Anybody remember the folk song of binte bilihuta? It's not only a song title, binte biluhuta is a corn soup from Gorontalo.

Gorontalo province is known as the largest corn producer in Indonesia. Beside as an export commodity, sweet corns are main ingredients in the Gorontalo signature food, Binte Biluhuta. In addition to corns, this dish is also used other main ingredients, such as cakalang (known as skipjack tunas), tenggiri (king fish mackerels) and shrimps. Binte biluhuta or milu siram is a soup base dish that has very unique flavour. Sweetness from the corns, sourness from bilimbi and lime, hot from chilies. If you desire to complete the taste with bitterness, you may add chopped papaya leaves. The dish is very suitable during the cold weather, especially for those who are catching the flu.

You may wonder why I made this whilst it's summer now. Don't you think it will be too hot to enjoy this. Winnipeg's weather is entering the fall.  Some days are hot and the other days are gloomy, rain and cold. I chose making this soup in the gloomy weather since I still have had fresh corns.

In the local language, binte or milu means corn, biluhuta mean flush or pour. I guess, I can translate binte biluhuta as corn soup.

Gorontalo is located on the northern part of Sulawesi island and was established in December 2000 after splitting from North Sulawesi province. No wonder if this dish uses cakalang and lemon basils which are popular in Manadonese food as well.

Again, I said I'm lucky enough, surround by the Filipino community.  I can find frozen cakalang at Asian stores. You got to know the science names in order to find fish names in other languages. Through this fishbase list, I found the Tagalog's name for cakalang. Thou many Indonesian sources stated that cakalang has a bigger size than tongkol (another variety of tuna which is very popular in the west part of Indonesia), cakalangs in Winnipeg are sold in big and small sizes.



Binte Biluhuta - Milu Siram
- Gorontalo Corn Soup -
recipe by Hayatinufus Tobing, modified and translated by me

Ingredients:

• 425 g sweet corn kernels
• 300 g cakalang*
• 200 g peeled small or medium size shrimps
• 100 g frozen grated coconut
• 1 L water
• 4 shallots (8 shallots for smaller size), thinly sliced
• 0 bilimbi, sliced
• 25 lemon basils
• 4 key limes

Spices to be ground:

• 3 long red cayenne pepper
• 5 bird eyes chilies (add more if you are able to handle spicy food)
• seasalt

Directions:
For Broiled Cakalang:
1. Clean and rinse off the cakalang under running water.
2. Drizzle 2 key limes over and rub with salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Broil each side for 2 minutes at high. Cool down and shred the meat by hand.

For Binte Biluhuta:
1. In a pot, add water, corns and ground spices until the corn cooked.
2. Add grated coconut, shallots and bilimbi. Cook for the next 15 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and cakalang shredded; simmer for the next 5 minutes. Drizzle 2 key limes and add lemon basil. Stir and remove from the heat. Ready to serve.

Cook's Note:
* Feel free to substitute for cans of skipjack tuna if you can't find fresh/frozen cakalang (skipjack tuna)

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Longing to make this Ayam Garo Rica for so long! Ayam Garo Rica (Manadonese Chili and Lemon Basil Chicken). In the local dialect, Garo means stir fry and Rica means chili pepper.

All I had to do was being patience until my red long cayenne pepper grown more. Yes... I was yielding long red cayenne pepper, lemon basil and turmeric leaves from the pots before they get hit by the cold weather.

The long red cayenne pepper is very useful for Indonesian cooking. To the best of my knowledge, there are two variants of long cayenne pepper that we use in Indonesia. One is cabai merah keriting (curly red); the fruit has a smaller diameter compare to the other one, cabai merah besar (big red). The curly one is slimmer, dense and has a wavy shape. In term of taste, curly red cayenne pepper is more spicy than the big red ones. In this recipe, I used the curly type.

I was messaging Ellen back forward whom native to North Sulawesi and lives in England to get more knowledge about her Manadonese or Minahasan specialty food. This is what I quoted from one of her posting.

"Manadonese or Minahasan almost never use coriander, cumin and kaempferia galangal (or kencur) in food. The basic spices that we call "bumbu" mainly use garlic, shallot, a bit turmeric, lots of ginger, lots of lemon grass, lemon basil, tomato, tons of chillies, pandan leaf, mint leaf, daun tebal (Coleus Amboinicus. Lour) similar to thyme or oregano, kaffir lime leaf, cloves, nutmeg, mace and white peppercorn."

I found out also that Manadonese food applies many kind of leafy ingredients that I have never known before. For example:

- Daun Gedi
  Botanical name: Hibiscus manihot L.
  Other names:
  * English: Edible hibisus
  * Indonesian: Daun dedi, Daun belender
  * Tagalog: Lagikuway
  * Thai: Po fai

- Daun Leilem
  Botanical name: Clerondendrum minahassae
  Native to Minahasa (Indonesia) and the Philippines
  Other names:
  * English: White glory bower

- Daun Pangi
  Botanical name: pangium edule
  Other names:
  * Indonesian: daun keluwak

- Daun Nasi
  Botanical name: Halopegia blumei (Koern.)K.Schumann
  Other names:
  Indonesian: Daun patat (Sundanese), jelantir (Javanese), langkuwas (Kangean)

- Daun Tebal
  Botanical name: Coleus amboinicus Lour
  Other names:
  * English: Country borage, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano
  * Indonesian: Bangun-bangun (North Sumatra), daun kucing, daun kambing
  * Chinese: Zuo shou xiang, yin du bo he, dao shou xiang
  * Japanese: Kuuban oregano
  * Vietnamese: Tan day la

- Daun Werot
  This leafy plant is quite unique, because most people know as an ornamental plant, croton varieties. But, the Minahasan uses for cooking croton varieties of plants. This leaf is added to reduce odour of beef, chicken, pork, and water buffalo.
  Botanical name: Codiaeum variegatum
  Other names:
  * English: Garden croton

Woooo, what a long list for leaf seasonings. Let's move on to the recipe. Make sure, you click read more.

Ayam Garo Rica
- Manadonese Chili and Lemon Basil Chicken -
recipe by Ikaray, modified by me

Ingredients:
500 g chickens (thighs and drumsticks)
1/2 cup lemon basil (or you can use thai basil)
10 kaffir lime leaves, torn
3 pandan leaves, thinly sliced
2 turmeric leaves, thinly sliced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen ground lemon grass (available at Asian markets)-> originally, it was used 2 lemongrass and thinly sliced
5 calamansis
3 tbsp EV coconut oil
sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar to season

Spices to be ground:
6 shallots (use 10 shallots for smaller size)
10 long red cayenne pepper
10 bird eye chilies
3 cm peeled ginger
1/2 tsp seasalt

Methods:
1. In a medium bowl, drizzle 2 calamansis and sprinkle sea salt over chicken. Set a side for 15 minutes in the fridge.

2. At medium-high, heat oil in a wok. Stir fry ground spices until fragrant.

3. Add chicken, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, panda leaves, and turmeric leaves; stir well.

4. Reduce to low heat, place the lid on and let chicken simmer until tender and cook through

5. Open the lid and continue simmering. Add sea salt and sugar to season, taste.

6. Add lemon basil and green onion, cook until the mixture is slightly thicken.

7. Remove from heat, drizzle 3 calamansis over and mix well.

Serve with steamed rice.

Resources of the herbs: Many sources from the internet

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Can you believe that I made this dish in a microwave. Our AC didn't work (and still doesn't, the maintenance guy is still on holiday), in order to reduce the heat, I made the soup with microwave. It was really hot here. About 32 �C with the humidex feel like 40 �C.

Since this dish came from North Sulawesi (Manado), an ethnic group of Indonesia that has a large Christian population, the soup traditionally uses pork bones. For you who don't consume pork, you may substitute for beef ribs or marrow or oxtail.

My husband is a pesco vegetarian, so I made the soup into vegetarian version. Just a little bit background about pesco vegetarian. Pesco-vegetarianism, also called pescetarianism, is the practice of a diet that includes seafood and excludes other animals. In addition to fish and/or shellfish, a pescetarian diet typically includes some or all of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs and dairy.

In the original recipe, it didn't add any mushroom or mushroom broth. It was just my idea to substitute the meat and meat based broth.

As updated on August 15, 2010, I added the method for making this soup with the meat based broth.

Sup Brenebon
- Manadonese Red Kidney Bean Soup -
recipe by Ikaray, modified and translated by me

Ingredients:
150 g red kidney beans (I added more beans about 300 g), soak in water for 3 hours
1.5 L water, for cooking the beans
500 g pork hocks (substitute these for beef ribs, marrow or oxtail if you don't eat pork. I myself used 250 g cubed king oyster mushroom)
1.5 L homemade veggies and shittake mushroom broth (If you are going to use beef or pork, use 1.5 L water)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 nutmeg, grated (can be used 2 tsp ground nutmeg)
6 cloves
1 tsp margarine (I used unsalted butter)
2 green onions, finely sliced
fried shallot, for garnish

Methods:
For Vegetarian Version:
1. Boil red kidney beans in 1.5 L water until tender but not mushy. It will be faster if you use a pressure cooker. Drain the cooked beans.

2. In a pot, add the mushroom broth and cooked beans; bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile stir fry onion and garlic in butter. Add chopped king oyster mushroom, nutmeg, and ground white pepper, then continue sauteing until the mushroom tender.

4. Transfer the sauteing mixture to the pot. Add cloves, stir. Taste the soup and add sea salt as you need. Simmer for the next 15 minutes. Ready to serve and garnish with green onions and fried shallot.

For the beef/pork version:
1. Prepare two pots. In pot 1, cook soaked red kidney beans with 1.5 L water until tender but not mushy. In pot 2, make meat based broth by boiling beef/pork with another 1.5 L water. After the pot 2 is boiling, simmer for next 10 minutes and remove from heat.

2. After the beans are tender, transfer to pot 2. Start pot 2 to simmer again while you are stir frying onion and garlic in butter. Add nutmeg, and ground white pepper.

3. Transfer the sauteing mixture to the pot. Add cloves, stir. Taste the soup and add sea salt as you need. Simmer for the next 15 minutes. Ready to serve and garnish with green onions and fried shallot.

Cook's Note:
I have changed the direction of cooking as well since I didn't use any beef or pork products.

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According to wikipedia, Canada Day (French: F�te du Canada), formerly Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Conf�d�ration), is Canada's national day, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the 1 July 1867 enactment of the British North America Act, which united Canada as a single country, which was in turn composed of four provinces. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as internationally. Happy Canada Day!!!!

Back to my day off, I celebrated by cooking. I was in Winnipeg to spend my day with my husband and kitchen :). What did I make? Still, something spicy and fishy. Pepes Ikan Woku! It can be translated as Steamed Fish with Woku Spices in Banana Leaves. Woku spices are rich Manadonese mixed spices.


Pepes Ikan Woku
recipe by Yohana Halim and Sedap Sekejap, modified by me

Ingredients
500 g fish steak (I used halibut steak)
calamansi
4 sprigs of lemon basil leaves (kemangi leaves)
1 turmeric leaves
7 kaffir lime leaves, 5 leaves for shredded and tear off the rest
1 pandan leaf, cut into 2 cm length
1 lemongrass, take the white part and bruised
banana leaves for wrapper
tooth picks

Grind into a paste
8 shallots
10 red chilies or as desired
4 candlenuts, toasted
3 cm long turmeric, roasted and peeled
3 cm long ginger, peeled
3 tbsp ground frozen lemongrass
salt as desired

Directions
1. Squeeze calamansi over fish and mariante for 30 minutes.
2. Rub fish with spiced paste and let it for 15 minutes.
3. Place fish, spiced paste, the leaves ingredients in banana leaves, wrap them up and pin with wood tooth picks or tie wih strings. Steam 45 minutes or until done.

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As I mentioned on my old posts, I was born and grew up in Java island of Indonesia. Most of the Javanese use lime, kaffir lime, jeruk limo (Citrus amblycarpa Hassk., nasnaranan mandarin, leprous lime) for making sambal or reducing the smell of fish before cooking. So, I didn't really know until my friends on multiply who are from North Sulawesi province told me about lemon cui long time ago. The first time, I wasn't aware that Calamansi is what the North Sulawesi call for Lemon Cui or Lemon Cina while other parts of Indonesia call for jeruk keturi or jeruk kasturi until mbak Ima's post. She posted a recipe of Ikan Asap Sambal Matah. After reading her recipe, I had a suspicion that calamansi, lemon cui and jeruk kesturi are the same citrus. I have been using calamansi lots for substituting jeruk limo and jeruk purut (Citrus hystrix, Englsih: kaffir lime), such as making Pelecing Kangkung or just making es lemon cui (literally calamansi iced).

This citrus has been using in Filipino's culinary as well as in North Sulawesi and East Kalimantan culinary. Two provinces of Indonesia where is close to the Phillippines.

Acording to http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/calamondin.html . The calamansi/ calamondin is believed native to China and thought to have been taken in early times to Indonesia and the Philippines. It became the most important Citrus juice source in the Philippine Islands and is widely grown in India and throughout southern Asia and Malaysia. It is a common ornamental dooryard tree in Hawaii, the Bahamas, some islands of the West Indies, and parts of Central America.

After reading all about calamansi, now it's my turn to share a simple Manadonese's recipe using calamansi; Grilled Ikan Tude with Dabu-Dabu. Ikan Tude is what the Manadonese called for Ikan Kembung while in English it's called as Indian Mackerel. Don't get confused one I say Manado and another one I say North Sulawesi. Manado is the capital city of North Sulawesi.

Thank you to mbak Rieke of Sexy Chef for the recipe. A different style of grilled ikan tude that I made, I just inserted sliced shallot in the fish. I found the different between using calamansi and lime for marinating fish. No fishy smell after marinating and cooking the fish with calamansi.

I'm sending calamansi and this recipe for my entry at WHB (Weekend Herb Blogging) # 112, hosted by Simona of Briciole. In Winnpeg, you can find fresh calamansi at Young market on Mc. Phillips.



Grilled Ikan Tude with Dabu-Dabu

Ingredients:
375 g Indian mackerel (Manadonese: Ikan Tude; Indonesian: Ikan Kembung)
1 shallots, finely sliced
1 tbsp fresh calamansi
salt as desired

Sambal Dabu-Dabu (Dabu-Dabu Sambal)
6 shallots, finely sliced
6 bird's eye chillies, finely sliced
100 g tomato, diced
2 fresh calamansi, squeezed
sugar and salt as desired to season



Directions:

Grilled Ikan Tude
Preheat a grill pan.

Clean fish by cleaning out the stomach cavity, removing the gills and surrounding tissue, then clean well with tap water.

Cut several deep cuts on both sides of fish. Rub fish inside and over with salt and calamansi juice. Insert finely sliced shallots into deep cuts. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Grill fish until the skin lightly golden brown.

Sambal Dabu-Dabu (Dabu-Dabu Sambal)
Combine all ingredients for sambal.

Enjoy this fish with dabu-dabu and warmed rice

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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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