Kakul is the Balinese term for freshwater snail. In Indonesian term, it's known as keong sawah. As you may notice that Indonesia is a country with many dialects, I have known two other names; kreco in Surabayan (East Javanese) and tutut in Sundanese (West Javanese).

This recipe was adapted from the Bali Cookbook by Lonny Gerungan. Lonny is a famous chef in the Netherlands. I bought this book few months ago through amazon.ca. For you who are interested to learn about Balinese cooking and not able to speak Indonesian, this is a perfect guide for you since the book is in English and written by a Balinese native.



Thou I'm an Indonesian native, I still have to learn about other foods from many different ethic groups. I know more about Sumatran and East Javanese cookings since those two are where my ancestors came from.

Lonny has described how he loves this dish. It brings his childhood memories in Bali. As he explained we have to suck the meat out of the shells and when we have done it, nine out of ten, the meat off course will shoot right into our throat. The soup is fun to eat.

Anyway, this spicy soup goes for Masbar October 2010 with a theme "Variety of Balinese Dishes". The recipe has been slightly changed from the original as I used more freshwater snails than the recipe was stated.


Kakul Mekuah
- Bali Style Frehswater Snail Soup -
serves 4


Ingredients:

• 1 lb (454 g) fresh water snails
• 2 1/4 tsp tamarind pulp
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin coconut oil
• 1.2 L water seasalt
• 7 salam (Indonesian bay) leaves

For the spice paste

• 8 toasted candlenuts
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp toasted terasi (dried shrimp paste)
• 1 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 4.8 oz (135 g) peeled shallots
• 0.7 oz (20 g) garlics, peeled
• 9 cayenne peppers (can be substituted for bird eyes chilies), sliced
• 1.4 oz (40 g or 6-cm long) fresh ginger, peeled 7 cm long fresh turmeric, peeled

Methods:

To make the spice paste, if you use a mortar and pestle, chop shallot, garlic, ginger and turmeric first.  Then, pound candlenuts, coriander, terasi and peppercorns to a fine paste.  Add shallots, garlic, chilies, ginger and turmeric; pound again to a paste.

Rinse off the snails with cold water and drain them.  Take the white parts of lemongrass, cut into 3-cm long and bruise them with side of a heavy knife.

Heat the oil in a wok and stri fry the spice paste for about 3 minutes.  Add water and season with seasalt.  Add snails, tamarind pulp, lemongrass, and salam leaves.  Simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Serve with warm long grain rice.

Note:
If you live in Winnipeg and wonder where to get these freshwater snails, Young's sells them in the frozen section. On the package, it was saying "rice snails and made in Vietnam"

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One day, I stumbled upon Serge the Concierge. Serge Lescouarnec, the owner of the blog offered a Cooking and Manga on Menu for Everyday Harumi book contest part 3. I submitted my answer of a Manga on Food and Cooking. Manga was a part of my childhood. I still recalled, I used to watch "Born to Cook" or "Mr. Ajikko" on TV every Sunday morning. I wouldn't have my breakfast until this series was on. I was so happy that the Manga's story brought me to get Everyday Harumi cookbook.

Eventually, I couldn't see the book since I asked Serge to send it to my Winnipeg's address. As I work out of Winnipeg which is in Boissevain, I used to be back on the weekends. However, I hadn't returned to Winnipeg until this weekend.

I was so glad to see that the book has a guidance on how to make dashi from scratch, so I don't need to deal with MSG. The ingredient that I have been trying to avoid and is used in most dashi products.

Making dashi was easy!!! All you need is water, kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (Dried Bonito Flakes). I went to Arirang, a Korean store that has widely selection of Korean and Japanese products. For your information, in Winnipeg, most Japanese/sushi restaurants are owned by the Koreans.

Another information that I need to share, bonito is made from tuna. For Indonesians who live in Sumatra area, you may to substitute bonito with ikan kayu (Acehnese dried skipjack tuna).

On page 19 and 20 of Everyday Harumi cookbook, it is stated that many people who make their own dashi stock will make what is known as ichban dashi (fisrt brew) and niban dashi (second brew). The first is usually used when we need a pure dashi flavour and the second when it is mixed with other ingredients.

You will notice that the Ichiban dashi has a darker colour than the niban one.

Ichiban and Niban Dashi
by Harumi Kurihara

Ingredients:
2x4 inch pieces kombu seaweed (dried kelp)
2 oz katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
8 cups water

Directions:

Ichiban Dashi
1. To rempve any excess saltiness from kombu, either quickly wash under cold runnung water and then pat dry or wipe with a damp cloth.

2. In a large saucepan, soak kombu for 30 minutes in 4 cups of water.

3. Put the saucepan over high heat and remove kombu just before the water comes to a boil.

4. Add katsuobushi, bring back to a boil, and then immediately turn off the heat. Let it stand until all the flakes have sunk to the bottom of the saucepan.

5. Pour the mixture through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, leave to cool, keep the dashi stock in the refrigerator until ready to use. Do not discard the used karsuobushi if you want to make a niban dashi stock.

Niban Dashi
1. Add the previously used kombu seaweed and katsuobushi to a saucepan together with another 4 cups of water.

2. Put the pan onto medium heat.

3. Remove kombu just before the liquid comes to a boil, then cook for further 3-4 minutes.

4. Pour through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

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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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