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.

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Dried Shrimp Sambal (Sambal Ebi)

3 table spoon ebi (dry small shrimp)
3 fresh chili, thinly sliced (reduce to less spicy)
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbs fried peanuts, crushed
1 cup of hot water
1 tbs fragrant citrus juice
1/2 tea spoon salt
sugar to taste

Soak ebi with hot water for 5 minute, drain Add the rest of the ingredients together with the ebi: fried peanuts, chili, salt, tomato. Add water, citrus fruit juice, sugar and salt. Serve.

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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.

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Green Mango Salad Indonesian Style (Salad Mangga Muda)

1 green/un-riped mango, peeled, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
2 birds eye chili (reduce to less spicy)
1 green onion (chopped) - optional
1 tbs basil (chopped)
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs palm sugar
1 tbs roasted peanuts (chopped)

Mix the mango, shallots, chili, green onion, basil in a large bowl. Mix fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar in a small bowl. Toss the salad with the dressing and garnished with the peanuts. Ready to serve.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Fresh Vegetables Pickles (Acar Mentah)

1 small cucumber, cleaned, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
3 shallots, peeled, thinly sliced
6 fresh bird's eyes chillies, cleaned, thinly sliced (optional)
3 tbs of vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1 1/2 warm water
1 tsp salt

Mix water with vinegar, sugar and salt. Add the vegetables. Refrigerate 4-5 hours before serving.

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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.

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Crunchy Turmeric Vegetable Pickles (Acar Kuning)

2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded, cut sticks shape
1 carrot, peeled, cut sticks shape
2 bird's-eye chillies, sliced (optional)
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbs cooking oil
sugar and salt for taste

Spice Paste
5 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
5 Candlenuts (Kemiri)
1 tsp turmeric powder (or 2cm fresh tumeric, crushed)

Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, fry the spice paste. Add sugar, salt and vinegar.

Add carrot, cucumber and chillies together with 1 cup of water. Stirr well and cook until vegetables tender. To have the crunchy taste, don't overcook.

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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.

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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.

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Fried Fish Cake (Otak-otak Goreng)

300 g boneless white fish fillet skinned
100 g tapioca flour
100 ml thick coconut milk
1 stalk of spring onion, finely chopped

Spice Paste
2 cloves of garlic
3 shallots
1 cm ginger
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cm galangal (laos)
salt to taste

Peanut Sauce
50 g fried peanut
3 pan-broil candlenuts
2 red chilli, seeded
2 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
Salt and sugar to taste
100 cc water

Grind or blend the spice paste ingredients.

Add the fish and spring onion, process until fine, put into a large bowl and stir in all together with tapioca flour and coconut milk.

Shape the mixture into long oval (or small round shape), deep fry in hot oil until cooked and golden brown.

To make peanut sauce: grind or blend all the ingredients until smooth, add water and simmer over low heat for few minutes.

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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.

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Spicy Fried Chicken (Ayam Goreng Bumbu Pedas)

1/2 kg (500 gram) chicken
Salt and pepper to marinate the chicken

1 stalk of lemongrass
2 Salam leafs/bay leaves
Cooking oil for frying

Spice (Blend) :

5 cloves of garlic
5 shallots
5 Candlenuts
5 red chillies, seeded and sliced
2 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
1 tomato, sliced
1 cm Galangal (Laos)
Salt and sugar to taste

Cut chicken into 8 pieces, marinate with salt and pepper, fry and set aside.

With remaining oil, sauté the spice paste together with salam leaves and lemongrass until fragrant. Add chicken, stir well. Add some water and continue cooking until all blended spice are absorbed.

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Spicy Fried Boiled Egg (Telur Bumbu ala Warteg)

1/2 kg of egg, boiled

Spices (blend)
5 shallots or 1 medium red onion
3 cloves of garlic
5 Candlenuts
1 tablespoon coriander
2 cm of ginger
2 cm of Kencur (optional)
2 bird's eyes chillies (optional)
3 or 4 big red chillies, seeded (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon galangal powder (laos/lengkuas)
1 stalk of Sereh ( Fresh Lemon Grass )
3 fresh Kafir Lime Leafs
Salt and sugar to taste
100 ml water

Cook the eggs with boiling water, when it's done, peel the skin off.
Heat the oil and fry the egg so that the outer part turn into brown. Set aside.

Blend or grind all the ingredients for spice paste, except lemongrass and kaffir lime leafs.

Use the leftover oil, sauté the spice paste with lemongrass and kaffir lime. Add the water and the eggs inside, cook about 5 or 6 minutes until the water absorbed.

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