Did you notice that I put the spoon on the left side? It was totally a wrong set. It was supposed to be on the right hand side.

Otak-otak is made from a mixed between fish, and spices. In Indonesia, there are two kinds of otak-otak. Otak-otak bakar or grilled or barbaqued otak-otak, in which the mixture is wrapped inside banana leaves and grill. Another type is otak-otak goreng or fried otak-otak. The fried one is not wrapped inside the leaves.

This dish is served as an appetizer or snack. There are three sauces that I know to eat otak-otak. While I was in South Sumatra, I ate grilled otak-otaks with cuko (Palembangese spicy tmarind sauce). In Jakarta, I ate them with spicy peanut sauce. Another sauce is an Indonesian bottled chili sauce.

Palembang of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sumatra, Jakarta and Ujung Pandang (formely Makasar) of South Sulawesi are known for their otak-otaks.

Let me explain what otak in bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia is; it means brain, so otak-otak means brains. The name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish some what resembles brains, being on the soft and squishy side.

In this recipe, I made the fried method one. The popular fish to be used is king mackerel (Indonesian: ikan tenggiri). As you may know, it is a bit pricey in Winnipeg, so I substituted for basa fish (Indonesian: ikan patin siam). Also, I don't have the exact measurement for making cuko, since I was just mixing them together.

Ingredients
250 g boneless skinless white fish fillet (I used basa fish)
100 g tapioca starch
75 ml coconut cream
1 green onion, finely chopped

Spices to grind:
1/4 - 1/2 cup fried shallots
3 cloves garlic
ground white pepper
salt

Cuko:
coconut sugar
garlic, grated
tamarind, soaked in warmed water
chilies, ground
sugar, just to taste
salt
lime
dried shrimp (ebi)

Directions:
Fried Otak-Otak:
1. Process fish and ground spices in a food processor until fine.
2. Transfer into a big bowl, combine green onion.
3. Add tapioca starch and pour coconut cream little by litle in.
4. Shape the mixture into long oval and deep fry in hot oil until cooked and golden brown.

Cuko:
1. Soak coconut sugar into tamarind mixture. Bring to a boil.
2. Add sugar, salt, garlic, and chilies. Turn the heat to low. Let it simmer for 20 minutes
3. Taste it, add fresh squeezed lime.

Topping:
Soak ebi in water. With a mortar and pestle, crush ebi until fine. Toast crushed ebi in a pan.

Serve otak-otak with toasted ground ebi and diced cucumber.

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Do you see the small bowl on the picture? That bowl has water and a slice of lime to rinse off your hand before and after eating. Yes! Traditionally, we use a right hand to eat, no cutlery.

Turmeric and saffron are two ingredients that I know giving yellow colour into the food. Turmeric is more popular among countries that have influenced from India; one of them is Indonesia. I have a package of saffron that I haven't used it at all. I may think to make a Spanish paella one time.

In my kitchen, I have fresh and powdered turmeric. I also have turmeric plants in my balcony to produce the leaves. Whenever the leaves are ready to harvest, I will keep them in the freezer. In Minang/Padang or also known as West Sumatra culinary, the leaves have a big role in its curry base cooking. It's just like curry leaves in Indian and Acehnese food.

In a recipe that I'm going to post here, I will use the rhizome not leaves. About a year ago, Cynthia of Taste Like Home emailed and asked me a recipe of Indonesian Yellow Fried Chicken. She fell in love with this yellow fried chicken after Tuty of Scent of Spice served this dish while Cynthia visited the U.S and Tuty's house.

Tuty and I have different style for the yellow fried chicken. I don't use flour to batter the chicken, but all other methods are the same; we boil the chicken with spices and water until cooked and deep fry afterward.

Deep fry is not the only technique you can use here. I sometimes bake then broil it to give brown nice colour look of the surface at the end. Remember, you still need to boil it with spices until cooked first before you bake and broil it. By baking and broiling it, you will use less oil too.


Ayam Goreng Kuning
- Indonesian Yellow Fried Chicken -
Modified from Lisa of Indonesian Woman in Indian Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into 4 or 6 pieces
2 pieces of lemongrass, take only the white part, and crush it.
2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves)
salt
1 cup of water
oil for deep frying

Grind to:
8 cloves garlic
5 candlenuts (Indonesian: kemiri*)
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 inches (5 cm) long fresh turmeric (1/2 tsp turmeric powder), roasted and peeled
3 inches (7-8 cm) long galangal
2 inches (5 cm) long ginger
1 tsp white pepper

Directions:
1. Grind all the ground spices into a paste.
2. Rub and marinate chicken pieces with the spice paste for about 1-2 hours.
3. In a pot, at medium heat, add marinated chicken pieces along with the paste, salt, lemon grass, salam leaves and water; bring to a boil.
4. Cover the pot with the lid, turn the heat to low and continue cooking until all the water has evaporated .
5. Remove from stove and let it cool.
6. At medium-high heat, add oil in to a wok. Deep fry the cooked chicken until golden yellow.
7. Remove from the wok and pat dry them with a kitchen towel or paper towel to absorb the oil excess.

Traditionally, it is served with fresh vegetables (we call lalapan), sambal terasi (chili relish/paste) and warmed cooked rice.

Note:
- If you can't find any candlenuts, they can be substituted for macadamia nuts.
- If you don't have any salam leaves, don't substitutes for regular leaves, just leave them out.
- You may substitute galangal for powder one as well.

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Udang ala Bie Fong Tong or Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong.  One of Indonesian bloggers, cik Ine popularized this recipe in 2006.  At that time, I still blogged on multiply where I met her and saw the recipe.  As she mentioned at her blog, this recipe was introduced by chef Pieter of Lai Ching Chinese Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta.  Original recipe has published on the detikfood.com website.

Thanks to cik Ine for her creativity by adding more fried chopped garlic in it, so I can call this Deep Fried Shrimp with 3-4 Bulbs of Garlic or Super Duper Garlicky Deep Fried Shrimp. Additionally, Anit, my facebook's friend called Anti Vampire Deep Fried Shrimp�.  Ok, the trademark sign was just a joke.

I made this recipe for the first time  in 2006 as well.  I made it again and again whenever I was lazy and got stuck what I supposed to do for cooking the shrimps. You also know that I like to modify the recipe to adjust what I have in the pantry and my taste-buds. In this recipe, I reduce the corn starch and egg.  Plus, I didn't deep fried the chopped garlic instead I baked them in the oven with oil.

Warning: Be ready to use 3-4 bulbs of garlic or buy a jar of fried garlic ready to use at the Asian stores. Super Duper Garlicky!

Udang ala Bie Fong Tong
- Deep Fried ala Bie Fong Tong - Super Duper Garlicky Deep Fried Shrimp -
Recipe by Chef Pieter, modified by Ine Elkaje and me

Ingredients:
454 g (1 lb) black tiger prawn/shrimp, peeled and deveined, but leave the tails on
ground white pepper
seasalt
1 egg, beat until peaks (original recipe called for 2 eggs)
100 g corn starch (original recipe called for 150 g)
2 - 3 bird eyes chillies, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, bruised, to stir fry
vegetable oil

Sprinkle
200 g or 3-4 bulbs of garlic, chopped
1 green onion, finely sliced

Directions:
Bie Fong Tong style fried garlic for sprinkle
1. Clean and drain off the chopped garlic, sun-dried the garlic to reduce the moist (I used the oven to dry off).
2. Bake the garlic with a small amount of oil or deep fry until crispy and golden brown.
3. Garlic ready to use as Bie Fong Tong seasoning

Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong
1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the shrimp, combine.
2. Sprinkle with a small amount of corn starch, combine.
3. Add beaten egg, combine.
4. Coat the shrimp with the rest of cornstrach.
5. Deep-fry the shrimp until golden brown. Set aside.
6. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir fry the bruised garlic and bird eyes chillies until fragrant. Add the deep-fried shrimp, stir. Add fried chopped garlic, green onion, black pepper and salt, stir. Remove from heat and serve.

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Sop or Sup is Indonesian word for Soup. Oxtail soup is one of my favourite soup. I sometimes created the oxtail soup into grilled oxtail soup. Fried oxtail soup is also another style of this one. However, I am trying not to have it, thou I know it's really tasty.

If you are my old time readers, you may read the old post of my Oxtail Soup with Spices or Sop Buntut Rempah.

I made this soup about almost two weeks ago and didn't post it as I need to use this recipe for participating "Masak Bareng Yuuk Event" with a theme Aneka Sup (English: Variety of Soups).



I had a different approach on making this soup by making the vegetable broth first.

You may need to wait for another post my recipe of Sambal Lado Uap (English: Minangese Steamed Green Chilies Sambal) next time

Sop Buntut
- Oxtail Soup -

Ingredients:
1.5 kgs oxtail, cut
water
1 large carrot, peeled
2 medium potatoes, rinse off, cubed and steamed
5 stalks Chinese celery (2 stalks are knotted, the other three are chopped)
2 tomatoes, cubed
2 leeks, take the white parts
3 green onions, sliced
1� tsp. white peppercorn
1 nutmeg, cracked
5 cloves



Directions:
Homemade Vegetable Broth
In a pot, bring 8 cups water, whole peeled carrot, white part leeks, 1/2 cracked nutmeg and 1/2 tsp white peppercorn to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer another 15 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat. Separate the carrot and cubed. Let the broth cool down.

Oxtail Soup
1. In a different pot, add 6 cup broth with herbs, oxtail, salt, the cloves and another half of cracked nutmeg. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the meat is tender, approximately 2-4 hours. Pour in some more vegetable broth instead of water when needed until they become tender. If you use a pressure cooker, the process will be faster.

2. Add cubed carrots and potatoes, chopped tomatoes and celery, green onions, and the rest of vegetable broth. Let them simmer for another 10 minutes

3. Ready to serve with warmed cooked rice, emping crackers, lime or calamansi and sambal lado uap.

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When I was 13 years old, our family moved to a residential area that had more Chinese descendants. My dad decided to move there since his work was remote to Surabaya.

In that area, I had more opportunity to know their culture, including the food. Take a look Tuty's blog, she mentioned all the goodies that I used to get from my neighbours when they celebrated Chinese New Year.

After graduating from high school, I moved to Bogor to continue my education where I met my good friend who has mixed blood of Chinese, Javanese and Sundanese. I recalled we loved to collect Chinese accessories and see barongsai (Lion's dance). Not only that, we love to eat noodle, Sundanese food and fish head.

Ohh well, time goes by so fast. I miss that old time! Not to mention that I got the day off because Chinese New Year is a public holiday in Indonesia. I know I am to late to say "Gong Xi Fa Chai" or "Selamat Tahun Baru Imlek" or Happy Chinese New Year.

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I have been making this snack so many times. Since I love spring rolls but sometimes when I bought them, I didn't get the appropriate flavour for my taste buds.

This snack is one of my favourite street foods in Indonesia. For the people who live in North America,  lumpia is related with Filipino's cuisine.  However, lumpia is also a word for spring roll in Indonesian, lumpia's term derives from lunpia in the Hokien dialect of Chinese.

Since Indonesia and the Phillipines are neighborhood country, we have some similarity in words, although we speak different language.

The same name doesn't mean the same filling.  Lumpia semarang is enhanced by shredded bamboo shoot and Indonesian favourite sweet soy sauce, kecap manis.

Some people that I gave a taste of lumpia semarang asked me, how I cooked the bamboo shoot without the nasty smell. The key is boil bamboo shoot in water with a small amount of sugar to kick the stink away.


Lumpia Semarang
Ingredients:
15 sheets spring roll warpper (size 215 mm x 215 mm)
500 g shredded fresh bamboo shoot
500 g peeled shrimp, chopped
2 tbsp ground dried shrimp (Indonesian: ebi)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
100 ml homemade shrimp broth (can be substituted for water and dried shrimp)
3 tbsp oil for stir frying

Brown sauce
250 ml water
6 cloves garlic, minced
85 g coconut sugar, shredded (Indonesian: gula merah; original recipe called for 100 g coconut sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn starch or tapioca flour dissolve in a small amount of water
bird eyes chilies, chopped

Directions:
Brown Sauce:
In a saucepan, bring water, coconut sugar, salt and garlic to a boil. Thicken with tapioca flour mixture, stir until mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.

Lumpia1. Cook bambo shoot with water and 1 tbsp sugar until boiled, drain. Stir fry garlic until fragrant, add shrimp, bamboo shoot, ground dried shrimp, oyster sauce, kecap manis, white pepper and salt. Add broth, cook until water evaporates.

2. Place 2- 3 tbsp filling on the wrapper. Fold over the corner that faces away from us. Brush brown sauce onto this corner for gluing. Fold over the left-facing and right-facing corners. Roll the lumpia toward us, onto the remaining corner of the wrapper. Examine the wrapper to ensure that it is fully sealed. Do until all filling and wrappers done.

3. Deep fry until golden brown.

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I have taken so many pictures lately, but didn't have time to post them on blogspot. Challenging my self to 365 days project is what I have been doing. This project is to explore more your photography skill by doing things that we don't like. 11-tips-to-succeed-with-a-photo365-project is a good source for your inspiration. You may take a peak to my 365 days project set on flickr as well.

Speaking about another picture that I haven't post, Cumi Bakar Kecap or Indonesian Grilled Squids with Sweet Soy Sauce is one of them. 

The simplest one is using kecap manis, lime juice and margarine.  Margarine is widely used in Indonesia for grilling and baking.  Cumi Bakar Kecap is easy to make and has various recipes on the internet.  The key is kecap manis.  We, Indonesians love our kecap manis [read: ketchup muneez] or known as sweet soy sauce.  We apply kecap manis for almost everything, stir fry, grill, etc.

See how my recipe is also different...

Cumi Bakar Kecap
- Indonesian Grilled Squids with Kecap Manis -
recipe by me

Ingredients:
500 grams squid,  cleaned and rinsed under cold water
2 calamansi, squeezed to get the juice
1 tsp sea salt

Marinated mixture:
3 cloves garlic, grated
3 candlenuts, grated
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
3 - 4 tbsp kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (instead of margarine, the one that is used by Indonesians for grilling)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Directions:
1. Marinate squids with calamansi juice and sea salt for 15 minutes, then drain.
2. Marinate squids with garlic, coriander, turmeric, candlenuts, white pepper, butter, and kecap manis
3. Grill or bbq them until done, one a while brush the squids with marinated mixture. Serve with warm cooked rice, vegetables and sambal.

Cook's Note:
If you can find any fresh calamansi, feel free to substitute for key lime or lime or nasnaran mandarin (known as leprous lime or jeruk sambal/jeruk limo in Indonesian).

» Read More...