Indonesian Glazed Meatballs

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

I so wanted to call these ‘keigoeie ballen’ (that’s Dutch to you, I know), or perhaps even ‘awesome sauce’. Bottomline: these are the real deal. So crazy good that the guys continue to fight over who gets the last meatball. Silly men. Me, of course.

Here’s how it started: a couple of weeks ago I ran into Lonny Gerungan’s Kecap sauce during grocery shopping, and on a whim I decided to buy a bottle—I generally have a hard & fast rule not to buy prefab stuff, but this was Lonny, man!

I found his meatball recipe online in which he used mashed potatoes instead of breadcrumbs. Suffice to say this peaked my interest. Wow, holy cow. Hands down the best structure, ever. I’ve been religiously making meatballs using mashed potatoes ever since.

But back to the here and now: this is Kayotic Kitchen. I can’t get away with: ‘Oh, just buy a bottle of sauce, toss it in after the meatballs are done and call it a day!’. I envisioned an angry mob gathering in front of my house carrying pitchforks and torches and that was enough to send me straight back into the kitchen.

Tried several versions, but it wasn’t until I tasted this one that I could barely contain myself and yelled “Nailed it!”. For the meatballs I used the spice mix from my Dutch meatballs & gravy recipe, sans the mustard.

These meatballs are fluffy and tasty and the sauce covering them is nothing short of heavenly.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

21oz/600gr ground meat (I used half pork/half beef)
5.2oz/150gr mashed potatoes (preferably salt-free)
1 or 2 tsp sambal badjak (or another sambal)
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 large egg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg (or a really good pinch freshly grated)
1 tsp ground coriander

Kecap Sauce:

1 small onion
1 red chili pepper
2 garlic cloves
1” ginger, grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp trassi bakar
2 tbsp gula djawa
4 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap)
1 cup beef broth
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp peanut oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

Finely mince the onion and chili pepper. Remove the seeds or leave them in for more zing. Grate the ginger and mince the garlic.

We start by making the bumbu (wet spice mix). I use my tjobek for this but you can also use your immersion blender or food processor.

Add the trassi bakar and ground coriander to the chopped ingredients. Trassi is quite important here for it will give the dish its characteristic Indonesian flavour. I strongly suggest you do not omit it, as offensive as it may smell uncooked.

Mash until it’s a puree and the flavours are blended nicely.

Get your beef broth ready. I prefer to use liquid gula djawa in sauces these days. Use about 1 oz/25 to 30gr if you use a solid piece of palm sugar.

Heat the oil (this should be a neutral flavoured oil), and sauté the bumbu over low to medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes while stirring often.

Pour in the 2 tbsp gula djawa.

And the 4 tbsp kecap. I use ABC kecap, it’s sickening sweet and sticky but it works.

It’ll be a dark brown gooey and sugary substance. Let it simmer for 30 to 60 seconds.

Pour in the beef broth.

Bring it to a boil, temper the heat and let it gently simmer for 5 minutes.

Bit by bit you pour in the cornstarch mixed with water. Let the sauce cook for 1 more minute then turn off the heat. Season the sauce with salt & pepper to taste and set it aside.

Laugh all you want but I use my standmixer to mix my ground beef. Works like a charm and keeps my hands clean for my camera.

Done laughing yet?

Then it dawned on me that I didn’t take photos of adding the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Imagine them there, okay? Anyway, add those and top them off with the mashed taters, sambal and ground coriander.

Pour in the 2 tbsp kecap. Indonesian dishes are often quite sweet. Probably why my son loves it so much.

Knead the mix well. See, my hands are still clean… what about yours?

I used my size 12 ice scoop (love that one for meatballs) and got 8 meatballs out of it.

You can cook them on the stove top in some oil or butter, but I decided to bake them in the oven on top of a grilling rack. I gave them 25 minutes at 200Cº (400Fº). If you make larger meatballs they’ll obviously need more cooking time.

As soon as the meatballs are done you transfer the sauce to a bigger pan, heat it and just drop those balls in there.

Drop ’em all! Getting hungry all over again seeing this.

Oh, how I love those darn meatballs.

Roll them around in the sauce. Shake them. Make ‘em do flip-flops for all I care, just make sure they’re all covered in sauce. Simmer them for a minute or 3.

Who’s laughing now, huh?

Best served with steamed rice, stir-fried paksoi and acar ketimun.

Meatballs:

21oz/600gr ground meat (I used half pork/half beef)
5.2oz/150gr mashed potatoes (preferably salt-free)
1 or 2 tsp sambal badjak (or another sambal)
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 large egg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg (or a really good pinch freshly grated)
1 tsp ground coriander
Kecap Sauce:

1 small onion
1 red chili pepper
2 garlic cloves
1” ginger, grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp trassi bakar
2 tbsp gula djawa
4 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap)
1 cup beef broth
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp peanut oil
salt & pepper

We start by making the bumbu. I use my tjobek for this but you can also use your immersion blender or food processor. Finely mince the onion and chili pepper. Remove the seeds or leave them in for more zing. Grate the ginger and mince the garlic. Add the trassi bakar and ground coriander to the chopped ingredients. Trassi is quite important here for it will give the dish its characteristic Indonesian flavour. I strongly suggest you do not omit it, as offensive as it may smell uncooked. Mash until it’s a puree and the flavours are blended nicely.

Get your beef broth ready. I prefer to use liquid gula djawa these days. Use about 1 oz/25 to 30gr if you use a solid piece of palm sugar. Heat the oil (this should be a neutral flavoured oil), and sauté the bumbu over low to medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes white stirring often. Pour in the gula djawa and kecap and let it simmer for 30 to 60 seconds before adding the beef broth. Bring it to a boil, temper the heat and let it gently simmer for 5 minutes. Thicken the sauxe with cornstarch and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients listed under Meatballs and knead well. I used my size 12 ice scoop and got 8 meatballs out of it. You can cook them on the stove top in some oil or butter but I decided to bake them in the oven on top of a grilling rack. I gave them 25 minutes at 200Cº (400Fº). soon as the meatballs are done you transfer the sauce to a bigger pan, heat it and just drop those balls in there. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with steamed rice, stor-fried paksoi and acar ketimun.

View the original article here

Sambal Badjak

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

I cannot imagine my life and cooking without sambal. It’s the most-often used condiment in our house. I have a wide array of sambals in my fridge, ranging anywhere from an extremely hot Surinamese to mellow, sweet and flavorful Indonesian sambals.

I add some to most things I cook. Heck, I don’t even think about it, and not just when cooking Indonesian or Surinamese. I use it to liven up stews, meatballs, soups, sandwiches, dips, vegetables and even mashes.

My personal favourite is sambal badjak: a more flavourful than spicy sambal making it perfect for every day use. The sambal is gently fried, really mellowing down the heat. Delicious.

I ran into a new, curried version in the store a few weeks ago and, wow, that stuff is addictive. Why didn’t I think of adding masala? Let’s do it now!

Ingredients:

7 oz/200gr chili peppers
9oz/250gr shallots
4 large garlic cloves
3 tbsp peanut or sunflower oil
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 slice gula djawa (palm sugar) roughly 2oz/50gr
3 or 4 tbsp kecap (sweet soy sauce)
1/4 tsp trassie bakar powder
2 tsp curry masala
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder

Optionally: 3 toasted and mashed kemirie nuts
1 tsp tomato paste

Directions:

This Vol Gas Sambal by lange Frans is what got this posting started in the first place. They mailed me a jar to try to, wow, love the stuff! Thanks Danielle!

This gorgeous cobek was my mother’s day present. I was over the moon! It’s a flat mortar with a special pestle (ulek-ulek) used to make the bumbu (‘wet’ spice mixture) almost every Indonesian dish starts with.

Of course you can use a food processor or immersion blender for this as well, but the result that comes closest to an authentic bumbu made in a cobek is by using a meat grinder with a fine hole plate, heard that from Lonny Gerungan.

That’s the route I’m taking today. No need to complicate things, right?

Peel the shallots and garlic. Give the shallots a rough chop.

You’re in control of the heat. Want it seriously hot? Just leave in the seeds and membranes.

I chose to remove them after washing the peppers. This gives a really pleasant warmth to the dishes but mostly an amazing flavour. Chop the peppers.

Even the trash looks cheerful and happy. Sorry, just couldn’t help noticing it.

Mix it all up. Let’s hit it!

Keep going ’til you run out of ingredients.

The perfect consistency for sambal. Mushy, but with still a little structure.

Whisk well. See? Perfect consistency.

The gula djawa (palm sugar) is big part of the Indonesian kitchen. If you can’t buy it, replace it with dark brown sugar. Finely chop the palm sugar.

Same goes for the trassie bakar powder (fermented ground shrimp) and kecap.

Love what the masala did to the sambal! Mine was Nickerie Masala.

Heat the oil and gently cook the pepper and onion mix for 5 minutes while stirring often.

Add the trassie powder, the ground ginger and coriander, the curry powder and finally the gula djawa. Continue to cook (while stirring often) until the gula djawa has melted.

Pour in the kecap and the lemon juice. Combine well. Add 3 tbsp kecap if you like it less sweet.

Let it simmer over low heat, again, while stirring often.

Let it simmer until the liquid has been mostly evaporated but the mixture is still moist.

Let it cool off and transfer to a sterilized jar. You can keep the sambal in the fridge for about a week, drizzle a little oil on top. Use in stews, pickles, soups, sauces, marinades, dressings, meatballs, burgers, wings and what not.

This is what you need on your dinner table or in your kitchen!

Sambal Badjak is pure, unadulterated love. Highly addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

You can use a food processor or immersion blender for this as well, but the result that comes closest to an authentic bumbu made in a cobek is by using a meat grinder with a fine hole plate.

Peel the shallots and garlic. Give the shallots a rough chop. You’re in control of the heat. Want it seriously hot? Just leave in the seeds and membranes. I chose to remove them after washing the peppers. This gives a really pleasant warmth to the dishes but mostly an amazing flavour. Chop the peppers. Mix it up and run it through the meat grinder and whisk well.

Finely mince the gula djawa. Heat the oil and gently cook the pepper mix for 5 minutes while stirring often. Add the trassie bakar powder, curry masala, ground ginger and coriander and the gula djawa. Cook until the sugar has melted. Stir often.

Pour in the kecap (3 tbsp if you like it less sweet) and lemon juice and simmer until the liquid has been mostly evaporated but the mixture is still moist. Let it cool off and transfer to a sterilized jar. You can keep the sambal in the fridge for about a week, drizzle a little oil on top.

View the original article here

Selada Ayam Bami

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Now and then I run into unique books. Books that leave an impression and are so much more than just plain cook books. This is one of them.

The book is called Boekoe Bangsa, which means ‘Book of the family‘, and really, it’s the perfect name for it. It’s a book filled with beautiful, heartwarming and inspiring stories from Indonesian, Indonesian-Chinese and Moluccan families. In Dutch, though.

It’s a book about families celebrating food, traditions, culture and the love they feel for each other and the countries they originate from. And to top all that, it’s chockfull of amazing family recipes and beautiful photography.

This Indonesian chicken, vegetable and bami salad is only one of many amazing recipes you’ll find throughout this book. I’ve eaten so many good chicken salads in my life, but none of them comes even close to this one.

If you want to impress family and friend, and I know you do, you really need to make this. It’ll be a hit, trust me.

Ingredients:

Chicken Salad:

1 pound chicken breasts
12oz/350gr bami noodles
1 slice gula jawa /palm sugar (2oz/50gr)
1 heaping tsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove

Vegetables:

1 large green bell pepper
4 spring onions
1 large carrot
1 cup bean sprouts

Dressing:

3 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
4 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp fish sauce

Directions:

It’s rare for me to buy a cookbook, much less rave about it. But I love this book! (no, they’re not paying me)

Gula Jawa, as it’s called in the Netherlands. Palm sugar. Wonderfully sweet, creamy and caramelly.

We’re going to cook our chicken breasts in a not so traditional way. Your chicken will be out of this world good, mark my words!

Break up the palm sugar and put it in a non-stick skillet.

Add the crushed garlic and fish sauce to the palm sugar.

The sambal oelek. If you don’t have it on hand, or if you can’t buy it, you can use sriracha in stead.

Squeeze in the fresh lime juice.

Gently heat it until the palm sugar melts.

Let the mix simmer for a minute or two to caramelise it.

We’re gonna cook our chicken breasts in this mix!

Add your chicken, lower the heat and cook the chicken for roughly 20 minutes, while flipping now and then.

Each time you flip them over, they will get a deeper colour and more intense flavour. Smells crazy good at this point.

Keep going until the chicken is cooked through. Core temperature needs to be 75C° (167F°).

Transfer them to a plate and let them cool off. These are the best chicken breasts, ever. I mean, look at them!

This is also my new favourite dressing. It’s fresh, mellow, creamy and mildly sweet. Darn good.

Mix the peanut oil with the sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and fish sauce. That’s it.

The vegetables! I added some bean sprouts that weren’t part of the original recipe but added a lovely crunch.

Wash your vegetables, peel the carrot and turn everything into thin strips.

I’m sure you can just briefly blanch the vegetables, or maybe stir-fry them, but in the original recipe they steamed them. So did I.

I filled my wok (it came with a huge steam basket) with salted water and brought it to a boil.

Add the bell pepper and carrot strips.

Steam them for about 3 minutes. For me that was perfect, they were bite tender.

I added the bean sprouts for the last 30 seconds.

Let the vegetables cool off.

I used the salted water in my wok to cook the bami noodles. Follow the instructions on the package.

Thinly slice the chicken breasts.

As soon as everything is fully cooked and sliced, you mix it all in a big bowl, add a few spoonsfull of dressing and serve the rest on the side.

I served this amazing salad with a plate full of Shanghai spring rolls. It’s utterly divine!

Chicken Salad:

1 pound chicken breasts
12oz/350gr bami noodles
1 slice gula jawa /palm sugar (2oz/50gr)
1 heaping tsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove

Vegetables:

1 large green bell pepper
4 spring onions
1 large carrot
1 cup bean sprouts

Dressing:

3 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp sweet chill sauce
4 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp fish sauce

Break up the palm sugar and put it in a non-stick skillet along with the crushed garlic, sambal oelek, fish sauce and lime juice. Gently heat it until the palm sugar melts then simmer it for 2 minutes to caramelise it. Add your chicken breasts, lower the heat and cook the chicken for roughly 20 minutes, while flipping now and then, until the chicken is cooked through and the core temperature is 75C° (167F°). Transfer them to a plate and let them cool off.

Mix the peanut oil with the sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and fish sauce and set the dressing aside. Wash your vegetables, peel the carrot and turn everything into thin strips. I’m sure you can just briefly blanch the vegetables, or perhaps stir-fry them, but in the original recipe they were steamed.

Steam the vegetables in roughly 3 to 4 minutes, until bite tender. Add the bean sprouts for the last 30 seconds. Let the vegetables cool off. Cook the bami noodles in salted water according to the instructions in the package.

Thinly slice the chicken and mix it with the bami noodles, vegetables and a few tbsp dressing. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side. Even better when served with crunchy Shanghai spring rolls and sweet chilli sauce!

View the original article here