Strawberry Foam Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Summer is just around the corner..meaning cheaper fresh fruits are available on markets. Last week I found a very good deal for strawberry. The price was one third of its winter price...
So I bought 3 big containers of them, and since Bianca loves the pudding I made before, this time I made pudding again with some variation on layers and added vanilla sauce too. The whole family love it..


Ingredients:
To make the pudding:
- 1 package of green color agar powder
- 1 package of clear color agar powder
- 5 egg white
- 1lt of fresh milk
- 1/2lt cold water
- 18Tbsp of sugar
- 12 strawberry, cut into 4 each

In a pot, pour 500ml milk and 250ml water, mix it. Then add the clear color agar powder and stir it well until the agar distribute evenly. Place the pot on a stove and cook until boiling, do not forget to stir it while cooking. Once it is boiling, add 9Tbsp sugar and stir it well until all sugar dissolved.
Meanwhile beat the egg white with a mixer at high speed until foamy and then place it in a square casserole bowl or pudding mold. Pour the boiling agar into it and let the foam float on the surface (if you like it all foamy and stiff, you may stir it gently while pouring the agar). Keep it in a freezer for 10minutes just enough time to let it half-harden. Then add cut strawberries on top of the foam. Put it back to the freezer for another 10minutes.
While waiting, prepare the top layer by well mixing the rest of milk and water with the green color agar powder. Bring it to boil and then add the remaining sugar, stir it well until all sugar dissolved. Remove it from the stove and wait for 2minutes (do not give time for agar to harden). Take out the harden first layer agar and foam from the freezer and carefully pour the green agar on top of it. Put it back to the freezer or fridge until it is harden (remember that using freezer is a way to accelerate the hardening process, but at the end it is better to keep it in a fridge).


To make vanilla sauce/fla:
- 1/3 can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 egg yolks, beat with 3Tbsp cold water
- 250 ml cold water
- 1Tbsp margarine
- 2Tbsp tapioka flour, mix it with 50ml cold water
- 1tsp vanilla powder

Bring to boil all of the ingredients except tapioka mixture and egg yolks. After boiling, add the tapioka mixture and stir it well. Wait until boiling again. Remove from the stove and quickly add the egg yolks and stir it instantly. Keep it in a fridge until cold enough.

To serve, cut the pudding and place it on a saucer/small plate. Then pour the vanilla sauce on top. Serve it cold.

Savory Rice Plus Plus (Nasi Uduk Komplit)

After talking to my mom in law on the phone Saturday morning, I felt like making nasi uduk for my little family. It happened since she mentioned that she was given some nasi uduk by friend and had it for breakfast that day. So in the afternoon, I just made myself comfortable sitting in my kitchen preparing this nasi uduk. And since I still had some tempeh/tahu bacem and empal goreng, they would be good to go with the nasi uduk, I supposed.

Ingredients:
- 2.5c of jasmine rice, wash and drain
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- water (as much as needed)
- 3 pandan leaves
- 5 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1 lemon grass, cut into 4cm in length and crack it with pestle
- salt

Side dishes:
- tempeh/tahu bacem (see the recipe here)
- empal daging (see the recipe here)
- kering kentang-teri (see the recipe here, I did not have it on the picture since my husband ate it all up before I took the picture)
- omelet/dadar telur: beat 4 eggs, then fry with a little bit of oil, make a very thin layer until done. When it is warm, cut into thin slices.
- spicy peanut sauce, I used the recipe here
- crushed chili
- fried onion

Bring to boil all of the ingredients to make the savory rice except the rice in a pot. Stir it well while boiling. After boiling, add the rice. Make sure that the water is enough to cover all the rice. Stir it again. Put the lid on. Cook for 20-25minutes under medium low heat, stir it occasionally to avoid burning on the bottom.
To serve, place the rice in the middle of a plate, add the side dishes and pour some peanut sauce on top.

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.

Indonesian Sweet Pancake (Martabak Manis)

Christian loves this Indonesian pancake, and as a good wife I have been trying to make it myself. I do not have a special tool such as the thick pan which is usually used to make it in Indonesia, thus I use my electrical skillet. It has been a long journey to find the recipe which is suitable to our taste buds, trial and error...The first trial I did it with two of my sweet ladies, Lucy and Lany (we are triple L btw...)..I found the recipe available on the internet. It was not good since the dough was too much for the skillet and it did not give a chance for the heat to cook the thick volume of dough. The spongy texture could not be formed. We chucked most of it to the garbage. The next, I used the same recipe, but half. It was good, I got the spongy texture and very good taste. However, the next day the texture turned too hard to chew. The last recipe I used was from Mel's blog. Thank you Mel!
I modified a little bit of the recipe by replacing half of the coconut milk required with fresh milk. The result was a combination of very good texture and taste. I am content with it...so here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
- 250gr self raising flour
- 4gr yeast
- 150gr sugar
- 100ml coconut milk
- 100ml milk

- 175ml warm water
- 2 egg
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda

For filling:
- margarine
- sweetened condensed milk

- sugar
- shredded cheese
- chocolate sprinkles
- crushed peanuts

In a big cup mix the coconut milk, milk and warm water and microwave it for 30second (the temperature app. 50C). Add the yeast in and stir it well. Let it stands for 20minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Then add eggs in the middle and mix it well under low speed. While mixing, add the yeast mixture little by little. Keep mixing it and increase the speed to medium level until all ingredients distributed evenly. Add baking soda and mix it again until the dough raising. Let it stands for 30minutes in a warm place, or cover the bowl with wet cloth, until the dough becomes twice as much as the initial quantity.
Prepare the skillet by heating it for 3minutes at 300F and then spread some margarine on its surface. Pour the dough into the skillet and let it raises and forms the texture. When it half-cooked, sprinkle some sugar on top and put the lid on, lower the heat to 225F and continue to bake until done.
Take it out of the skillet and place it on a cutting board. Cut in the middle into two pieces. On one of the two, spread some margarine and then top up with crushed peanuts, chocolate sprinkle and shredded cheese. At last pour some sweetened condensed milk. Place another pieces on top of the one with the filling. Cut into pieces as you like.

Sweet and Spiced Fried Beef (Empal Daging)

Two days ago I made this fried beef for our dinner. It reminds me of what I had at home in Indonesia before. Some people like it to be very very dry, meaning that you have to fry it a bit longer, but the consequence is it will look burnt and will get too hard the next day. As for me, I like it medium dry by frying it for a short period of time just to round up the aroma.

Ingredients:
- 500gr beef meat, cut into small chunks
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 8 cloves of small red onion
- 6 candle nuts
- 4cm of galangal
- 5 Indonesian bay leaves
- 1Tbsp of ground coriander
- 2 lemon grass, cut into 2cm in length
- 2 blocks of palm sugar, grate it
- 1 Tbsp of tamarind, dissolve it into 200ml water, use the juice
- salt
- water
- oil for frying


In a blender, blend garlic, onion, candle nuts, galangal, palm sugar, lemon grass with some tamarind juice until smooth. Place it in a pot. Add salt, coriander and bay leaves and stir it. Add some water just enough to cover all the meat. Add the meat and cook it until tender or at least 40minutes. Take out the meat, drain off the water and then fry it with oil under medium-high heat until change color. Serve it with warm steam rice and veggies.

Strawberry Pudding

It has been so difficult for me to feed Bianca recently. It may because she is teething again or is just being fussy and picky eater now. For 4 days she has not taken any rice which she loved before, she just took milk, biscuits, yogurt, cheese and fruits and other finger foods. I am a bit worried with this condition. Yesterday I made this simple pudding and I am happy to know she loves it. Still, it is not enough for her I think...

Ingredients:
- 1 package of green color agar powder
- 600ml milk
- 100ml cold water
- 8Tbsp of sugar (add some more as needed)
- 10 fresh strawberry, cut into 4 each


In a pot, pour milk and water, mix it. Then add the agar powder and stir it well until the color distribute evenly. Place the pot on a stove and cook until boiling, do not forget to stir it while cooking. Once it is boiling, add the sugar and stir it well until all sugar dissolved.
Meanwhile place some cuts of strawberry in molding cups and then pour the hot agar into it. Keep the cups in a fridge until it is harden. Serve it cold.