into 4
- 1 tomato, cut into 8
- salt
- sugar
- oil for frying

In a pan, saute the garlic and onion with a little bit of oil for 2minutes. Add chili, tomato and galangal. Continue to saute for another 1minutes. Add the tempe and beans. Add the coconut milk. Add salt and sugar and taste it.

To serve, in a bowl put the cut rice dumpling and add the gulai and spicy tempeh-haricot beans on top of it. Sprinkle some fried onion if you like.

Note: this time I have the package of rice dumpling ready to cook for 30 minutes. In Indonesia, normally I made it myself with a special plastic bag.