Chicken Stew with Aromatic Coconut Gravy (Opor Ayam Solo)

1 whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces)
1 liter coconut milk
3 bay leaves
100g galangal (bruised)
salt and pepper to taste

Spice mixture, blend:
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
100g candlenuts,
10g coriander
5g fennel

Boil chicken with 500ml. of coconut milk and bay leaves for 20 minutes. Add galangal. Stir occasionally till the oil floats. When chicken is about done, add remaining coconut milk together with the spice mixture.

Stir till boiling. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Read More

Javanese Style Beef Steak (Bistik Jawa)

400 g beef steak meat (sliced, according to your taste)
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg powder
salt to taste

2 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks (or other vegetables you like)
1 small canned of corn
5 potatoes, cut into french fries style
Boiled egg, peeled and cut in half

Sauce
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbs tomato sauce
3 tbs sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 tbs of pepper
1/2 cup of water

Season the steak with salt, pepper and nutmeg, set aside for 30 minutes. Heat oil, and fry the steak until it turns into golden brown.

Make the sauce by frying the garlic and onion from leftover oil. Add the sweet soy sauce, tomato sauce, pepper and 1/2 cup of water. Cook the sauce until it's thick.

Vegetables: cook the carrots in boiling water until tender. French fries: fry the potatoes. Set aside.

Arrange the steaks, carrots and corn, boiled egg and french fries. Pour the sauce around the steaks.

Read More

Vegetables with Spicy Peanut Sauce (Pecel)

100 g bean sprouts, cleaned
100 g spinach, cut
100 cabbage, shredded
add any vegetables you like (cucumber, cooked peeled corn, bitter gourd, etc)

200 g peanut, peeled and fried (or peanut butter jams)

Spice Paste
2 cloves of garlic
2 red chillies, seeded and fried
5 eye’s bird chillies, seeded and fried
5 cm kencur (kaempferia galangal), peel off the skin
1 tbs dried prawn paste (terasi), optional
7 kaffir lime leafs
2 tbs tamarind mixed and squeeze with 100 ml lukewarm water and drain.
50 g palm sugar or to taste
1 tsp sugar
fried prawn crackers

Fry garlic and the chillies. Set aside. If you use peanut butter jams, simply grind or blend jams with the rest of ingredients of spice paste. Continue blending to make it smooth. Add some of warm water to make the sauce thicken

Cook all the vegetables. Set aside.

Serve: Arrange the vegetables, pour with the peanut sauce, add some fried prawn crackers. Ready to serve.

Read More

Fresh Vegetables Soup (Sayur Sop)

2 carrots
100 gram cabbage, cut into small pieces
100 gram bean, cut 3 cm long
200 gram potatoes, cut into medium cube
2 chicken hotdog (optional), thinly sliced
5 chicken wings for broth
2 stalk of celery leaves, chopped
1 stalk of spring onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of fried shallots
800 ml water
salt and sugar to taste

Note: you also can add broccoli, read beans, sweet corns and many more!

Spice Paste
3 shallots (or half medium red onion)
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of pepper

Place chicken wings in boiling water for 20 minutes to prepare the broth. Add the carrots.

Heat oil in the pan and fry the spice paste until its fragrant, and put it into the broth. Add the rest of the ingredients, salt and sugar to taste. Continue cooking until all vegetables well cooked. Add some water if it's necessary.

Serve with fried shallots.

Read More

Sliced Beef with Thick Sweet Sauce (Semur Daging Manis)

250 g beef, cut into thin slices
3 potatoes, peeled and cut
2 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
5 tbs of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1/2 tbs of pepper
1/2 tbs nutmeg powder
500 ml water
2 tbs fried shallots
salt to taste
Cooking oil

Heat the oil in a wok, fry the potatoes. Set aside. With the leftover oil, sauté the onion, garlic until fragrant. Add meat and fry until it changes colour. Add water, sweet soy sauce, salt, pepper and nutmeg powder.

Reduce heat, cover the wok and cook the beef until its tender. Add a little water from time to time to get the desired tenderness. Add the fried potatoes. Sprinkle with the fried shallots.

Best serve with steamed rice.

Read More

Spicy Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Milk (Sayur Lodeh)

200 g long beans (Kacang Panjang)
1 eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes
200 ml thick coconut milk
400 ml light coconut milk or you can substitute with 200 ml water
2 cm fresh galangal
1 fresh kaffir lime leafs (daun jeruk purut)
1 Salaam leaf (Bay leaf)
Sugar and salt to taste

Spice Paste
2 red chillies (optional, depend on your taste)
2 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
3 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
2 Candlenuts (kemiri)
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1 cm of fresh Kencur or 1/8 teaspoon Kencur powder
2 cm fresh turmeric or 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
A pinch of dried shrimp paste (terasi/balacan), toasted
Salt to taste

Grind or blend the spice paste. Then sauté until it's fragrant, add the galangal, kaffir lime and salaam leaf.

Add the light coconut milk/water and sugar. Continue mixing for few minutes until all spices are absorbed.

All all the vegetables, add thick coconut milk. Continue cooking until its boiling, do not overcooked the vegetables.

Read More

Cooked Vegetables with Spiced Grated Coconut (Urap-urap Sayur)

100 g bean sprouts
100 g cabbage, shredded
50 g green bean (buncis), cut into 2 cm
100 g spinach, cut into 2 or 3 cm
200 g fresh grated coconut

Spice Paste
4 cloves of garlic
3 red chillies, seeded
2 bird's eyes chillies
2 cm Kencur, peeled and sliced
50 g Palm sugar
4 fresh Kaffir Lime leafs, finely shredded
Salt to taste

Grind or blend all spice paste ingredients. Heat oil and sauté the spice paste until fragrant. Then add the grated coconut, mix it well for few minutes, then set aside.

Cook all the vegetables, set aside and cool them off.

Serve: Combine the vegetables with the spiced grated coconut.

Read More

Beef Curry (Gulai Sapi)

300 g beef
500 ml coconut milk
1 stalk of Lemongrass, crushed
3 fresh Kafir Lime leaves
2 Salaam leaves (bayleaf)
1 tbs coriander leaves (optional)
100 g green soya (kacang hijau), clean and cooked
1 block beef seasoning mixture
salt and sugar to taste
2 tbs fried shallots

Spice Paste
6 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
5 Candlenuts (Kemiri), or 7 almonds as a substitute, crushed and fry without oil
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 cm fresh Galangal (Lengkuas/Laos)
1 cm ginger
1/4 tsp cloves powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 eye's bird chillies (or paprika powder for less spicy)

Cut the beef into small pieces, cook under boiling water until the meat is tender. Leave the broth for about 1 cup.

Grind or blend the spice paste.

Heat the oil, and saute the spice paste. Add lemograss, kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves. Mixed well.

Put the spice paste into the meat, then pour the coconut milk and let it boil until the spice is absord. Add the beef seasoning mixture, coriander leaf, sugar, and salt. Continue cooking.

Serve it with lontong (race cake), garnish with fried shallots.

Read More

Spicy Vegetables Salad with Shrimp paste (Rujak Cingur)

50 g bean sprout, cleaned
50 g shredded cabbage
1 stalk water spinach
100 g egg noodle
1 cucumber
1 un-ripe/green Mango
1/2 Pineapple
2 fried tofu
2 fried tempe (bean cake)
200 g cooked beef lips (Cingur)
Lontong (rice cake)

Sauce :
100 g fried peanut
4 tablespoon petis (black fermented shrimp paste)
2 or 3 bird's eyes chillies (optional, you can make less spicy if you want to)
1 tbs of fried sliced garlic
1 tsp roasted terasi (dry shrimp paste) - optional
1 tsp palm sugar
1 tsp tamarind

Clean all the vegetables, then cook. Set aside.

Peel and clean all the fruit and slice into small slices. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce by grind or blend all the ingredients, add a little of water to make it thicker.

To serve, cut lontong into small slices, arrange it on the plate, add cooked vegetables, the fruits, fried tofu, tempe, cingur (cooked beef lips) and pour with the sauce. Garnish with prawn cracker.

Read More

Spicy Grilled Shrimps Satay (Sate Udang Bakar Pedas)

700g, whole raw shrimps
175g cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks
1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 small red chili, seeded and chopped
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

Pound the garlic, ginger, chili and sugar to a paste using a pestle and mortar. Add the soy sauce, vegetable and sesame oils, lime juice and salt. Cover the shrimps with the marinade and allow to marinate for as long as possible, 2-3 hours.

Thread the shrimps, tomatoes and cucumber onto bamboo skewers. Grill the shrimps for 3-4 minutes, scatter with the coriander and serve.

Read More

Seafood Curry (Kari Seafood)

400g fish fillets
200g green prawns, heads removed and peeled
200g squid, cut into 1/4-inch rings

1 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar
2 lime leaves, shredded

Paste:
2 French shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp root ginger; chopped
3 chilies, deseeded and sliced
1 lemongrass stalk, sliced
salt and sugar to taste

Grind or pound paste ingredients in a mortar with pestle or in a food processor. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add paste and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add turmeric and coriander and cook until aromatic.

Add coconut milk, water, lime juice, palm sugar and lime leaves. Bring to the boil, add seafood and cook for 3-4 minutes or until seafood is tender.

Serve seafood with noodles or rice.

Read More

Terik Daging (Spicy Beef with Coconut Sauce)

600g beef (chuck or topside), cubed
1/2 cup thick coconut milk and 1.5 cups thin coconut milk from 1 coconut
2 kaffir lime leaves
4 tbsp cooking oil
4 tbsp toasted peanuts, pounded

Spices, ground :
10 shallots
5 pips garlic
5 red chilies
1 cm kunyit
1/2 cm galangal
1 lemongrass
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp pepper
5 candlenuts
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste

Heat oil in wok and saute ground spices till aromatic. Add beef and daun kaffir lime leaves, and fry till beef loses its pink color. Add thin santan and bring to boil. Lower heat and leave to simmer till the beef is tender. Add thick santan, pounded peanuts, brown sugar and salt to taste. When gravy is thick, remove from heat. Serve with warm rice.

Read More

Spicy Fish Fritters (Perkedel Ikan)

500g boneless fish fillets
4 green shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp root ginger, chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
1 egg
1 tbsp cornflour
Cooking oil

Dipping Sauce:

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sambal ulek

Combine shallots, garlic, ginger; fish, soy sauce, kecap manis, egg and cornflour in a food processor. Process until mixture comes together and is smooth.

Using wet hands shape mixture into small patties. Mixture tends to be wet so cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok. Cook patties for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden. Combine ingredients for dipping sauce in a small dish. Serve fritters with dipping sauce.

Read More

Chicken Mushroom Noodles (Mie Ayam Jamur)

250 grams dried egg noodles, cooked and set aside
Chinese Cabbage
meatballs, optional

Chicken Mushroom Mix:
2 chicken thigh fillet, cut into small piece
3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
150 gram champignon
3 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
50 ml oil
2 tbs water
½ cube chicken bouillon
a pinch of sugar

Garlic Oil:
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs soy sauce (kecap asin)
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tablespoons oil

The Soup:
Chicken bones
½ cube of chicken bouillon
1 stalk spring onion
250 ml water

Heat the oil, and fry the chicken meat half-cook. Set aside.

Grind or blend shallots and garlic, sauté until it's fragrant, add the champignon and chicken. Continue cooking. Pout a bit water into the mix, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), chicken bouillion and sugar. Stir well. Cook until its thickening.

Make the garlic oil : heat the oil, then add the garlic and fry it until slightly brown. Don't over burn it! Add the soy sauce, and sesame oil.

The soup: boil the bones to make a broth, then add the chicken bouillion, and spring onion.

Set a plate with 1 tablespoon of garlic oil, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, salt and pepper. Put the cooked noodle into a plate and mix thoroughly. Add cooked Chinese Cabbage. Add 3 tablespoons of chicken mushroom, garnish with fried shallot and fresh cucumber. Serve with the soup and meatball.

Read More

Beef and Bean Sprouts Soup with Rice Cake (Lontong Balap Surabaya)

100 g beef meat
3 shallots or half of medium red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 block beef seasoning
250 g of bean sprouts
1 stalk of celery leaf
2 tbs of fried shallot
500 ml of water
Pinch of pepper

Lentho
100 g of red soya bean
50 g of tapioca flour
30 g granted coconut
1 teaspoon coriander
3 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
A pinch of pepper
salt to taste

Sambal Petis
1 cloves of garlic
5 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
2 tbs of dried shrimp paste (petis udang)
1 tbs of water
1 tsp of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

Other Ingredients
Lontong (rice cake)
200 g fried tofu
Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
2 tbs of fried shallot for garnish

The broth: Boiled beef meat with 500 ml water until you get the beef broth. Take out the meat.

Blend or grind the shallots, garlic, salt and pepper. Heat the oil and sauté the paste until fragrant.

Add the fried paste into the broth; then beef seasoning. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the celery and the bean sprout. Let it cook for few minutes.

Lentho: Bring to boil red bean. Cook until its soft enough. When it's done, take out from the water and let it cold.

Grind or blend the shallots, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper into paste. Add the red bean and smashed coarsely. Add the tapioca flour and the granted coconut. Mix well all the ingredients.

Form into small dough. Fry in deep wok over medium heat until crispy. Remove from the pan. Cut into pieces before serve.

Sambal Petis: Fry the garlic and the chillies. Set aside. Grind them with dried shrimp paste (petis udang). Add the water and sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), mix them.

To Serve: In a plate or bowl, cut lontong (rice cake) into small pieces, add the bean sprout, lentho, fried tofu and garnish with fried shallot. Pour broth, and drizzle with sweet soy sauce. If you like it spicy, add sambal petis.

Read More

Stir-Fried Vegetables (Oseng-oseng Sayur)

100 g beef (or beef ham, thinly sliced)
1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
2 carrots thinly cut
6 pieces baby corn, cut into 2 or 3 cm
5 beans thinly cut
1 small onion,
3 cloves of garlic
1 block beef seasoning mixture/beef bouillon
300 ml water

Boil the beef with 300 ml water until tender, cut the meat into small pieces. Set aside. Just skip this process if you substitute with beef ham.

Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli until fragrant. Add carrot, meat, beef stock, and beef bouillon. Continue cooking.

When the carrot is tender, add others vegetables.
Cook for 5 minutes and serve.

Read More

Fried Tofu with Black Shrimp Paste Surabaya Style (Tahu Tek Surabaya)

250 g tofu
4 medium potatoes, boiled
2 eggs

100 g bean sprout, cooked or half-cooked
1 spring onion, chopped
Prawn cracker or Garlic crackers

Lontong (rice cake)

Sauce:
100 g fried peanut
50 g black shrimp paste (petis)
2 cloves garlic, fried
2 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
50 ml warm water
Salt to taste

Cut tofu and potatoes into cubes. Heat the frying pan with enough oil to fry the potatoes. Set aside. Whisk the eggs and then add tofu. Fry the mixture. Set aside.

Sauce: grind fried peanut with fried garlic, chillies and salt. Add the black shrimp paste, sweet soy sauce, and water. Mix them well to make the sauce.

How to serve: Place rice cake/lontong, fried potatoes, and tofu omelette, then add the bean sprout and spring onion, and pour with the sauce and sprinkle with fried shallots. Garnish with prawn or onion crackers.

Read More

Potato Croquettes (Perkedel Kentang)

1/2 kg of potato, peeled and cut smaller
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped
fried shallot
1 egg
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and fry the potatoes until they are tender. Set aside, let the oil absorbed.

Mix the potatoes with celery, spring onion, fried shallot, salt and pepper. Blend together. You can use a grinding stone or a food processor. Then add the egg, continue blending.

Shape the potato mixture into a small square. Before you do it, taste the mix to ensure it's salty.

Store them in the fridge for 30 minutes. This step is to ensure that the shape won't be falling a part when you fry the croquettes.

Cover each croquette with softly beaten egg yolk, fry with deep frying pan.

Read More

Spicy Tofu with Dark Sweet Soy Sauce (Kering Tahu)

250 g Tofu/Tahu
2 cloves of Garlic, chopped
2 big red Chillies
2 bird's eyes Chillies (optional)
2 Shallots, chopped
1 cm of fresh Galangal (Lengkuas/Laos), chopped
3 tablespoons of dark sweet soy sauce
100 ml water
Salt and sugar to taste

Cut tofu into small cube then fry half done.

In remaining oil, sauté the shallot, garlic, chillies and galangal until fragrant. Then add tofu, sweet soy sauce and water. Add salt and sugar to taste. Cook until the sauce absorbed.

Serve with steamed rice.

Read More

Spicy Fried Sardines (Ikan Sarden Saos Tomat Pedas)

400 g sardines or other small fish, cleaned
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2 red chillies, seeded and sliced
8 green/red bird's eyes chillies(reduce if you don't like it too spicy)
2 clove of garlic
3 shallots
1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cm fresh galangal, peeled and sliced
1 stalk lemon grass, use only the white part, chopped
1 medium tomato, cut in wedges
1 tbsp tamarind juice
1 salaam leaf
1/2 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
2 tbsp water
basil

Spice Paste :
1 shallots
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp white peppercorn
1/4 tsp coriander
1 cm fresh ginger
1 cm fresh fresh turmeric

Wash the sardines, drain and marinate with salt. Leave for 30 - 60 minutes. Heat the oil and fry the fish until golden brown.

Prepare spice paste by grinding or blending all the ingredients.

Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and saute the chillies, garlic, shallots, ginger, galangal, lemon grass, tomato, tamarind juice and salaam leaf over high heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add sugar, then the spice paste and fry another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Combine the fried sardines with the spicy sauce in the wok, add water. Cook for another minute, stirring well, then serve, garnished with basil.

Read More