Sambal Goreng Udang - Indonesian Spicy Shrimp Recipe

Sambal Goreng Udang - Indonesian Spicy Shrimp

It's Ramadhan!

Such a wonderful and blessed month for us moslems and I would like to take this opportunity to share one of our favorite, easy-to-make Indonesian food recipes.

As you know, during Ramadhan, we are fasting from before the sunrise until sunset.
So after restraining ourselves from eating and drinking for quite some times (almost 17 hours here in NYC), I try to cook something nice and special for my family. But since we don't really have much energy left after fasting, I always try to prepare simple food that my family love.
And I have to admit, some Indonesian food need extra preparation.
Nevertheless, the one that I'm about to share with you is one of the simplest ones.

does it look too spicy for you? 

And I just realized I haven’t posted any recipes for quite sometimes, by the way.

So let’s hit the kitchen and this time, I have Sambal Goreng Udang - or Indonesian Spicy Shrimp.

Well, don’t get intimidated by the ‘spicy’ name as you can always, obviously, adjust the level of spiciness in this dish.

Sambal itself means chili sauce and sambal goreng literally means fried chili sauce.
Those who are familiar with Indonesian food might get use to the use of sambal here and there, but again you can have a non spicy chili sauce!
Seriously.
Just add extra tomatoes and sugar to thwart the natural kick of chilies and you're good.

super hungry :)

I have shared some spicy as well as sambal goreng recipes before, so you can check out sambal goreng tempe dan kentang - spicy crispy fried tempe and potato or botok tempe - steamed spicy tempe, to name a few. 

So now, Are you ready to cook with me?


Ingredients:

Shrimp - 2 lbs, with or without the tails, any size you prefer, clean them.
Shallot - thinly sliced
Jãlapeño- thinly sliced, if you like it hot.

Spices to ground:
Onion - half and chopped
Shallots - chopped 

Chilies - 3-4, or less as desired

Tamarind - 3-4 pieces for extra tanginess. Feel free to take it out.
Salt and pepper - as desired
Galangal - 1 piece, pressed.

Just a little note, I really love this spice as it will add extra aroma to your dish. But feel free to drop it of you prefer to do so. Galangal is easily found in Asian groceries or oriental market.

Green peas for garnish
Coconut milk - 2 spoonful
Vegetable oil for sauté - 1 teaspoonful

The good thing about these ground spices, it is sort of a base paste for many Indonesian food or a like. So you can make them in big batches and store them in the freezer.

How to cook:
First, we prepare the shrimps.
You have the choices of deep frying them or pan frying them in order to use less oil. 

Once done, set them aside.

We then sauté the thinly sliced shallots and jãlapeño, put the ground spice all together.
Cook it for a while until it's fragrant.
You can tell when the spices are well cooked.
I have to admit it's the best part as the spices smell wonderful.
Mix the fried shrimps, wait for a while until all the spices are well mixed and cook it in low heat. Then add the green peas at the end for about two minutes so it won't be overcooked.
And that's it.
Your Indonesian spicy shrimp, sambal goreng udang, is ready :).

enjoy..

Eat it with your hot steamed white or brown rice, or sprinkle it over your salad plate.
Hope you like it and enjoy.

Bon appetit!

Cheers

Semur Daging dan Telur - Egg and Beef Indonesian Stew

It's been quite sometimes I did not post any recipes here.
Well, haven't had enough time to take pictures of all those food I have cooked should not stop me for sharing more Indonesian food recipes indeed.
And winter is here!
Surely I have many favorites Indonesian food that my family love to enjoy in cold, winter days. Including those delicious ones for your festive day!

semur daging dan telur :)

And this time, I have semur daging dan telur - egg and beef Indonesian stew.
It's more like a free translation of it.
So if my Indonesian friends have better term or translation for it, please let me know :).

We love semur because of its exquisite taste.
A combination of beef or chicken broth with palm sugar, sweet sow sauce and traditional spices like nutmeg and coriander is indeed delicious. 
I don't know exactly where this menu is originally from but I guess almost every Indonesian is familiar with this. Either you cook it with beef or chicken, and add some extra eggs, tofu or potatoes, it all blends very well and you can get everything ready to eat it together with rice. Of course, slow cooking is best because all the spices will be well blended and the meat will be soft and tender.

So, enough with the introduction and let's cook. 
Let's start with the ingredients.

Ingredients:

Beef - 2 pounds, cleaned and cut into cubes or as desired.
Eggs - 4 or less, hard boiled and peeled.

Garlic - 3 cloves

Shallot - 2 medium cloves

Coriander - 1 teaspoon
Candlenuts - 3 pieces

Nutmeg powder - as desired, just a tiny pinch to give the extra aroma
Worcester sauce - 1 teaspoon
Sweet soy sauce - 2 spoonfuls

Salt and pepper - as desired

Palm sugar or white sugar - as desired
Vegetable oil

Spring onion - all serves as garnish and my fave is cilantro and spring onion
Fried onion.
A bowl of steam rice.

Just a little note that in some recipes, they use coriander, some do not. 
You are indeed welcomed to use it as it brings an exquisite aroma to the soup and it blends very well with the beef. I. But I make sure that nutmeg is added as it is delicious!
Some also like it with extra soup, while I love it with less watery soup but more like the thick sauce after the slow cooking. Whatever you prefer, they all taste wonderful!

Here's how to cook:

First, we get all the spices ready. 
Using mortar and pestle (traditional way is the best way for me :)), grind the garlic, shallot, coriander and candle nut. Of course you can and are welcomed to use your food processor.

Then heat one spoonful of vegetable oil and sauté the ground spices until it's well cooked and fragrant. The spices will look gold and you can tell when it is adequately cooked.

In a large pot, boil the beef, together with the spices, until it is soft. I takes around 3 hours or less to get it tender, depending on the type of beef you are using. Once the meat is tender, put the hard boiled eggs and boil it together for 15 - 20 minutes to ensure the spices are well blended with the eggs as well. 

Don't forget to add the Worcester and sweet soy sauce along the way. Make sure you have enough soup and add the water as you boil the stew together. Once the beef is tender, you know Semur Daging dan Telur - Egg and Beef Indonesian Stew, is ready.

eat with a bowl of steam rice and it's yuuum!

The best way of eating it is together with a bowl of steam rice.
It will be great to enjoy this for your holiday dinner or lunch. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do and bon appetit! 

Sambal Goreng Tempe dan Kentang - Spicy Crispy Fried Tempe and Potato

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers and mothers-to-be out there! 

Allow me to take this wonderful opportunity to share one of our favorite Indonesian food recipes, that my husband cooked for me and the kids on mother's day!
Lucky me :).

So, without further a do, enjoy Sambal Goreng Tempe dan Kentang - Spicy Crispy Fried Tempe and Potato.
Bon appetit! 

***

Such a long title I have here!

Hello again.. 

It's been quite sometimes since the last time I share the Frakarsas' favorite recipes here in My Purple World.

As always, I am more than happy to share all yummy Indonesian recipes that I cook in my Astoria kitchen.

So, are you ready for another yummy Indonesian food?

This week I have another favorite dish of my family, sambal goreng tempe dan kentang or spicy crispy fried tempe and potatoes. I know it's a long name but we just simply don't have the translation for that in English.

To those who have seen or tried some of my recipes here in my blog might be familiar with tempe or soybean cake already.

There are many ways to cook tempe and I love this sambel goreng because besides its delicious taste, I can also cook them in bulk and save them. The preparation might take some times but once you have everything ready, cooking it only takes 5 minutes.

Afterwards, I only need a bowl of steamed rice or a plate of fresh salad and veggies to eat them. 

Let's cook then :).

Ingredients

Tempe - cut into small, thin stick
Potatoes - cut into small, thin stick

Shallot - thinly sliced

Jãlapeño- thinly sliced, if you like it hot.

Spices to ground:

Onion - half and chopped

Shallots - chopped Chilies - 3-4, or less as desired

Tamarind - 3-4 pieces

Palm sugar - 1 piece

Salt and pepper - as desired

Galangal - 1 piece, pressed
How to cook:

First, we deep fry tempe and potatoes then set them aside.

Then sauté the thinly sliced shallots and jãlapeño, put the ground spice all together. Cook it for a while and mix the deep fried tempe and potatoes and that's it. Yup.. That's it. You have your spicy deep fried tempe and potatoes, sambal goreng tempe dan kentang,  ready :).

easy steps to cook it..

Eat it with your hot steamed white or brown rice, or sprinkle it over your salad plate. 
Hope you like it and enjoooy..

Cumi Tumis Cabe - Spicy Sautéed Squid

It's cooking time...
Kita masak yuk!

It's been quite sometimes since I share some of our easy-to-make favorite dishes.
Just coming back from our spring break road trip, I just realized that I didn't have much on the fridge.
 
But I got dried squid, onion, garlic and jalapeño, plus some chili and a bit of asparagus.
Looks like I could use some of those.
And one of the easiest recipes that comes to mind is spicy sautéed squid or cumi tumis cabe ijo.

Berhubung baru selesai liburan hampir selama 2 minggu, kulkas pun isinya minimalis banget karena belum belanja.
Kali ini, saya punya cumi kering, bawang, cabe dan sedikit asparagus.
Daripada susah, mari kita buat cumi tumis cabe ijo. 
Sudah pernah coba?

cepat jadinya dan gampaaang :)

Setelah hampir dua minggu kami menikmati Spring break dengan anak-anak minggu lalu, saya jadi kangen masak.
Banget!
Buat saya, masak itu obat penghilang stress dan capek.
Bukan hanya sekedar pemuas perut lapar.
Pusing dengan laporan yang menggunung, negosiasi yang tough dan tidak selesai-selesai atau tumpukan dokumen yang menggapai-gapai minta dibaca dan diselesaikan, saya selingi dengan masak supaya pikiran bisa lebih fresh. 
Bahkan pulang dari trip ke 2 negara dan 7 kota yang notabene buat badan 'remuk redam' karena berjam-jam nyetir dan 'ngukur jalan' alias eksplorasi kota yang kami datangi, tidak menghalangi saya untuk bebongkaran kulkas dan masak!

Dan seringkali, I cook with a 'dumping style', alias masak pakai bahan apa aja yang ada di kulkas hehehe.
  
Ini asli cara masak paling gampang dan murah meriah, paling tidak buat saya.

So, are you ready to cook spicy sautéed squid or cumi tumis cabe ijo?

Here are the ingredients.


Dried squid, 1 pound. If you have fresh squid, you can definitely cook it the same way.
 Onion or shallots, thinly sliced. 
 Garlic, 2 cloves or more as desired, thinly sliced.
 Jalapeño and/or chili, as desired, chopped.
Asparagus, cut as desired.
Cooking oil, 1 spoonful.
Salt and sugar, as desired.

Here's how to cook:

Prepare a pan and put one spoonful of oil, then cook onion and garlic for around 2 minutes or until golden and fragrant. 

Then put the squid, cook  for a while and add a bit of water (approximately 3 spoonful) to make it softer 
Add salt and sweet soy sauce. 
Mix it well and cook until the squid is tender.
Finally add the asparagus, cook it for two extra minutes until it's tender.
And that's it! 
As easy as one, two, three and this Cumi Tumis Cabe Ijo or  Spicy Sautéed Squid is best to eat together with steam rice :).

Add caption

Sebelum makan, biasanya saya selalu foto-foto dulu :).
Bukan hanya tukang masaknya yang narsis, makanannya pun perlu eksis kan.

 Selamat makan!

Mie Goreng - Indonesian Fried Noodles

It's the Chinese New Year week!
Gong Xi Fa Choi
May the Year of Rooster bring us all health, good fortune and prosperity!

I instantly want to cook yummy food, which, although it was originally coming from China, but somehow became very popular back home in Indonesia. If I'm not mistaken, noodles menu will always be present during the important events because it brings you good luck. From the Chinese emperor's table to one of the most famous staples in the world, noodles certainly have been enjoyed by so many.
Well for sure, it's yummy!

This time, I have mie goreng or fried noodles. Indonesian Fried Noodles.

Noodles have been extremely popular for its delicious taste and various version of garnish and toppings. Well, perhaps not toppings, but more like the mixtures. You can add seafood, chicken, beef, sausage, meatballs, eggs, or even pork, if you can and/or like to eat it. 

For us, the best choices are seafood, vegetables and eggs. If you are observing food combining, then noodles go perfectly hand in hand with vegetables, like mushrooms, green beans, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflowers, beansprout, green onion, bok choy and sooo many more.

As it is very popular in Indonesia, we have so many street food vendors and restaurant selling those varieties of noodles. Not only, fried noodles or mie goreng, but also mie pangsit, mie ayam jamur, mie godog, mie aceh, mie rebus, mie bakso and more. 
We fry, sauté, steam, put it in soup, mix it and bake it. 
I have shared the recipe for mie ayam jamur, another favorite dish at home. 

Not to mention the instant noodles!
You will be surprised to see tons of varieties of flavors offered instantly for you. 
But I try to reduce using it because of the amount of MSG contained in it :(.

So, ready to cook some Indonesian fried noodles?
Let's start!

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 bundles of dried noodles - There are so many choices that you can easily find in oriental store. Try to look for the egg noodles one, usually it's thin and yellow, comes in pack of 6. You can also use the fresh noodles, if you want.

1 piece Onion - thinly sliced

3 pieces Garlic - crushed

Portobello Mushroom - sliced in cubes. Or you can also use the dried mushrooms and sliced 
Bok choy - cut as desired
Carrots - cut as desired
Bean sprouts 

Spring onion - thinly sliced
2-3 Eggs - scrambled

Salt and pepper - as needed
Sesame oil - if desired
Sweet soy sauce - two spoonful or as desired
Fish sauce - if desired
Vegetable oil - one spoonful or as desired
Fried onion for garnish.

HOW TO COOK:

First, we get the noodles ready. 
Boil water in a pan and once boiling, cook the dried noodle for approximately 3 -5 minutes until they soften. Add a bit of fish sauce and sesame oil for extra favour and aroma. Set aside. 

Prepare a pan, put one spoonful of oil, then cook onion and garlic for around 3 minutes until golden and fragrant. Then put the eggs, cook and scramble it for a while,  then add the noodles. Add salt, pepper, sesame oil, and sweet soy sauce. Mix it well. Finally, add portobello mushroom, carrots, bok choy, bean sprouts and green onions. Cook it all together for another 2- 3 minutes. And in no time, your fried noodles is ready.

Sprinkle it with fried onion on top  and you can eat it just like that or with a little kick of sambal or chili sauce, or even fresh, cut chili.

Hope you like it. 
Bon appetite and enjoy!

Arem-arem, Indonesian stuffed coconut rice-roll

When I decided to write this recipe, I spent some time trying to look for the right translation for arem-arem.
Yes, arem-arem.

It started two weeks ago, in one of the meetings at my office, when we had those traditional Indonesian snacks. Pisang goreng and arem-arem.

Then my mind took me to my younger days, back to Lampung, my beloved hometown.
We used to go to one of the islands along Lampung Bay and spent the entire day playing around on those white sandy beaches and crystal-clear water.
Obviously, we had to bring enough food and drink for our excursions because there was nothing, let alone the restaurants or mini markets, on those islands.
And guess what...one of the most favorite snacks we had is arem-arem.
Made from scratch by my late grandma or my mom, and we all devoured it while it was still nicely warm. My heart aches with memories as I write this :).

Dan arem-arem pun berhasil membuat saya jadi sendu.
Bukan seneng duit lho #walaupunsebenernyaiyajugasih.
Inget jaman masih kecil dulu, setiap mau menyebrang ke salah satu pulau di Teluk Lampung,selalu berbekal nasi uduk dan teman-temannya plus arem-arem, lemper dan/atau pisang goreng.
Jadi inget dengan almarhum Nenek Ewet, panggilan kesayangan kami untuk nenek dari pihak mama, yang paling hobi buat arem-arem untuk cucu-cucunya yang kadang sudah menghabiskan arem-aremnya di mobil, jauh sebelum sampai di kapal dan menyebrang.
Dan kali ini, saya mau berbagi resep cemilan (berat) kesayangan penuh nostalgia ini.

It's rather nostalgic for me to write and share the recipe of arem-arem. 
But hey, that's the beauty of it, right.
Every food has its wonderful story.

Arem-arem is basically a stuffed rice roll, wrapped in banana leaves.
It can be stuffed with veggies, mince beef or chicken. Or simply anything you like that goes well with the rice. To make the rice even tastier, we add coconut milk, lemon grass, bay leaves and salt to the rice, before stuff it with the filling and steam it.  

So, there are three steps to prepare arem-arem. Firstly, we prepare the fillings, then precook the rice, and finally stuff the rolls and steam them.

Now let's start with the ingredients

For the filling:

It's absolutely up to you but I love a combination of veggies and mince beef.

Minced beef - 2 lbs
Carrots - 2 pieces, cut into small cubes
Potatoes - 2 pieces, peeled and cut into small cubes
Green onion - 2 pieces, finely sliced
Shallots - 2 pieces, finely sliced
Garlics - 3 pieces, finely sliced or smashed
Salt, sugar and pepper - as desired
Nutmeg powder - as desired
Vegetable oil - 2 spoonful

For the precooked rice:

Rice, preferably the jasmine rice - 3 lbs
Coconut milk - 2 cans
Lemon grass - 3 pieces
Bay leaves - 8 - 10 pieces
Salt and sugar - as desired

You well need banana leaves for wrappings . If it's a bit complicated to have one, aluminum foil will do the trick.

How to cook:

First, we prepare the fillings. It's basically veggie and minced beef sauté, so prepare the pan, put the oil and cook the shallots, onion and garlic. Once it smells great and cooked, put the minced beef and potatoes then cook it for 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and a bit of sugar as desired. Add carrots and continue to cook it. Finally, add the green onion and set it aside.

Let's now get the rice ready. Prepare the cleaned rice and add water, coconut milk, lemon grass, bay leaves all together. Cook it in pot in low fire and don't forget to stir it occasionally to avoid overcooking. Once all the liquid is all absorbed by the rice, it will be precooked and damp.

Then the next step will be stuffing the rice and roll it. Cut the banana leaves, cleaned before, into rectangle and spread one scope of rice, spread it with spoon, then add a half spoon of fillings. Add another scope of rice and roll it into a long rectangle shape. You can insert one fresh chili if you like. Once it's cooked, it won't be that hot. But I prefer to eat the chili fresh on the side.

Once all the wrapped rice rolls are ready, steam them for about 15-20 minutes.

steam it for 15-20 minutes

Once it's ready, the rice and its stuffing will be deliciously blended and you can enjoy it with fresh chili or sambal, as desired.  Eat it while it's hot or warm and enjooooy.

pair it with fresh chili

I'll be back with more Indonesian food recipes and till then, bon appetit!

Sate Padang - Padangnese Satay

Helo, everyone...

How's your Fall? cooler temperature is the perfect time for hot food, right :)

As culinary haven, Indonesia has endless offer when it comes to delicious food.

The perfect ingredients combined with distinct spices brings bold and rich flavor on every plate.

Just like one recipe that I am about to share with you.

Sate Padang. 

Have you heard of this before?

Have you tried this one?

Back home, sate padang or the Padangnese satay, is quite famous. 
Originated from Padang in West Sumatera, this sate is different from the usual Indonesian satay you have in the restaurant or on your favorite street vendor. Made of beef or ox tongue,- yes, originally it was the tongue,- this grilled satay is marinated with different mixture of Indonesian traditional herbs and spices, with a very special sauce too.

Here in NYC, we are lucky to have on Padangnese Restaurant, Upi Jaya, which serves this menu. We also have some other Indonesian restaurant having sate padang on their menus. We even have the famous Singkuan family, who has been staying in NYC for generations and famously known for their exquisite sate padang. Even on the last Indonesian Street Festival, their booth was the one with the longest queue :).

Read: New York Indonesian Street Festival 2016

So, I tried to cook it myself and I guess I nailed it :).
Not as authentic but at least it tastes yuuum and I am using no MSG!
Let's give it a try.

First, let's get the ingredients.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs of Beef - the best, tender part, cut into cube. Or if you dare, try tongue :).
Sate skewers

Spices to grind:

3 Shallots

1 Onion

3 cloves of  Garlic
3-5 fresh chili *if you like it to be spicy

4 Candle nut
1 Cardamon
1 teaspoon Turmeric

1 teaspoon Coriander 

Salt and Pepperas needed

2 stalks of l emon grass
5-10 Lime leaves

1 piece of Ginger - bruised/pressed
2 Galangal, frozen or fresh - bruised-pressed

For the sauce:

Ground spice above

Rice flour

Beef broth

Condiments:
Ketupat or rice cake - I usually buy the instant, ready-to-cook one.
Fried onion - found in Asian groceries

some of the ingredients :)

How to cook:

There are 2 separate steps that we have to do here. Well, actually 3 if you want to cook the rice cake or lontong as well.

First, we will prepare the meat.

Put all the cube beef, mix the ground spice well, and add water. Cook it in medium stove until the beef is tender and well cooked, with the ground spices well mixed. Once it's done, put it aside until it's cool enough. Put the beef in bamboo skewer and grill it to your preferences. Best is not too well-done.

Ready to grill 

rick in sauce :)

Then we will prepare the special sauce or gravy.

This is the best part for me as I love it sooooo much :).

 Put the beef broth on a pot, add the ground spices and once it's boiling, put the rice flour little by little and stir it well until it gets thick. 

here's the gravy :)

Once it's done, put the grilled sate padang on a plate and pour the special sauce on top of it. 

You can eat it with ketupat or rice cake, or just like that!

it's ready yummy indeed :)

Bon appetit and I hope you enjoy sate Padang as much as we do :).

And as this is October, join my Giveaways and support the #breastcancerawareness campaign :). Check it out in Giveaway #breastcancerawareness #finishthefight #gopink 

Ikan Panggang Bumbu - Oven-baked Spicy Fish a la Indonesia

Does summer mean baking or grilling time for you?
Well,  it's almost fall now but for us, grilled food is always welcomed :)

I know it's sizzling hot out there but as the weather gets warmer and warmer, we see many people going out in the park and have BBQ parties.

How wonderful it smells! 

Sepertinya sudah lumayan lama saya tidak posting resep masakan Indonesia kesayangan keluarga di sini. 

Di NYC, seteleh udara semakin menghangat, banyak sekali orang-orang yang mengadakan pesta barbekyu di taman-taman publik maupun di halaman rumah mereka. Semerbak wangi aneka daging dan makanan yang mereka panggang!

My familly loves grilled chicken and fish as well. But sometimes we just don't have the luxury of setting up our grill in our petit yard, so I oftenly use my oven.

This time, I have this barbecue spicy fish recipe a la Indonesia for you. 

It will be best if you grill it but baking it in the oven will still bring its exquisite taste.
Let me introduce you to Ikan Panggang Bumbu - Oven-baked Spicy Fish a la Indonesia

Ready to try?

Ingredients:

One whole fish - any fish you like but we usually love red snappers, swordfish or yellow tail.
Lime juice

For the spices (ground)
Onion - a half of medium one
Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Shallots - 1 medium
candlenuts - 3-4 pieces
Coriander - 1 teaspoonfull
Palm sugar - 1 big chunk or if you don't really fancy the bold, sweet flavor, you can reduce it to half.
Chili - if desired

Salt 

Pepper

Vegetable oil - one spoon

Basking sauce (all mixed):
Butter
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Sweet soy sauce

Lime juice 

How to cook:

First, clean the fish, make some deep cuts on both sides of the fish and rub it with lime juice.

Then we prepare the marinating sauce by grinding (you are free to use the food processor or the traditional mortar and like I do ;)) all the spices listed above. 

my traditional way of preparing the spicy sauce :)

Once all the spices are ground and well-mixed, add the vegetable oil on it. Rub it well and generously on both sides of the fish. Set it aside for a while, at least 30 minutes.

You can use your grill, griddle, grill pan or like me, the oven. Preheat it at 325 degree F. Makes sure you get the right grilling temperature and time.

As we have used palm sugar and sweet soy sauce, we use medium heat to cook it. It will take around 45 minutes to one hour to cook it. And every 20 minutes, I brush the basking sauce for extra flavor. I also bake it together with fresh red onion and big green chilies. 

ready to bake :)

And that's it, Indonesian barbecue spicy fish is ready :).
Super easy, right?

enjoooy..

I hope you like ikan panggang bumbu - oven-baked spicy fish a la Indonesia and have a great time enjoying it with your family :)