Hot Dark Chocolate Marmalade

I came home, it was pouring rain and I was wet. I felt I wanted something to warm me up. I decided to make this beverage which I got from Tabloid Nova.

By adding dark chocolate bar in ingredient, I omitted cocoa powder, I only used it for dusting. I also reduced the sugar, and added more orange marmalade jams.

In the original recipe, instead of grating the unsweetened chocolate bars, I ground the dark chocolate with a coffee grinder.


Ingredients:
50 g dark chocolate bars (99% cocoa), ground
3 tbsp orange marmalade jams
550 ml water
1 sdt sugar (it can be more or less added as desired)
1/4 tsp salt
50 ml sweetened condensed milk

Topping:
whipped cream
cocoa powder
maraschino cherry


Directions:
1. Bring 500 ml water and orange marmalade jams to a boil.
2. Add ground dark chocolate, sugar and salt; stirring until sugar dissolved. Add sweetened condensed milk and 50 ml water until mixed and dissloved.
3. Pour hot chocolate mixture to glass servings. Spray on the whipped cream dust with cocoa powder and put cherry on top.
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Sambal Tempe Penyet // Indonesian Style Spicy Crushed Tempe

Indonesians almost eat everything with sambal. Sambal is a condiment used in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, made from a variety of peppers, although chilli peppers (red chilies, green chilies, bird's eye chilies) are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment or as a side dish, and is sometimes substituted for fresh chillis; it can be very hot for the uninitiated. It is available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in numerous countries.

When I was in Sidoarjo (a suburban city of Surabaya, East Java), Indonesia, it's easy to get Sambal Tempe Penyet at a kaki lima vendor or a warung around Sidoarjo-Surabaya. We eat this sambal penyet with warmed steamed rice. Since I have been in Canada, I have to make this by myself which I never did it while I was in Indonesia.



Ingredients:
300 grams tempe, cut as desired
olive oil with fried garlics
4 red chilies
5 bird's eye chilies
3 cloves garlic
2 cm kencur root (some people may name this as lesser galangal , but it is totally different another proper name is kaepferia galangal)
1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste (it's called terasi in Indonesian's term), toasted or stir fry
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar


Directions:
1. Toast tempe with a small amout of olive oi. Bake until brown or done. Alternative: you can grill or deep fry the tempeh.
2. Grind or blend red chilies, bird's eye chilies, garlic, kencur, dried shrimp paste, salt and sugar. It will be better if you grind the sambal ingredients in a mortar with a pestle.
3. Place tempe and sambal in a serving plate, crush tempe and stir evenly with the sambal. Serve with warmed steamed rice.
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A Taste Of Yellow - Bakwan Tuna

I read �Going Mellow Yellow� at mbak Arfi's blog. I was not aware of LIVESTRONG Day before. To learn more about it, I read �Taste Of Yellow-for Livestrong Day� at Barbara's blog.
After reading about Livestrong Day, it reminded me of my Mom, who didn�t survive from her breast cancer. She fought with the disease for a little less than a year after she was diagnosed. She is my ideal figure. She worked as a biology teacher at a high school in Sidoarjo (a suburban city of Surabaya, East Java), but she still had time to take care of her family. She was an awesome wife, mom, and teacher. She is one of the most patient women I've ever known. She was also a good baker. She loved to bake and cook.

As I recall, she really cared about healthy food. However, there is always a outside chance of getting the disease no matter how healthy we are. It might be the family history or many other factors.
My contribution for A Taste Of Yellow is Bakwan Tuna. Bakwan is a Indonesian style fritter. We usually add vegetables such as carrots, bean sprouts and corns, as well as eggs, flour and rice flour. In this recipe, I tried a different approach. I added tuna and corn flour instead of adding vegetables, flour, rice flour and corn. I suggested using light tuna for a healthier choice as support to Livestrong Day.


Ingredients:
1 can (120 g) tuna
2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground coriander seed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp finelly chopped parsley (Actually In Indonesian recipe, we add Chinese celery leaves and I myself prefer add Chinese celery leaves as well as cilantro)
1 green onion, finely sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp corn flour*, divided
salt as desired
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil with fried garlic (it's known as Spanish olive oil)


* Don't get confused between corn flour and corn starch. Corn flour is finely ground cornmeal obtained from kernels from which the germ has been removed in order to improve the storage life of the flour. Corn flour is used for breading and in combination with other flours in baked goods. Be aware that in British recipes the term "corn flour" means cornstarch, and the two cannot be substituted for each other.

Directions:
1. Place tuna in a bowl with next 7 ingredients and 1 tbsp a corn flour. Mix until well combined and form into 4 patties. Dredge patties in remaining 1 tbsp corn flour.

2. In a frying pan (I used crepe pan), melt butter and olive oil together over medium high heat until bubbling. Turn heat down to medium and place patties in the pan. Use spatula to flaten the patties a bit. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Bakwan Tuna should be nicely browned and cooked throughly.
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Garlic Shrimps with Chili


First time I know about Donna Hay from my multiply friend, mbak Arfi (mbak is used for a more appropriate calling in Javanese) of Homemades who lives in New Zealand. I was trying to look up at the library and yayy I could find and borrow it. I'm still amazed with the pictures in that magazine. Lovely pictures.

While I was reading a tempting recipe "Garlic Prawns with Chili" in Donna Hay magazine, it reminded me of Balado Udang (Western Sumatran Style Chili Shrimp). A shrimp in Canada is a prawn in Australia. What did I modify from the original recipe? I added fried minced garlic at the end of the cooking process, just like Udang ala Bie Fong Tong aka Bie Fong Tong Style Breaded Shrimp.

Here, it is one of the recipe that I modified from Donna Hay magazine.

Category:
Meat & Seafood

Ingredients:
2 tbsp unsalted butter (Original recipe added 150 g butter)
1 tbsp olive oil with fried garlic (Original recipe didn't add this)
3 garlic cloves, crushed (Original recipe added 5 garlic cloves)
chilli flakes as much as desired (Original recipe added 1 1/2 tsp cilli flakes)
seasalt as desired
40 medium shrimp, peeled, tails intact
6-8 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
lemon wedges to serve

Directions:
Fried garlic for sprinkle
1. Clean and drain off the minced garlic, sun-dried the garlic to reduce the moist (I used the oven to dry off).
2. Deep-fry the garlic until crispy and golden brown.
3. Garlic ready to use as sprinkle.

Garlic Shrimp with Chili
Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add butter, spanish olive oil, crushed garlic, chilli and salt. Cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Add fried garlic, stir evenly. Place the shrimp in induviduals bowls. Serve with lemon wedges and steamed rice or crusty bread.

PS. Do not throw away your shrimp skin/head. You can use for shrimp broth.
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Hainanese Chicken Rice

In Bahasa Indonesia, it's translated as Nasi Ayam Hainan. Hainan Island is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China, located off the southern coast of the country, almost closed to Vietnam. Hainanese Chicken Rice is so well known in South-East Asian region such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. According to Meylinda, in Hainan island itself this chicken rice is not well known.

I combined Hainanese chicken rice of Meylinda and Tabloid Nova. This dish uses lots garlic more than Italian dishes.


Ingredients:
THE CHICKEN DISH:
4 chicken thighs
1375 ml water
50 grams onions
white part of 2 stalks green onions
75 grams lo bok (chinese radish), sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
10 grams ginger, crushed
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
3 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
cooking oil
sesame oil for brushing


THE RICE
250 grams long grain rice
100 ml remaining chicken broth from making the CHICKEN DISH
500 ml chicken broth
1 tbsp fish sauce
few drops sesame oil

THE SOUP
500ml chicken broth
1 clove garlic
1/8-1/4 tsp ground white pepper
green part of 2 stalks green onions, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

CHILI SAUCE
3-4 tbsp of chicken oil floating on top of chicken broth

Grind the following ( giling halus ) :
2 tbsp chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
2 cloves garlic
1 cm ginger
sugar to taste

Directions:
1. Bring 1375 ml water to a boil. Add onion, white part of green onion, 5 grams crushed ginger and chicken thigh. Bring them a boil at low-medium heat. It's better if you use slow cooker to make this chicken broth. Do not overcook, it will make the chicken fall apart. Add lo bok and cook. Drain. Save 3-4 tbsp of the chicken oil that float on the broth for making chili sauce.
2.Separate the broth into three parts.; 200 ml, 500ml and 500ml (total 1.2 litre ).
3.Stir-fry the garlic & ginger until fragrant, add other the seasonings. Bring to boil.
4. Add chicken, cook 10 minutes until the broth reduced to half.
5. Remove the chicken, set aside. When cool, brush lightly with sesame oil.
6. Save the seasoned broth to make rice with.


THE RICE
1. Bring the seasoned broth to boil.
2. Add rice & 500 ml chicken broth. Mix well.
3. Add fish sauce & salt (only if you need). Cook rice. ( I cooked them in a rice cooker )
4. Add sesame oil. Mix well.


THE SOUP
1. Bring all the ingredients to boil. Add cooked lo bok and serve.


THE CHILI SAUCE
1. Heat the chicken oil/fat in microwave.
2. Pour over the ground mixture. The more you pour in the thinner the chili sauce, up to you. Mix well.
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Kerapu Rica-Rica // Manadonese Style Grilled Spicy Grouper

This recipe is adapted and modified from Cakalang Rica-rica of Tabloid Nova. Cakalang is a kind of Tuna, which I didn't have in my freezer at that time.

I bought a cleaned and scale whole grouper, so no need to clean out the stomach cavity, remove the gills and surrounding tissue, and scale it.



Category:
Barbecue & Grilling
Style:
Indonesian

Ingredients:
1 whole of grouper (400 g)
1 lime, squeezed
3 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced
3 cm ginger, finely sliced
6 lime kaffir leaves, finely sliced
2 pandan (screwpine) leaves, finely sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp sugar
3 tbsp to stir fry

Blend
6 red chilies*
4 bird's eye chilies
2 cloves garlic
5 shallots
1/4 tsp salt

Note:
* instead of red chilies, I added sambal oelek

Directions:
1. Clean the fish by cleaning out the stomach cavity, removing the gills and surrounding tissue, and scaling them. I didn't do this step, I just rinsed out.
2. Rub fish inside and out with lime juice. Set aside.
3. Combine blended ingredients with slices of lemon grass, ginger, lime kaffir leaves and pandan leaves. Stir evenly.
4. Rub fish inside and out with 1/3 part of spices mixture, let stand for 15 minutes.
5. In a pan, stir fry remaining spices mixture with tomatoes until fragrant. Add fish. Spoon the spices mixture over fish, flip it over occasionally until spices permeated.
6. After the fish is done, it would have a better taste, if you bake in the oven or grill/barbque with a charcoal barbeque stove.


Place a little olive oil in or spray on with vegetable oil a grill pan and heat until very hot. Grill until done. Set aside. Let lam chops stand for few minutes and cover with tin foil to keep it warm and juicy.
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The Best of Indonesian Desserts


Category:Books
Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine
Author:Yasa Boga Authors

I received this book a month ago which I ordered from Select Books Singapore. A collection of traditional recipes from various regions of the Indonesian archipelago. Written in an easy step-by-step approach, these savoury and sweet snacks are a delight to create. This book is really recommended for people who really want to learn how to make Indonesian desserts, especially non Indonesian speakers.

This book has 10 chapters; Utensils Needed, Ingredients, Wrapping Technique, For Perfect Results, Popular Indonesian Desserts, Javanese Desserts, Desserts from Sumatra, Desserts from Kalimantan, Desserts from East Indonesia, and Fruit-Based Desserts.

It's contained pictures of all ingredients, cooking utensils, moulds that you need to make Indonesian desserts. It really helps you who don't have no idea how those moulds are looked like.

Even though several ingredients such as sugar, wheat flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, corn starch and palm/coconut sugar are in grams, but in this book you will find gram conversion to cup.

You also can learn how to form clorot and wrap lepet by using young coconut leaf. With banana leaves, you can learn how to form a sudi, to wrap up tidbits in banana-leaf rolls, to wrap up lapek bugis, and to form a banana leaf takir. Many other techniques that I can't explain one by one.
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