Pork Adobo, flavor of the Philippines

I notice from my feed stats a lot of people come here looking for recipes. I see most of them looking for martabak manis, perkedel jagung & tahu isi, prol tapai singkong. I guess I will have to make a food blog in the future. Cooking has been my passion right since my teen days. My late mother taught me the basics of cooking and baking. She fed eight children, and I think it took a lot of effort to satisfy everyone's palate.

Anyway I made Pork Adobo this morning and they turned out perfectly - very tender and juicy. Adobo is a very popular dish in the Philippines, indeed it is considered a national dish. It is easy to make and requires just a handful of ingredients ... garlic, vinegar, bay leaves, peppercorn, soy sauce (I use kecap asin and kecap manis), and I also added mushrooms and star anise to give more flavor to the pork. The other variation of adobo that I have not tried is frying them to crispy. I might do it if I can find a good pork belly next time. This dish is served with steamed rice.

A Belgian chocolate in Javanese packaging

I was strolling through the super market minding my own business when I spied a display of local chocolate bars called "Monggo"...a Javanese word for "please". I hadn’t heard of this brand before and was interested with the wrapper which is so Indonesia featuring 'becak' (a three wheel bicycle taxi), 'Semar' (Javanese shadow puppet character) and 'gunungan' (gunung, mountain ... the most important requisite in the wayang performance).
One of the variant "Caramello" was even labelled 'Belgian Chocolate'. Out of curiosity, I picked up 2 bars to try. They are dark chocolate, to be more precise, well dark chocolate with 'stuff' added, to be even more precise. In Caramello they used ginger extract but I cannot identify the ginger taste at all.

Going raw

lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, avocado with garlic vinagraite
I have been on the semi raw food diet for two weeks now. I am not looking to lose weight but am trying to ease the persistent painful period that I have been suffering for many years. The basic principle of the diet is to eat a high proportion of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and seeds. Food that contain starch such as bread, rice, wheat, pasta and potatoes - should be avoided, as should meat and most dairy products.

Well, I haven't gone "totally raw" yet but am transitioning into it rather slightly. So far, I have been successful to just eat veggies (Indonesian cooked veggies, not salads) without rice. My side dish would consist of either tofu, tempeh or white fish. I'm also still having 2 or 3 slice of wholemeal bread for breakfast in the morning with jam or peanut butter. My lunch is still cooked but I hope to change that slowly. On the weight loss front, I haven't lost much weight. My weight now is around 49-50 kg (I am 5' 2"). Well, I'm not worried, at least I haven't gained any weight. Of course, when I walked past the food court or cake shops, I wish I could have some but I reminded myself that I must have my appetite under control. Whenever I’d have a “weak” moment, I would eat a few slice of tomatoes and cucumbers. Aside from eating raw I too get these kind of 'cravings' to get up early and go outside for a morning walk which has become my daily routine now.

Healthy food + healthy drink

Green vegetable is most definitely one of my most have ingredients and I am never without it. Because of this habit, I have a very hard time feeling like my lunch/dinner is complete if there wasn't a veggie on my plate. I’m especially fond of a simple broccoli stir fry with shitake mushroom, and I love to add an extra minced garlic and ginger to taste. As a side dish, I like deep-fried tempeh in batter. That’s it! Really simple and easy to prepare lunch. For the drink I made strawberry + carrot + beet root juice. Just mix all 3 in a blender with cold water from the fridge, it's my favorite juice, tastes delicious!

Elyani's lunch today

Hi all, I haven't posted in a while but have been reading everyone's blogs regularly. My menu this week is all veggies, fruits and no sweet treats in between. It is hard to stay discipline sometimes as I craved for a bit of "sinful foods" like a slice of tiramisu cake, dark chocolate, pizza or other local savory snacks once in a while. It takes awhile for the cravings to change to more healthy foods once you start eating those, but I'm glad I can control myself from those sniffing urges! And it works to decrease my endo pains a bit.

My lunch today comprise of Urap Sayuran (steamed mixed veggies tossed with spicy grated coconut) and Deep Fried Oyster Mushrooms. This is one of my favorite dishes. Sometimes with a lunch like this, I pretend that I'm a rabbit! The secret of making urap sayuran is by using a fresh young coconut. I added some more chilis and lime leaves because that really stimulate the senses and wake you up.

My lunch today

Today, my lil niece, Van, her dad and mom, my lil nephew Alex and his parents came over to have lunch with me. Because I'm not a restaurant freak, my helper and I prepared a full set of lunch that everybody like. We had nasi uduk (coconut steamed rice with lemon grass flavour), deep fried prawns, spicy balado eggs, lalapan (raw vegetables), and sambal (shrimp paste condiment). For Alex, I made steamed tofu with ground chicken and prawns, a little dice of carrots and green beans. He is a fussy eater, it's difficult to make him eat but I know he loves tofu.

Well, we rarely have had time to have a brothers & sisters gathering, so even a simple lunch like this does bring the sense of closeness together. Being with my niece and nephew, watching their smiles and listening to their laughter also makes me happy. Is there anything better than a laughing child?

ps : untuk teman2 yg ingin resepnya, buatnya gampang sekali :

Bahan :
-Udang peci ukuran sedang atau besar (tergantung selera)
-Bawang putih secukupnya
-Tepung bumbu merk "Sajiku" (bisa beli di super market)
-Telur 1 butir
-Tepung roti merk "Mamasuka" atau "Finna Panko" (bentuknya flake, seperti kepingan2, bukan tepung panir yang halus).

Cara membuat:
-Haluskan/ulek bawang putih, kemudian tuang tepung bumbu sajiku, beri sedikit air, aduk sampai rata. Karena sudah pakai tepung instant, tidak usah digarami lagi, sisihkan.
-Kocok lepas telur.
-Masukkan udang kedalam adonan tepung, aduk dengan tangan sampai semua tercampur rata.
-Celup kedalam kocokan telur, gulingkan kedalam tepung roti flake sampai udang betul2 tercover dengan rata. Tata dengan rapi diatas wadah, susun bertumpuk juga tidak apa asalkan semua udang sudah tercoating.
-Simpan dalam lemari es (rak nomer 2 atau 3 saja), diamkan selama 1 jam, supaya bumbu menyerap dan udang lebih garing pada saat digoreng.
-Tuang minyak dalam kuali, besarkan api sedikit, masukkan udang dan goreng sampai kekuningan. Jangan terlalu lama, supaya udang tetap juicy didalam dan crunchy lapisan luarnya. Angkat dan letakkan pada piring yg dialasi paper towel.

Street Food in Jakarta

When you're in Jakarta, there's no need to worry where to get foods or beverages. There are plenty of push-carts type of food vendors providing you with cheap excellent meals. But don't question about hygienes. This all on wheels food service only have one bucket of water to wash the dining utensils (bowls, forks and spoons) after being used by the customers. But the convenience is ... you do not need to walk so far to have lunch/dinner ... the food will come to you right in front of your houses / offices, day and night and you can use your own plates or food bowls if you're worried about the cleanliness of their utensils.



~~Soto Mie picture grabbed from Herti's Kitchen Gallery

Double Marble

On my blogwalk today, a marble cake recipe from Rita's blog crosses my path. Marble cake is not the kind of cake that immediately strike anyone as a super-duper, knock-your-socks off kind of dessert but it is a cake you want to eat with a cup of coffee or tea, or by itself as a mid-day snack. It can easily be dressed up with vanilla, chocolate, or any kind of frosting, if desired, but it is very good on its own too. Since I still have green tea powder (matcha) on my pantry, I experimented by adding matcha besides the chocolate powder on the batter.

Prol Tapai Singkong

Last week, I had a major craving for Prol Tapai Singkong. Tapai singkong (pronounced tah-peh sing-kong), sometimes referred to as peuyeum (from Sundanese Language), are made from cassava roots which are initially cooked/steamed, sprinkled by yeast cake evenly and then left for a few days to ferment. They produce a very delicate sweet and sour spongy tasting with the original creamy starchy texture from the cassava roots itself. I'd never made tapai singkong / peuyeum from scratch as they are widely available in the traditional market here already prepared and sold by weight or per packaging. There are so many different types of savoury snacks you can make from tapai singkong, and one of my favorite is Prol Tapai Singkong. The ingredients to make this cake is tapai singkong, sugar, flour, eggs, coconut milk, melted margarine, a pinch of salt, and shredded cheddar cheese. Since no cake mixer is required for this cake, even a beginner can make them, fail-free guarantee.

As requested by Lalita, here is the recipe copied from Saji tabloid :

Prol Tapai Singkong
Bahan :
500 gr Tape singkong
100 gr gula pasir
200 gr tepung terigu protein sedang
6 butir telur, di kocok lepas
200 ml susu cair
100 gr margarin di lelehkan
100 gr keju parut untuk campuran,
50 gr keju parut untuk taburan

Bahan olesan:
1 buah kuning telur
2 sdm susu cair

Cara membuat:
1. Remas-remas tape singkong dan gula pasir sampai gula hancur
2. Tambahkan tepung terigu, aduk rata
3. Masukkan telur, susu,margarin, dan keju parut, aduk rata.
4. Tuang dalam loyang yg telah di oles margarin dan di alas kertas roti
5. Oven 25 menit sampai setengah matang
6. Angkat, oles dengan bahan olesan, taburkan keju parut, oven lagi sampai matang.

Simple lunch

This may not look like much, but this spicy Green Beans is delicious! With additions like garlic, some chili paste, and small dried shrimp, these beans are really flavorful.

On the other side I made Fried Tempeh seasoned with diced red hot chili. Even though both meals look very simple, I was nevertheless happy because they are rich in fiber, and very tasty, which is definitely a plus for a weekend lunch. Serve with steamed rice.

My lunch today

Today I am having Chinese Cabbage Stir Fry and Oatmeal Fried Shrimp. This crunchy fried shrimp was adapted from Taste of Home Recipes. I modified the recipe quite a bit here. I used oatmeal instead of coconut flake for the coating, and I didn't use baking powder at all, because I like mine a little more crisp. I also added some chopped scallion (green part only) to the batter, but otherwise made it as directed.

Juice of the week

I drink freshly made fruit and veggie combo nearly every day and one of my favorite blend is apple-celery juice.

Here's what you need :
3 granny apples (have it's skin removed) cored and cut into chunks.
1 stalk celery, cut into big chunks.
1 cup chilled water.

How to make them :
I am using a fast speed blender, I don't have a juicer. First off, add chilled water into the blender , then add the apples and celery. Pulse ground (on and off the machine) for a couple of times, then, turn up the speed of the blender until the mixtuer well blended. Strain with the sifter before serving. This combo is so refreshing, healthy and a great way to start off your morning. If you want to know more about celery juice benefit, please read it here.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Green Tea Roll Cake with Red Beans Paste Filling

What could be more enjoyable than a cup of tea with a slice of cake? I have been wanting to make Green Tea Roll Cake for a long time, so I bought "matcha" (fine powdered green tea) and put it in my baking stuff container, where it has patiently been waiting for weeks. Inspired by Japanese desserts, last Friday I made the filling for the roll cake, red beans paste combined with a sweetened whipped cream (using an electric mixer, begin to beat the cream at a medium/high speed, once it is frothy, add sugar and vanilla, beat to stiff peaks). The cake is a basic sponge cake, it was very easy to make but the rolling is the most difficult part of preparing this cake. And because my oven is so small and thus affected the size of the baking tin that I used, my roll cake looks a bit thicker and not spiral like coz I used all the filling. I really love the color of the cake, the green does not scares me off ...not a green monster for sure... hehehe!

3 in 1 Shepherd's Pie

I stumble upon this Shepherd's Pie on someone's blog the other day but I forgot to save the link. The recipe calls for potato, kumara (a red or purple Japanese sweet potatoes), and pumpkin for the base. I quite like the idea of mashing them altogether as they create a pretty color. The filling is ground beef (well I supposed not to eat red meats...but am baking this pie for my brother...hehehe), frozen corn kernel, carrots and peas. I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding pasta tomato sauce for the filling mixture, and cover the top with grated parmesan and cheddar cheese.

Juice-licious

One of the few good things about living in the tropics is you're blessed with a lot of different varieties of fresh fruits. You can find banana's in all kinds of shapes and sized which are consumed in different ways: raw, deep fried, baked in pastry, etc. And then there are other local specialties such as mangosteen, rambutans, passion fruits, snake fruits, papaya, mangoes, star fruits and guavas just to mention a few. If you're like me, you'll eat most of them within a few days of your purchase, no matter how many you've bought. I could eat a lot of fruits every day - apples, strawberries, pineapples, water melon, mangoes. I have always been very health conscious and was lucky I live in a place where fresh produce is always available. Breakfast is always started with a glass of fresh vegetable / fruit juice which I normally prepared the night before that. And because of my endo problem, I was also advised to add more beans on my daily intake and my favorite is steamed edamame beans.
edamame beans
pineapple, orange and bakchoy leaves
pineapple, orange and carrot

Lunch and dinner of this week

tomyam soup
mee goreng (fried noodle Indonesian style)
chop suey
orak-arik telur asin (scramble salted eggs with vermicelli)

As requested by Eden, here is mee goreng recipe.
Mee Goreng Indonesian Style
===========================

Ingredients:
200 gr fine egg noodles, cook until just tender, drain, drizzle with 2 tsp of oil
1 scallion / spring onion, thinly slice
3oz small shrimps, peel, deveine (you can also use diced chicken breast)
cabbages cut into quarters and remove the tough white core of each section
bak choy (stalks and leaves), sliced crosswise
3 tbsp ketjap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
2 eggs make scramble, set aside

Grind finely:
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
2 candlenuts
1 tsp salt

Method
-Heat oil in wok over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic paste, stirring frequently until fragrant.
-Add the shrimp/chicken, stir-fry for approximately 2 minutes.
-Add scallions, bak choy, cabbage, salt and pepper, stir fry it for another 2-3 minutes.
-Add the kecap manis, broth and mix well so that all the ingredients will be evenly distributed
-Add the noodles and scramble eggs and stir well. Fry on high heat for another 2 or 3 minutes and dish out onto a serving platter.
-Garnish the top with fried shallots, and spring onion.

Mee goreng is best served hot off the wok/pan.

Perkedel Jagung & Tahu Isi

I bet you all agree salty and sweet mixture makes the best snack. When you're in the mood for a simple quick snack, this perkedel jagung is easy to make and is an excellent appetizer.

Ingredients:
* 2 fresh corns
* 4 shallots, 2 garlics, 1 thinly slice red chili
* 1 egg
* 4 tbsp all purpose flour
* 1 tbsp rice flour
* A little Spring onion
* Half teaspoon of coriander powder
* Half teaspoon of white pepper powder
* Salt to taste

Methods:
1. With a sharp knife, cut kernels from the cob: first, cut halfway through the middle to release the "milk" then cut the remainder closer to the cob.
2. Put corn, diced shallots, garlic, red chili, spring onion and egg in a bowl.
3. Add pepper, coriander, salt to taste.
4. Pour all purpose flour and rice flour, mix well, add water just enough.
5. Deep fry the corn mix two spoonful each, drain with tissue paper and serve it when it is still warm.



I was inspired by Retno's post a few days ago and made this Tahu Isi for my lunch. It's very easy to make, great taste and my friends were begging for more. I substitute the filling with carrots, cabbage and mungbean sprouts. Stir fried them with shallot and garlic, spring onion, add a bit of chili sauce and salt to taste. Cut the tofu into 6, scoop them but make sure you do not break them, then add the filling inside each tofu. Dip them in the batter and fry. I think the hardest part was waiting to taste it. They are also perfect as a cocktail food. To serve as a starter, serve with chili sauce or a relish of your choice. Thanks Retno!

Pisang Goreng

Pisang Goreng (fried banana) is one of my favorite snack. It is a great snack between meals or for breakfast. A cup of hot tea and a few pisang goreng especially during the rainy season is a real treat!! I used to get them from the pisang goreng vendor, fresh and hot!! Way back then, I enjoyed watching the middle-aged lady near my house with her large wok deep-frying the banana which is dipped in heavy batter. The batter is a combination of an equal parts of all purpose flour, rice flour, water, and a touch of salt. Mix them together, but only just, add the bananas, fry, and eat! They are moist, soft and sweet inside and the batter is crispy outside. It is very easy to make and it tastes like a slice of my childhood.



*top picture is image from Eka's Blog

Telur Balado

Who can say no to hot and spicy foods?? In general Indonesian foods can be described as hot and spicy. Telor Balado is boiled eggs cooked in chilis, shallots, tomatoes, garlic, and shrimp paste.

Telur Balado (Spicy boiled eggs)

Ingredients:
6 Boiled eggs, remove the skin
8 Fresh red peppers (you can remove the seeds if you want to)
5 Shallots
4 Cloves garlic
1 Tomato --> grated with cheese grater and set aside
½ ts shrimp paste
Salt and sugar to taste
Cooking oil

Method:
Pound/grind the peppers, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste finely. Heat wok, kuali or pan, add oil, and fry ground ingredients until fragrant for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Add the boiled eggs, cook for another 3 minutes. Served with hot steamed rice.