Selby's Food Corner

Tukang Susu Kacang Kedelai (Soybean Milk)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:15:00 +0000

I love drinking soybean milk and think that I'm quite lucky that just diagonal across my house, there's a man with his cart selling soybean milk every weekdays from morning till noon. He serves the soybean milk hot but surely, there's ice cubes for those who like to drink cold soybean milk.

Soybean milk in plastic bags for carry-out.

Although it's quite convenient to have a soybean milk vendor near my house, but sometimes I prefer to make soybean milk by my own so I can add pandan leaves in order to have a nice fragrance soybean milk.

Soybean milk recipe
Ingredients:
125 gram soybeans
1 liter water
2 or 3 pandan leaves (depend on how big is the leave)
sugar (to taste)

Direction:
1. Soak the soybeans in water for overnight
2. Drain, rinse and discard the water (I usually don't remove the skin of soybeans)
3. Place soybean and water in a blender and whirl until smooth (the liquid becomes a white frothy milk)
3. Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the liquid into the strainer.
4. Boil the liquid together with pandan leaves and sugar in low heat. Stir frequently.
5. Soybean milk is ready! It can be kept in refrigerator for another 2 days.

Lunch Meetings

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:55:00 +0000

In my old office, lunch meetings among the Partners and Directors were held every Wednesday until the last couple of years, it becomes once a month. We (staff) usually would be so happy when there's lots of left overs because we could bring it home :)

Board Room

Satays

Desserts

Bye 2009.... Bye left overs..
Hello 2010.... Hello new opportunities...

"HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010"

Mie Udang Singapore (Singapore Shrimp Noodles)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Craving for Singaporean noodles? I guess I don't need to fly to Singapore.... ;)

My friend has been talking about this ~~house~~ restaurant so many times. Well, I'm not so sure whether I can say it as restaurant since it's actually a house but the owner's turned their living room to be a restaurant from morning until afternoon (around 2 pm).

I had Mie Udang Singapore (Singapore shrimp noodles) . The noodles came with the ingredients of morning glory, shrimp balls, shrimps, sliced pork. Sprinkled with spring onion, fried lard (fat pork) and fried shallots. So delicious! The soup was enhanced by the shrimp broth.

This is my friend's favorite dish - Mie Goreng Kangkung Terasi. Fried noodles with morning glory, fish cake, beansprouts, sliced pork, shrimp, red chili, shrimp paste and sprinkle of fried shallots . I also like this dish too. It's a really flavorful spicy and I even could smell the nice aroma of its gravy from my friend's plate.

Address:
Mie Udang Singapore "Mi Mi"
Komplek Green Ville Blok B 1 No. 16
Tahap 4, Jakarta Barat

Disclaimer:
The review and opinion expressed here are purely according to my personal taste. There's a possibility that the taste of the food might change later on, which could affect the review and opinion here. I also affirm that no monetary or non-monetary compensation has been received from this restaurant for writing this review.

Christmas Stollen

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:30:00 +0000

It's a tradition for my mom to bake Stollen every Christmas. Sometimes, my mom would make stollen as Christmas presents or she got some orders from our friends

Stollen is a traditional Christmas cake from Germany, made from yeast dough containing dried fruits, chopped almonds and powdered with icing sugar. Stollen usually shaped like a folded oval but this time, my mom made it different shape like fruit cake based on a request.

Christmas Stollen recipe from Zwickau
The recipe is to make three or four loaves. If it’s too much, then you can make 1/2 of the recipe.

For the day before:
5½ cups sultanas
5 tablespoons vanilla sugar
16 tbsp rum
4½ cups butter
3⅓ cups sweet almonds, skinned and finely chopped
¾ cup bitter almonds, skinned and finely chopped
1⅓ cups candied lemon peel, coarsely chopped
½ cup candied orange peel, coarsely chopped

For baking day:
5½ lbs. flour, sifted
1 cup yeast
1½ cups sugar
4 cups milk
juice and peel of two lemons
Butter and powdered sugar for the glaze

The day before:
Wash the sultanas two to three times and drain them. Then mix them with the vanilla sugar and the rum. Put the butter and the margarine in a pot. Take out the almonds and the candied fruits. Leave the sultana mixture, the butter and margarine, the almonds and the candied fruit out overnight to warm to room temperature.

On baking day:
1. Pour the flour into a bowl and make a crater in the middle.
Mix together the yeast, three teaspoons of the sugar and ½ of the milk. Pour the mixture into the flour crater and work the whole thing into a dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place.

2. Mix the dough with the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the fresh lemon juice and peel. Work the butter (not melted) into the dough using as much tepid milk as necessary to make a smooth, but not sticky dough. Knead the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Then fold the almonds, candied fruits and sultanas into the dough until they are distributed throughout. Cover the dough again and put it in a warm place to rise for two hours.
Then knead it again and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Now divide the dough into 2 kg (4 lb.) lumps and form them into the shape of bread loaves. Using the back of your hand press a deep furrow all the way down the stollen, dividing the log into two differently-sized loaves. Fold the narrow length over the broader length.

4. Bake on a well-greased baking pan at 175° C (350° F) for 1¼ - 1½ hours or until golden.

5. Brush the stollen immediately after baking with melted butter. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Since these Stollens are based on request and look not like the authentic stollen, then decorations on them become essential ;)

The decorations made from fondant.

Wishing you all:

"MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009
filled with love, hope and happiness"

Christmas Stollen

Christmas Cookies

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:00:00 +0000

One more week before Christmas day! Thus.. I can't help myself from not making cookies with the Christmas theme :)

I really enjoy "playing" with the dough, the cookies cutters and my most favorite part is when the cookies have been cooled down from the oven, then I can decorate them with royal icing. It's so much fun! ;)

p.s: I'm still using the same roll-out cookies recipe from Wilton.

A weekend in Singapore

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:48:00 +0000

I was spending my weekend in Singapore :) Singapore is not far from Jakarta, it only takes approximately 1 hour 40 minutes by an airplane.

I arrived in Singapore on Friday noon and directly headed from the airport to meet a Singaporean blogger named Misti for the first time. She brought me for a yummy lunch at Sophia Food Mall - Peace Centre on Sophia Road. It's really great to meet you, Misti and also thank you so much for the yummy lunch! :)

Hor Fun

A nice savory dish which is thick flat rice noodle with slices of pork, fish cake, mushroom, shrimp, and choy sum in a gravy made from tapioca flour and soy sauce.

Roti Prata
Indian pancake bread served with 3 type of curry saucesAnother version of roti prata with onion, egg and green chili

In the evening before dinner, I managed to eat the Azabu Sabo Hokkaido ice cream at Takashimaya food court at Ngee Ann city - Orchard road. It's a recommendation from Nic - Black Tie, White Lie. Thanks, Nic! Too bad, we couldn't meet up, next time, ya? ;)

Interesting how the ice cream is prepared.

I had a double scoops of double berry (a mixture of strawberry and blueberry flavors) and matcha (green tea). I think this is one of the best ice cream I've ever had! The texture is so soft and also creamy. Just perfect after a long hot day :)

Dinner at Food Republic at Wisma Atria shopping centre - Orchard Road, together with my ex-colleagues.

I had Nasi Briyani.

A very strong fragrant and savory fried rice with spices (i.e: saffron, ghee, cumin, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, mint leaves, onion, garlic, coriander, etc.) and a nice crispy fried chicken.

One of my ex-colleagues had this noodle called Mee Rebus that she couldn't finish - not even half of the bowl although she was starving because it tasted too cloying for our Indonesian taste.

The next day, I was invited for lunch at Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant, located at 275 Thomson Road #01-05, Novena Ville.

Although this restaurant doesn't look like a fancy restaurant but the food is wonderful delicious.

Black Pepper Crab

Fish Head Curry
Hainanese Roasted Chicken

Hainanese Rice

Sapo Tofu

Stir fried bean sprout

Cereal PrawnsBarley drink

I didn't take dinner because I was too full with all the food from lunch but then, at midnight my friends brought me to have a little snack at the Al-Meen Eating House, serving Indian food and also Thai food. It's located on Changi Road.

Lassi

A traditional Indian blended yoghurt with water, salt, pepper, ice and Indian spices. It's very refreshing.

Chicken tikka

Boneless chicken marinated with spices.

Last day in Singapore, before heading back to Jakarta, I had breakfast first with my friends at one of the Coffee Bean's outlets in East Coast Parkway.

Waffles

Salmon Egg n' Muffin

Brek O'day

Well..... I really had a lot of fun and enjoyed very much this short trip.... :)

Cute doggies cookies

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Last week, my little doggies - Vincent and Bella, celebrated their 1st birthday :)

In order to celebrate it, I wanted to make something that resembles to my puppies and found out this cute doggies cookies recipe which also tasted really yummy especially because the chocolate chips and crushed cornflakes' filling inside it that make these cookies nicely crunchy. The great part of these cookies, there's no sugar or egg to make the dough! The sweet taste is from the chocolate chips and koko crunch.

Believe me, when you start to eat it then you might can not stop to eat the rest of the cookies! I'm so addicted to these cookies right now! *munches... munches...*

Ingredients:
adapted from Amanda
200g butter
200g flour
25g corn flour
25g milk powder

Fillings:
60g chocolate chips (or more)
20g cornflakes (crushed)

Toppings:
Koko Krunch (for the ears)
Chocolate chips (for the nose)
Food marker - black color (for the eyes)

Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to medium level (about 320 F)
- Cream butter till it becomes pale color
- Add flour, corn flour and milk powder then mix together
- Divide the dough into 10g each, flatten each piece of dough and add in the fillings (some chocolate chips and crushed cornflakes). Roll into balls. Note: If you like sweet, then you can be generous filling with more chocolate chips
- Decorate to make a dog's head feature. Insert 2 koko krunch to form the ears and chocolate chips in the center for the nose.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown
- Leave to cool
- Make the eyes with black food marker
- Store in an air-tight container

Happy baking! :)

Tukang Nasi Goreng Tek-Tek (Fried Rice Man)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:16:00 +0000

Last time, sometimes when I didn't bring lunch to the office, I would go to buy fried rice from a street vendor that always put his cart beside the office building. The vendor sells not only fried rice but also fried noodle but my favorite is always the fried rice :)

I think there are more than 101 ways of fried rice, you can named from chicken fried rice, seafood fried rice, shrimp paste chili fried rice, and all those kind of fusion fried rices.

The fried rice street vendors are known as Tukang Nasi Goreng Tek - Tek (Tek - Tek Fried Rice man) because when they are selling around the neighborhood with their carts, instead of shouting, they always make a sound... "tek - tek - tek - tek" by tapping a wood :)

Inside the cart:

MSG, salt, oil and sweet soy sauce in bottles

1. a bowl to whisk egg
2. chili sauce for frying
3. blended spices: nutmeg, shallot, garlic, salt, oil

The way of making Tek - Tek Fried Rice:

A. Chop spring onions
B. Cut Chinese cabbage (choy sum)
C. Heat the oil in a wok, add spring onions
D. Add whisked egg with a pinch of salt, make like scramble egg

E. Add Chinese cabbage and blended spices no. 3
(like hot and spicy, add chili sauce no. 2)
F. Add white rice.
G. Cut some fried chicken.
H. Drizzle some sweet soy sauce and salt.

I. Stir altogether
J. Cucumber, bird's eye chili and carrot pickles

And not forgetting tapioca crackers plus fried shallot for final touch.
A plate of Tek-tek fried rice is so full filling... yum... yum... yum... :)

1 portion Rp. 6.000 (about 60 cents USD)

Bumbu Desa Jakarta

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:08:00 +0000

"Sema Wilu Jeung Sumping!!!"

That's the shouting that you'll hear from the waiters when you enter this Sundanese restaurant named Bumbu Desa. It means "Welcome" in Sundanse - West Java dialect.

As soon as you have ordered your drink and what kind of rice you like (white rice, brown rice or liwet rice (nasi liwet which is rice cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leave), you can start to choose your own dishes on a buffet style counter.

There are so many choices that make you sometimes confused but good thing is that each dish is tagged with the name of the dish. Keep in mind that this is not buffet, you have to pay according to the dishes that you are taking.

Appetizer:

Sayur Asem
(Sour soup with corn, chayote, peanut, long green bean and melinjo cooked with red chili, and tamarind, etc.)

Main dishes:

Side dishes:

Fried food

After selecting the dishes that you want to eat, you can sit back to your chair and the waiters will bring the dishes to your table.

Then there's a little stall in the middle of the restaurant where you can take fresh vegetables as salad with chili sauce and sweet soy sauce- free of charge. We called it as "lalapan".

My ex-colleagues and me went for lunch to the latest Bumbu Desa's branch in Tanah Abang area.

Everyone is eating with their fingers :)

We ate the food with brown rice.

Dessert drink:
Es Campur
(young coconut, avocado, black cincau, kolang kaling with syrup and condense milk)

Prices range from Rp. 3.500 (side dishes) to Rp. 47.000 (main dishes) plus 10% tax.

So, if you are looking for authentic Sundanese cuisine, Bumbu Desa might be the right place to go ;)

Bumbu Desa Tanah Abang
Jl. Tanah Abang II No. 97
Jakarta Pusat
Tel: 380 8270

Tukang Lumpia Basah (Wet Spring Rolls)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:10:00 +0000

When I was in Bandung, I can see there're so many street vendors selling "Lumpia Basah" (trans: Lumpia means spring rolls, Basah means wet). I think the reason why it's named "wet spring roll" because this spring roll is not deep fried :)

The main ingredients: thin crepes, egg, beansprouts, chicken, dried shrimp, jicama, garlic, soy sauce.

The process of cooking for the filing of Lumpia Basah:
* heat oil in a pan
* fry garlic
* add an egg (make like scrambled egg)

* add bean sprouts
* add the jicama which is already cooked with dried shrimp, chicken, sweet and salty soy sauce
* toss some salt and fresh chili sauce (the vendor added MSG)
* stir altogether

* prepare the thin crepes made from flour and water;
sauce made from tapioca/corn flour, tamarind water and brown sugar

* put the thin crepes on a banana leaf
*dab the thin crepes with the sauce
* put the "scrambled egg" on the thin crepes
The wrapping

It's ready to be eaten :)
Tasted quite savory!

1 Lumpia Basah costs Rp. 5.000 (about 50 cents US)

Telur Asin Brebes (Salted Duck Egg from Brebes)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:55:00 +0000

During my trip to Bandung, I saw a street vendor selling boiled salted duck eggs from Brebes.

Brebes is a small city in Central Java with population less than 2 millions people is very well known for producing salted duck eggs in Indonesia. The salted duck eggs from Brebes are the best. The way of making the salted duck egg is by packing each duck egg in damp salted charcoal and leave it for 7 to 10 days. Some vendors are selling their salted duck eggs unboiled with the salted charcoal paste still wrapping the eggs and some other vendors are selling the boiled and clean with a stamp on each egg.

The most wonderful part of the salted duck egg is the dark orange fatty yolk! Yes, I love it so much! Oh.. and I don't bother at all with the white egg part which is too salty and sharp for my tastebuds ;)

1 telur asin Brebes costs Rp. 3.000 (about 30 cents US)

Kue Serabi Bandung

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:26:00 +0000

If you are visiting Bandung, give a try of the Kue Serabi Bandung which is one of the famous Indonesian traditional pancakes, made from rice starch/flour mixed with coconut milk with different kind of toppings.

If you are looking for an authentic taste, I will recommend the Oncom topping. Oncom is sediment of soy bean or peanut fermented by specific mold - an authentic food from West Java.

The traditional way of making Kue Serabi Bandung.

No electric stove but instead using wood.

Kue Serabi Bandung with Oncom topping
You can also have kue serabi with grated cheese.
It's tasty and rich of flavor.

Interested to read other Indonesian traditional pancakes? You can read:
Kue Serabi Solo
Martabak Mini
Kue Ape

Telur Dadar (scrambled egg on a skewer)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:55:00 +0000

I was walking in one of the streets in Bandung, looking something for a little snack, then suddenly this street vendor really caught my attention.

It's so interesting to see how he makes the scrambled eggs on the wooden skewers.

Just watch this video below and you can see how to make a scrambled egg on a skewer within 10 seconds!!! :)

The vendor provides tomato ketchup and chili sauce.
It costs only 10 cents US$ /skewer

Mie Kocok Bandung

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:49:00 +0000

Mie Kocok Bandung is one of the famous dishes from Bandung. Well, I'm not so sure why this noodle dish is named Mie Kocok Bandung, since it means "shake noodle from Bandung", is it because the noodle is being shake in the hot water before it's put into the bowl? Argh... I totally forgot to ask the vendor about it...

You can see the beef meatballs (bakso) on the top row then there are bean sprout in the black plastic, noodle and vermicelli.

Kikil (it's a part of the cow's foot that tasted rubbery)

The preparation to make Mie Kocok Bandung:
1. shake the noodle in the hot water.
2. put it into the bowl.
3. add chopped chinese celery, fried shallot, salt, white pepper, (usually the vendor will add also the MSG).
4. drizzle some sweet soy sauce.
5. add some kikil.
6. add a few of beef meatballs and also tofu with meatball.
7. pour the beef broth.

Es Duren (Durian Ice Cream)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:48:00 +0000

After my Kupat Tahu lunch, I had a plastic glass of Durian ice cream (es duren) for my dessert :)

Durian is considered as the King of fruits in Southeast Asia. It's a fruit that "either you love it or hate it" because of the strong unique odor (For people who love it, it's very wonderful fragrant but for people who hate it, it's so awfully stink and offensive aroma - they even want to puke when they smell it).

This is how the vendor prepare a glass of Durian ice cream :)

A scoop of durian ice cream.

A spoon of black glutinous rice.
A dollop of durian flesh and one more scoop of durian ice cream.

Drizzled with chocolate condense milk

For those who can't stand the smell of this fragrant creamy durian ice cream, please close your nose! ;)

Kupat Tahu Bandung (rice cake with yellow tofu)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Instead of having lunch at a Sundanese (West Java cuisine) restaurant together with my ex-colleagues, the food street vendors in front of the restaurant attracted me more thus I decided to eat "Kupat Tahu" for my lunch.

Kupat is another word for Ketupat which is rice cake - usually it's boiled in young coconut leaves for 4 to 5 hours.

Tahu Bandung or yellow tofu is tofu being soaked in salty turmeric water.

The preparation to make a plate of Kupat Tahu Bandung:

Slices of kupat (rice cake).

Slices of fried tahu Bandung (yellow tofu).
Blanched beansprout.

According to the vendor, the ingredients of the peanut sauce are ground roasted peanut, coconut milk, brown sugar, tamarind juice, kaempferia galanga, shallot, garlic, and salt.
Drizzled some sweet soy sauce.

Shrimp crackers on the side.

A day in Bandung

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:16:00 +0000

Yesterday, I went for a day trip to Bandung (the capital city of West Java, 2 1/2 hours from Jakarta) together with my ex-colleagues. Total of us were 25 persons. We rented a bus that brought us around the city of Bandung to shop at those famous factory outlets and also for food hunting :D

Do not worry if you only see limited food here, there'll be more posts and more details of the food that I had during this trip coming soon, so.... stay tuned! ;)

Batagor Riri

Batagor Riri is one of the famous snack in Bandung. It's like a must buy one if you are there. What is Batagor? You can click here to learn more about it.

Address:
Jl. Burangrang No. 41 (in front of Bank Central Asia)
Bandung
Tel: (022) 7303349
Note: Batagor Riri has 5 branches around Bandung.

10 pcs = Rp. 60.000

Serabi Bandung
I will write about it in another post ;)

Otak - otak Ikan
To know more about otak - otak, please read it here

Yoghurt Cisangkuy

If you love drinking yogurt, then the best place in Bandung is at "Yoghurt Cisangkuy". They serve fresh yogurt with many flavors such as strawberry, lychee, grape, orange, chocolate, etc. You can choose the thick or thin yogurt, with or without the slices of the fruit.

Address:
Jl. Cisangkuy No. 66
Bandung
Tel : (022) 7273956

prices from Rp. 9.000 to Rp. 12.000/ glass

Clique Lounge et Resto

And if you are hungry and want something not too heavy to eat, you can eat at Clique which is directly beside Yoghurt Cisangkuy.

Bubur Ayam Cikini (Chicken porridge)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:58:00 +0000

This chicken rice porridge's cart has been here since 1960s and it's not moving anywhere :)

(trans: Bubur means porridge, Ayam means chicken)

The name of this chicken porridge is "Bubur Ayam HR Sulaiman Cirebon" because the name of the owner was HR. Sulaiman (now his son is taking care this famous chicken porridge business) and HR. Sulaiman came from Cirebon, the city that is famous of Tahu Gejrot (stinky tofu). But then, mostly people are more familiar with the name "Bubur Ayam Cikini" because of the location is in Cikini - Central Jakarta.

The toppings for the chicken porridge.

Salty soy sauce and white pepper.

Pssstt... I've never seen this brand of salty soy sauce in the market so I guess this is one of the secret ingredients that make the chicken porridge tasted special *wink*

The way of preparation of the chicken porridge is a little bit than the one I already posted before, you can click here to read it.

Let's see how is the preparation of making this chicken porridge ;)

First scoop a big spoon full of a thick porridge into a bowl.

Sprinkle white pepper.
Ah.. even just a little but it totally gave a peppery kick!

Add some tong cai (mustard green pickle)

Drizzle some salty soy sauce.

Generously add some slices of Cakwee (yaotiao/ yau char kway)

then some torn chicken

And last, for the top... Emping (malinjo chips)
Ready to be served to the hungry customers *drools*

As the texture of the porridge and also toppings are a bit different than the usual street chicken porridge, definitely the taste is slightly different too. I could taste the warm thick rice porridge is cooked with chicken broth and ginger which added a nice aroma.

Carrot Cake

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:37:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I've been looking for a yummy carrot cake recipe. So glad that I found one in JoyofBaking.com

Definitely, I got very tempted to bake it directly!

So here is the result. As usual, I tried not to put any cream nor frosting to my cake but don't worry, I still put the frosting cream recipe here, in case you want to give it a try :)

Carrot Cake Recipe by Stephanie Jaworski.

For the cake:
1 cup (100 grams) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
3/4 pound (340 grams) raw carrots (about 2 1/2 cups finely grated)
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (240 ml) safflower, vegetable or canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Note: For a moister carrot cake, add 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple (well drained) or applesauce to the batter when you add the oil and vanilla extract. You may have to bake the cake a few minutes longer.

Note: This cake can be baked in a 9 x 13 x 2 inch (23 x 33 x 5 cm) pan. Just increase the baking time to between 30 to 40 minutes

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups (230 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
finely grated lemon zest of one lemon

Direction to make the Carrot Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.

Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

Peel and finely grate the carrots. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5 -10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.

To assemble: place one cake layer, top side down, onto your serving plate. Spread with about one third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake, top of cake facing down, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. If desired, press toasted and finely chopped nuts on the sides of the cake and decorate the top of the cake with marzipan carrots (see below). Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.

Serves 10 - 12.

Frosting:
In bowl of electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, just until blended with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

Btw, I really love these Korean twins! I just think they are so awesome.... Beautiful voices! :)

Eating Marijuana leaves?

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:52:00 +0000

When my friend told me that she's going to bring me to eat at a restaurant that serves marijuana (cannabis) leaves as a condiment, it definitely really intrigued me! I was surprised that it's legal to eat marijuana leaves because for sure it's illegal to smoke it.

When we arrived at the restaurant, I was like... Oh my, I've been passing this "Rumah Makan Medan Baru" so many times because it has been here since about 35 years ago, but all this time, I thought it's just an ordinary Padang restaurant which actually turned out that this restaurant is serving Aceh food (trans: rumah makan means restaurant).

A little introduction about Aceh:
Aceh is a special territory of Indonesia, located at the northwestern Sumatra island. According to the history, Aceh was the first place where Islam established in Southeast Asia and so far, it's considered as the most religiously conservative area among places in Indonesia. In December 2004, Aceh was hit by the tsunami resulting about 230.000 people killed.

As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, I could see the same attraction like at those Padang restaurants where the waiters bring many food plates at one time on their forearms.

Can you count how many plates are there on one forearm? ;)

Inside the restaurant.
It's divided into non-air conditioned room and air conditioned room.

Our table.... so full of food! :)
No... no.... no..., we didn't eat all the food on the table!
We just took the food that we wanted to eat on our plate and paid for it.

The best way to eat this kind of food is with your fingers! ;)

And you know what? I learned that this place is actually the best place in town for the Gulai Kepala Ikan (fish head curry) . The kind of fish that being served is ikan Kakap Putih or barramundi fish. It costed us Rp. 89.500 (it depends on the weight) plus 10% tax.

It tasted so delicious, the gravy was sweet, rich taste and creamy from the tick coconut milk. The fish meat was so soft like cotton and some parts of the meat tasted like jelly.

The owner of the restaurant was so helpful. He came to our table and showed us that actually inside the fish bone, there's still meat. He opened it by using 2 forks, pretty interesting to see the trick to open it. Then, he poured the sauce of "asam ganja" on the fish bone.

I had a chance to see how they prepared the fish head.

For me, the most interesting dish from all is the marijuana leaves which is the condiment of the fish head named "Asam Ganja".
(trans: Asam means sour; Ganja means marijuana)

I asked the owner what's actually inside the asam ganja. He told me that the ingredients beside the marijuana leaves are shallot, belimbing buluh (it's a family of starfruit), dried shrimp, lemongrass. So, how did it taste? Yumm... A nice tanginess that definitely gave a zing :)

Fish eggs.
I wonder how many million eggs where there on the plate.

Fried Pigeons
What a big surprise to see the inside of the pigeon's stomach!
It freaked me out at first but then I was able to take a pic of it :)
The meat of pigeon gives off a pungent, chicken-like aroma but then, I absolutely prefer chicken meat.

The rest of the food on the table:
From left to right.

Sweet soy bean cake with chilli, anchovy and peanuts. Cassava leaves with long beans, bean sprout and grated old coconut.

Boiled papaya leaves. Deep fried sliced beef with chili.

Potato with stinky beans and shrimps. Gizzards curry.

Fried pineapple with red chilli. Pickles (cucumber, shallot and red chilli)

The lunch was ended with a glass of Tamarillo (Tree tomato) juice. Here in Indonesia, Tamarillo is known as Terong Belanda. If you are interested to see the Tamarillo fruit and how to make the juice, click here.

Rumah Makan "Medan Baru"
(Medan Baru Restaurant)
Jl. Raya Krekot Bunder No. 65
Pasar Baru, Jakarta Pusat
Indonesia
Tel: 3844273, 3844922, 3858992

The Duck King restaurant (PIM 2)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:30:00 +0000

The Duck King restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants. It's a group restaurant and has a total of 8 restaurants in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. This group of restaurant is specializing in authentic Chinese cuisine with the influence of Southeast Asian taste, therefor the food is halal (no pork).

Last year, I even celebrated my birthday at the Grand Duck King restaurant which located in Grand Indonesia Mall in Central Jakarta.

Last week, my friend who is living in Singapore; came to visit and we had a very nice lunch at one of the Duck King restaurants that is located at Pondok Indah Mall 2 in South Jakarta.

Our lunch started with dim sum as appetizer.

Fried prawns wanton with mayonnaise - Rp. 15.800.
Nice crunchy with tasty filling.

Steamed Hakau - Rp. 16.800
The filling of prawns was so juicy and flavorful.

Steamed Siew Mai - Rp. 15.800
Wonderful meaty!

Steamed chicken feet with black pepper - Rp. 14.800
It's spicy and a bit chewy.... yummy!

Then the main course followed the dim sum.

A plate of dry Hong Kong Noodle with wanton - Rp. 32.000

Frankly speaking, I hardly eat dry version noodles. After a few bites, I found out that I like the springy texture. Next time, definitely, I will order it again :)

Eating at The Duck King restaurant wouldn't be complete without a plate of roasted duck. Love the roasted duck! The crispy skin and juicy tender meat of the duck was just heavenly.

Braised Tou Miaw with dried scallop and oyster sauce - Rp. 58.000

A good way of cooking the tou miaw vegetable, as the gravy enriched the taste.

So many delicious food for just 2 hungry stomachs which was so fulfilling and we almost couldn't finish it. Still, we didn't forget to order the dessert :) My friend and I shared together a little bowl of longan fruit with almond tofu sago "Mei Lo" - Rp. 25.000

Prices are subjected to tax and service charge.

The Duck King restaurant
Pondok Indah Mall 2
3rd Floor Unit 340-342
Jl. Metro Pondok Indah
Jakarta Selatan 12310
Telp. +62 21 7592 0610 - 11

Tukang Soto Ayam Madura (Chicken Stew from Madura)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:43:00 +0000

Soto Ayam Madura (chicken stew) is a well known dish from Madura - an island located northeastern coast near East Java. The topping on this chicken stew named "koya" powder is the signature. Koya powder is made from prawn crackers, fried garlic and dried shrimp.

The preparation to make Soto Ayam Madura:

A bowl of rice

Vermicelli and pieces of torn chicken on the top of rice.

Torn chicken.

Then add bean sprouts and fine chopped chinese celery.

Slices of white cabbage and boiled egg.

Slices of a tomato and salt.

Pour the chicken broth (chicken cooked with turmeric, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves, ginger, pepper seeds, shallot, garlic, nutmeg).

It looks so colorful and delicious, isn't it? ;)

Sprinkle with koya powder and also a squeeze of lime juice .

Add chili sauce if you like hot and spicy :)

A bowl of Soto Ayam Madura costs Rp. 7.000 (USD 70 cents)

Little buns and a big thank you

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:07:00 +0000

You all might have noticed that my food blog has a new look :)

I owe a big thank you to these 3 wonderful food bloggers who had helped me to make this new look happened.

It started all when LK - Food4-Tots, suggested me to change my header because my old header didn't represent my blog at all (remember the cherry's header?). At the end, it's not only the suggestion of header but also for arranging my side bar to look more neat and also the heading menu. Yes, LK has been very supportive in order to make my blog looks better. Thank you so much for being so supportive, LK! :)

As for the layout format size, Nic- Black Tie, White Lie, had helped me. Thank you for your help, Nic! :)

Now, the one who designed my header blog... Beside of being a food blogger, fusion cook and also a cat lover, he is actually a real designer! Some of you probably can guess it already ;) Yup, it's Criz Lai - Criz Bon Appetite! He was willingly to design the lovely header for me just an overnight although he is very busy at the moment. Thanks a lot, Criz! It's very kind of you to design it specially for me! I really love the new header!

My mom loves to bake bread. Almost every week, my mom bakes bread. She really loves to bake bread. 2 days ago, she got a recipe from her friend to make little buns and tried it out.

Little Buns
Ingredients:
900gr high protein flour
100gr low protein flour
240gr sugar
20gr salt
200gr butter
125gr powder milk (full cream)
30gr instant yeast
5 gr bread improver
4 egg yolks
100gr cold milk
320gr cold water
15gr emulsifier

Directions :
- Mix all - the flour with sugar, milk powder, bread improver, emulsifier, egg yolks in a large bowl
- Add cold milk, salt, butter, stir it until a dough form
- Pour cold water
- Knead the dough until smooth and elastic
- Let the dough "rest" for 15 minutes
- Shape the dough into ball size (about 15 gr)
- Let the dough "sit" again for 10 minutes
- Add filling like chocolate, cheese (optional)
- Let the dough "stay" at a warm temperature for about 50 - 60 minutes
- Brush the dough balls with egg
- Bake in the oven 180 Celsius for about 30 minutes (or until golden brown)
- Transfer to a wire rack and serve warm if possible :)

Note:
- my mom tried not to use the emulsifier and only depend the dough raise on the instant yeast; it didn't work out at all thus she had to add the emulsifier.
- you might notice that the buns are not shining because they were not brushed with egg.
- you can add filling if you wish into the dough balls (my mom added chocolate stick)

A Yakiniku & Shabu-shabu restaurant

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Last Tuesday, I had lunch with my ex-colleagues at a buffet Yakiniku (grilled meat) & Shabu - shabu (hot pot) restaurant in Central Jakarta.

While I was taking pictures of the food, suddenly from behind me there's a man voice,

" HEY!!! MISS... MISS...!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES FOR?"

I turned my head to the man and figured out that the man is probably the manager of the restaurant. I answered him, "For my blog."

Then the man said with still his high tone of voice, "NO! You can not take any pictures in here!"

I showed a surprised face and asked, "Oh... Why?" Followed directly with an explanation to him, "This can be a promotion for your restaurant."

But the man insisted and said, "No, it's not allow!"

So, I said back to him, "Ok, then... I wont take pictures anymore."

I turned my camera off and walked away from that man. And yes, I kept my words, no more taking pictures in the restaurant, BUT, psssstttt.... I didn't say that I will not blog and post about this restaurant, right? *wink* Anyway, since they don't want any promotion (even it's a free one) for their restaurant so I definitely will not reveal the name of the restaurant nor give my review.

Hope you all will enjoy the pictures that I managed to capture :)

A grill built into the table and also a hot pot.

An array of raw meats, seafood and also raw vegetables.

Special grill sauces

Desserts

Peaches and "vla" on a Vanilla Cake

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:25:00 +0000

When Natasha - 5 Star Foodie mentioned that she is hosting a "makeover" for Peaches and Cream a week ago, it got my attention and I would love to participate but then there's a hesitation because it's not easy to find fresh peaches. Anyway, I was glad when Natasha said it's ok to use canned peaches so... this is what I baked in order to participate the Peaches and Cream.

FYI, I didn't use cream for the base of the peaches on the top of the cake because I'm trying to avoid cream intake, instead I changed the cream with vla (trans: Vla is a Dutch word for cornstarch pudding - custard, the word "vla" is commonly use here in Indonesia).

Vanilla Cake
Ingredients:
100 gr butter
8 egg yolks
65 gr sugar
30 gr flour
20 gr maizena (corn starch)
1/2 tsp vanilla powder

Directions:
- In a bowl beat the butter until smooth
- In another bowl beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy
- Add flour and maizena, mix it until well blended
- Slowly pour the batter into the bowl of butter - mix it slowly
- Pour it to a round pan (diameter of 30 cm)
- Bake in the oven, temperature of 180 C for 20 minutes
- Remove from the pan, leave it to cool

For the toppings:
1. Vla

Ingredients:
350 ml milk
75 gr sugar
25 gr maizena - corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg yolk - beaten
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp rum

Directions:
- Boil milk, sugar, maizena and salt together in a saucepan - mix it slowly
- When it's boiled, add the beaten egg yolk - mix it smoothly
- Take the saucepan from the heat, add butter - mix it
- Let it cool, then add the rum - mix it well

2. A can of peaches (I used Del Monte)
3. The glaze
I used one sachet of instant glaze called "Tortenguss" from Belbake - follow the sachet instruction. (Note: you can replace the glaze with jelly).
Vanilla cakes with peaches and vla:
- Spread the vla on the vanilla cake
- Put the peaches on the vla
- Pour the glaze on the peaches cake
- Chill it for about 25 to 30 minutes before serving