Selby's Food Corner

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

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.

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

Da Niang Dumpling, Jakarta

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:24:00 +0000

Do you love eating dumplings? I do... It's one of my favorite food :)

So glad that around my area there's a yummy restaurant for dumplings named Da Niang or also known as Wu Da Niang.
Da Niang Dumpling restaurant is a Chinese style fast food chain with a concept of western style fast food from China. It has more than 200 franchised restaurants all over China including one in Jakarta and also one in Sydney.

Sui Kiau 3 Rasa - Babi Jamur, Tunas Bambu
Triple Tastes Dumpling - Pork, Mushroom, Bamboo Shoot
10 pcs Rp. 38.000

Sui Kiau Vegetable
10 pcs Rp. 38.000

Sui Kiau Goreng Sapi Australia & Daun Ketumbar
Coriander Australian Beef Fried Dumpling
10 pcs Rp. 48.000
Very tasty!

Those dumplings are so delicious especially dipped into the special chili sauce.

Bacang Babi
Pork Gluten Rice with salted egg yolk
Rp. 22.000

A bit disappointment because the part of pork was mostly the fat.

Jamur Kuping Putih dgn Kurma Merah
White Fungus Red Dates
Rp. 20.000

A refreshing dessert, the white fungus were so crunchy and the red dates were sweet with a little sour taste at the end of the seeds.

Jamur Kuping Putih dgn Biji Teratai
White Fungus Lotus Seed
Rp. 20.000

Lei Sha Wan
Lei Sha Ball with black sesame
Rp. 18.000
I love the chewy texture.

Soy bean milk with white sugar syrup.
Interestingly it has a smokey flavor.

Wu Da Niang Dumpling Restaurant
Mal Taman Anggrek Level 2 Block E,
Jl Letjen S Parman Kav 21
Jakarta Barat, Indonesia

Pickled Chinese Mustard Greens with Tofu

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:25:00 +0000

I have always love everything that tasted sweet and sour :) I just think it's a very perfect combination of those two taste. I like sweet taste because it related to happiness - we do look for sweet food when we feel sad, right? And you know what, there's old german saying, "Sauer macht lustig" which means sour (acid food) makes (you) happy. Ah.... perfect!

A nice dish of sweet and sour taste, sweet from the sweet soybean sauce and sour from the pickled Chinese mustard greens.

Ingredients:
250 gr Pickled Chinese Mustard Greens (gai choy) - need to wash it first because cut into slices
300 gr white tofu - cut into dices, fried deep into hot oil, drain
2.5 cm ginger - sliced
1 onion - sliced
2 red chilies - sliced
2 tbsp sweet soybean sauce (or to taste)
1 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking

Preparations:
- Heat up the oil in a pan, sautee the onion until soft
- Add ginger and red chillies, stir a bit
- Add pickled mustard greens, sautee until soft
- Add sweet soy sauce, stir fry
- Add the fried tofu
- Ready to serve :)

Note:
- No need to add salt because the pickled Chinese mustard greens is very salty and sour.
- Make sure to wash the pickled Chinese mustard greens first especially if you but it at wet market because it's dirty and salty. By washing it a couple of times, it might reduce the saltiness.

Seribu Rasa Restaurant, Jakarta

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:31:00 +0000

I had a scrumptious lunch at Seribu Rasa restaurant. A new restaurant which is under the management of Penang Bistro (Penang Bistro is one of my favorite restaurants in town). As I noticed, a lot of government officials love to eat here.

Yup... I've been eating at many nice restaurants lately (for those who love to read my street food posts, don't worry, street food will still be posted here). I hope this is actually not a sign of stress because frankly speaking, I do love to indulge myself with food when I got stress *grin*

Back again about this restaurant.... The meaning of "Seribu rasa " is thousands flavors which I think it implemented very good to the rich taste of the Southeast Asia variety dishes offered in this restaurant.

Seribu Rasa restaurant's building is divided into three buildings with a parking lot in the basement. It's very interesting to see each buildings with its different Indonesian architectures of traditional ethnic houses.

The front view of the Seribu Rasa restaurant.
You can see directly below the the parking lot under the building.

As soon as you step in the restaurant (the second building),
you can directly smell the jasmine flower's scent, very lovely.

Between each building, there're a fountain and also fish ponds.

Private room in the first front building.

Private room in the back (the third building) with a roof that is reminiscent of old Javanese houses (Joglo).

Inside.

Appetizer:

Selat Popia (Kue Pie Tie) - Rp. 25.000 (USD 2.5)

Deep fried crispy cup filled with mix of sauteed vegetables, seafood, chicken and mushroom.

Main dishes:

Fried chicken with mango sauce - Rp. 46.000 (USD 4.6)

Crispy fried chicken dressed with thin slices of young mango, fresh chopped shallots and also mango sauce. It's my favorite dish :)

Dried scallop string bean - Rp. 44.000 (USD 4.4)
String bean sauteed with dried scallop chili sauce.

Crispy fried squid - Rp. 43.000 (USD 4.3)
Deep fried battered squid served with spicy tangy dipping sauce.

Taucho Tahu Udang - Rp. 43.000 (USD 4.3)

Beancurd, prawns and petai (stinky beans) sauteed in taucho (fermented bean paste) sauce and red green chilis.

Desserts:

Top: Es Dawet Ndoro Putri - Rp. 28.000 (USD 2.8)

Cendol and red beans with brown sugar and creamy coconut milk, topped with a dollop of durian (stinky fruit) puree.

Bottom: Es campur seribu rasa - Rp. 24.000 (USD 2.4)

Black cincau (jelly), young coconut, avocado, pineapple, merah delima with crushed ice and fragrant mango syrup.

Ketan Hitam Mangga Gincu Rp. 28.000 (USD 2.8)
Black glutinous rice and cubed mango with coconut milk.

FYI, Seribu Rasa restaurant is serving only lunch (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and dinner (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), the restaurant is closed in between.

Seribu Rasa Restaurant
Jl. Haji Agus Salim 128, Menteng,
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia.
Tel: (62-21) 392 8892

Idul Fitri royal icing cookies

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:42:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the Hari Raya Idul Fitri or Lebaran, also known as "Eid ul-Fitr" - a celebration day for the Muslim people for breaking the one whole month fasting period.

I'm not a Muslim but living in a country with the largest population of Muslim in the world, it definitely makes me feel as I'm also celebrating it especially because we are having one week holiday. Jakarta will be empty (in fact, it's already quite empty the streets) because most people are returning to their hometown to celebrate this festive with their family.

My neighbor asked me to make some royal icing cookies with the Idul Fitri celebration theme.

Here is the result :)

Wishing to all my Muslim friends:

"Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1430 Hijriah
Minal Aidzin Wal Faidzin
Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Bathin"

Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), Jakarta

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:08:00 +0000

If you happen to Ubud - Bali, then one of places that you need to visit for food is Bebek Bengil which means Dirty Duck (trans: Bebek = Duck, Bengil (Balinese) = Dirty). The "Bebek Bengil - Dirty Duck Diner" restaurant has opened since 1990 and has it own rice field inside. Surrounded by rice fields and a marvelous garden where you can eat at one of the huts by the rice fields.

In case, you don't have the chance to visit Bebek Bengil in Ubud - Bali, then you might can try its branch in Jakarta which just newly opened this year. Last week, I had a delectable lunch there :)

Bebek Bengil restaurant's entrance in Jakarta

Inside garden

You can sit outside,

or inside (with air conditioner).

The story why they named their restaurant as "Dirty Duck Diner" is because when they were building the restaurant, they were confused to name their restaurant. They wanted a Balinese name that translate well into English, but they couldn't find a perfect name until one monsoon morning, when the restaurant was almost finish built, suddenly a group of ducks from the rice filed, walked straight quacking and squawking into the restaurant. The ducks made a total mess and left muddy footprints all over the place. Their first guests... the dirty ducks! That's where the name came from :)

When you order the food, do not miss to order their specialty - the original crispy duck Bebek Bengil! It's so crispy that you can even eat the bones.

It's served with balsamic shallots pickles with bird eye chilies and sweet chilly sauce mixed with shrimp paste and tomato.

Bebek Bengil Rp. 72.000 (USD 7.2)
Half a Duck steamed in Indonesian spices and deep fried for a crispy finish.

Served with steamed rice and Balinese vegetables

or creamy mashed potatoes and salad with astringent dressing.

For dessert, I tried the Black Russian Pie. A divine pie that I would like to have again someday :)

Black Russian Pie Rp. 41.000 (USD 4.1)
Mixed with vodka, Kahlua and topped with chocolate.

All the prices are subject to Tax & Service Charge.

Bebek Bengil (Dirty duck Diner)

Jakarta:
The Ubud Building
Jl. H. Agus Salim No. 132, Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
Tel: (62-21) 391 8016

Bali:
Jl. Hanoman, Padang Tegal
Ubud - Bali 80571
Tel: (62-361) 975489

Bunga Rampai Restaurant

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Yesterday, I had lunch with my mom and her friends at Bunga Rampai Restaurant.

Bunga Rampai restaurant has opened since 2007 and very well known for high society expatriates and ambassadorial gatherings because it's a fine dining restaurant providing Indonesian cuisine in an old Dutch colonial house.

The name of Bunga Rampai is taken from the Indonesian term of traditional Indonesian flower arrangement with assorted flowers i.e: jasmine, rose and frangipani/plumeria.

You can definitely really feel the Dutch colonial ambiance inside the restaurant.

The main dining area.

It's a nice place for photo shooting.

Lovely chinaware.

There're left and right wings of the restaurant.

Now about the Food & Drinks.

First, we started with the drinks.

Above (Left to Right): Water Equil (Rp. 25.000), Banana Smoothies (Rp. 45.000), Strawberry Smoothies (Rp. 45.000)

Bottom (Left to Right): Strawberry Juice (Rp. 35.000), Menteng Frost - Oreo, Fresh Milk, Vanilla ice cream, coffee (Rp. 38.500), Special juice - Melon and Oranges (Rp. 45.000)

And then appetizer:

Kembang Pacar (Rp. 75.000)

Deep fried prawn are served in hand wrapped spring roll and served with sweet and sour sauce.

Pempek Sutera Palembang (Rp. 45.000)

A popular fish cake from Palembang - South Sumatra, this deep fried delicacy is complemented diced cucumber, dried shrimp and a palm sugar vinaigrette dressing.

Followed with the main course.

Left: Nasi Bakar - Burnt Rice with mushroom, corn, salty fish and Indonesian basil leaves (Rp. 66.000)
Right: Nasi Merah - Brown Rice (Rp. 16.500)

Condiments for the Nasi Bakar:
Deep fried beef with grated old coconut

Sweet soybean cake on skewers.

Konro Bakar (Rp. 106.500)

These beef back ribs has been lovingly prepared in a sweet soy and coriander sauce. The meat was very tender.

Rendang MalinKundang (Rp. 68.500)

Original beef marinated with coconut and herbs.

Sate BungaRampai (Rp. 183.500)

These satay are the MOST expensive satay that I've ever eaten in my life! I'm not joking! With the same price of it (or even less), you can already eat a delicious and satisfying buffet dinner at a 5 stars hotel. The satay (total only of 4 skewers on a plate) are assorted meat (chicken, beef) and seafood (fish, prawn) . Seriously, there's nothing special of the taste.

A close up picture of the fish on lemongrass skewer.

Teratai (Rp. 60.500)

Sautéed pakcoy with tofu and prawn. Very salty for my taste buds!

Ayam Kremes (Rp. 70.000)

Deep fried chicken with grated old coconut. It tasted mediocre.

Kangkung Balacan (Rp. 49.500)

Morning glory sautéed with spicy paced red chili, tomato and finely ground dry shrimp. Supposedly tasty but turned out tasteless.

Kerapu Goreng saus asam jawa (Rp. 103.000)

Deep fried grouper fish served with traditional Javanese sauce. It tasted pretty good.

At the end... Dessert:

Home made ice cream (Rp.22.000/scoop)

All prices are subject to 10% government tax & 5% service charge
Currency: 1 USD = Rp. 10.000

Overall, I quite like the ambiance of this restaurant but not really fond for the food and seriously, I think the prices are just extremely too expensive for the kind of food and taste that are being served. Absolutely, this is not a place for people with Indonesian average income ;)

Bunga Rampai Restaurant
Address:
Jl. Cik Di Tiro No. 35, Menteng
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia
Tel. (62-21) 3192 6224 /25

Over the rainbow cookies

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:48:00 +0000

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high.
There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops, Away above the chimney tops.
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow,
Why then - oh, why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow,
Why, oh, why can't I?

Note: I'm still using the same recipe of my cookies with royal icing.

Sushi Tei, Jakarta

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:05:00 +0000

My friend invited me to celebrate her birthday at Sushi Tei yesterday.

So glad with her choice of place because it's also my favorite place for having sushi.

This Sushi Tei restaurant that we went is located in Plaza Indonesia. It's very crowded as usual although this month is a fasting month for the Muslim.

We chose to sit beside the Kaiten Sushi (sushi train where a stream of plates winding through in the middle of the restaurant). We had total of 8 plates and pleased with the taste.

Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce), wasabi (green paste), gari (sweet pickled ginger) and ocha (green tea) as condiments.

A bowl of Tempura Soba for me.... so comforting with the crispy tempura.

My other friend ordered Tsukimi Udon with raw egg on the top.

No one ordered for dessert because.... there's no more space in everyone's stomach :)

Sushi Tei
Plaza Indonesia 1st Floor # 102 A&C
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28 - 30
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel: (021) 39835108/09

Soto Kudus (Chicken/ Buffalo stew from Kudus)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Kudus is a small city in Central Java. One of the most popular dish from that city is the Soto Kudus (stew). There are 2 choices of meat - chicken or buffalo. Probably you might question why buffalo, not beef? Well, the information that I heard is that most people in Kudus don't eat beef because they don't believe in killing cows.

This Soto Kudus restaurant is serving only the chicken stew. You probably will find that the chicken meat is not tender, a bit harder to bite because it's free range chicken which we called it as ayam kampung (trans: ayam = chicken; kampung = village).

I like eating Soto Kudus because it's consider light stew, savory and also flavorful because of the spices.

Soto Kudus Recipe
Source: Fatmah B.

Ingredients:
1 kg free range chicken
2 litters water
2 tsp salt
3 Indonesian bay leaves/laurel
200 gr bean sprout (only pour with hot water and then drain)
2 tbsp leek/ green onion (chopped)
2 tbsp fried shallots
1 tbsp fried garlic

Ground ingredients:
10 pcs shallots
5 pcs garlic
5 pcs nutmeg
2 cm tumeric
2 cm ginger
1 tbsp white pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp MSG (optional, I prefer not to use it)

Chili sauce ingredients:
10 pcs small red chili
50 ml sweet soy bean sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fried garlic

Directions:
- Boil water, put the chicken and salt. Let it boil again, then simmer it until becomes broth.
- Take out the chicken, fry in hot oil until golden. Then use hands to tear the chicken into small pieces.
- Fry the ground ingredients with vegetable oil until fragrance, add the Indonesian bay leaves then pour into the chicken broth.

How to prepare the Soto Kudus:

Put the bean sprout on the little bowl first.
Follow with the pieces of torn chicken.

And then, put fried garlic and then fried shallots

On top, put the chopped green onion,
and then pour the chicken broth in the bowl.

Soto Kudus

Usually, when you eat at a Soto Kudus restaurant, they will also provide a plate of quail eggs on skewers, chicken gizzards on skewers, scrambled eggs and croquette as a side dish.

I always love to add the fresh lime juice by squeezing the lime directly to the Soto Kudus.

The perfect companion of Soto Kudus is a plate of warm white rice :)

Cookies with royal icing

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This is my first attempt to make cookies with royal icing as the decoration :)

I think the result turned out pretty good *happy*

Are you interested to try to make these cookies? Here are the recipes of the cookies and also the royal icing:

Roll-out Cookies
source: Wilton

Ingredients:
* 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon no-color almond extract
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt

Makes: About 3 dozen cookies.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. In mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Do not chill dough. Divide dough into 2 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a circle approximately 12 in. wide and 1/8 in. thick. Dip cookie cutter in flour before each use. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet 6-7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.

Recipe may be doubled.

Egg White Royal Icing
source: Wilton

Ingredients:
* 3 egg whites (room temperature)
* 4 cups (approximately 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Makes: 2 1/2 cups.

Instructions:
Beat all ingredients at high speed for 7 to 10 minutes. Use immediately. Rebeating will not restore texture.

P.S: We had a big earthquake today! Not only the southern coast of Java but also Jakarta got hit by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake around 3 PM. I was in the office - on the 17th floor, when it happened.... It's so scary!!! During and after the earthquake, people were running out of the building and most of us got so dizzy.

The pics below were taken in front of the building's lobby.

Tukang Chi Chong Fan (steamed rice noodle sheets man)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Chi Chong Fan is an Indonesian version of steamed rice noodle sheets or commonly named as Cheong Fun (腸粉 cheong fan or 肠粉 chángfěn) and commonly served in dim sum. The rice noodle sheets are made from mixed rice flour and water, poured into a special flat pan and then steamed. The authentic ones are usually are rolled and filled with different types of meats like beef, shrimp or barbecued pork, often topped with sweet soy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

The Indonesian steamed rice noodle sheets (Chi Chong Fan) is well known from Medan - capital of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Besides, the sauce and the sprinkles are different than the authentic ones, the rice noodle sheets here are remained flat and without any filling except those extra added little pieces of "ham". Chi Chong Fan has a very soft and smooth texture.

The vendor is selling on his bicycle.

You can see the red dots on the chi chong fan.
According to the vendor, it's ham *wink*3 bottles of sauces.
from left to right:
salty soy sauce, sweet sour sauce, chili sauce.

Cut the chi chong fan with a scissor.

Toss all the 3 kind of sauces.
Final touch, sprinkle with fried shallots.

A portion costs only Rp. 5.000 (about US 60 cents)

Tukang Tahu Gejrot (Stinky Tofu man)

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Tahu Gejrot is stinky tofu (beancurd), an authentic snack from Cirebon (a city in West Java that's famous with the nickname as Prawn city).

Seriously, this tofu has a very strong odor which is stink. How bad does it smell? Uhmmm... Just imagine rotten tofu, hehehe.... But not unlike the Chinese stinky tofu where people already can smell it from a distance, you only can smell the stink of this tahu gejrot when you give a bite on it. Btw, the flavor of tahu gejrot is quite mild.

Not everyone likes to eat this tahu gejrot; my mom is one of those people who can not stand of the smell and the idea of eating "rotten tofu" but her daughter likes it *grin*

This vendor is selling his tahu gejrot on his bicycle but then you can also find other tahu gejrot vendors selling on carts.

The fried stinky tofu.

The ingredients for making the tahu gejrot sauce:

In the bottles: tamarind water, palm sugar water.

In the drawer: Palm sugar, garlic, shallot and bird's eye chili.

The vendor prepares the sauce.

He grinds all the ingredients of the sauce on the little black plate.

He uses a little pestle to grind the ingredients.

I love the taste of this piquant sauce. A mix of sweet, sour, hot and agreeably biting taste with the pungent smell from the fresh garlic and shallot.

Pour the sauce on the top of the stinky tofu and cucumber.

A plate of tahu gejrot costs only Rp. 6.000 (US 70 cents)

Rainbow Cupcakes

selba22@gmail.com (Selba) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:15:00 +0000

A few months ago, I was tempted to make rainbow cupcakes. I used Wilton coloring with the result as the below picture.
I showed it to my friend and she said that the colors are not really attractive since it's too soft. I guess she actually meant my rainbow cupcakes look dull, hehehe. Well, Wilton's colors produce their best for pastel colors and there's no any other food colorings to find here in Jakarta, better than Wilton's product - I think.

I noticed that many of the American food bloggers are using Americolor product for food coloring. So, when Lynn told me that she's coming to visit me in July and asked me what I wanted from the States, the first thing that came up in my mind was those beautiful Americolor food colorings.

FYI, Lynn was a Singaporean blogger who is living in the States. I've known her for more than 4 years in the blogsphere but not until last year, when I finally met her in real person for the first time in Bali. We had a wonderful time traveling, shopping and eating together around Bali for 3 days.

Anyway, Lynn canceled her trip to Jakarta for the security reason (remember the Jakarta's bombing at those 5 stars hotels last July?), thus she sent me a parcel.

Well, the parcel already reached Jakarta 2 weeks ago but there's a problem to get it out from the Indonesian Customs office and also the Post office. I had to face many silly bureaucracy procedures. At last, I got the parcel out from the Post office yesterday *so relieved*

In the parcel, it contains the book "Eat, Pray, Love", 1 bottle of Omega 3 supplement, 1 set of gourmet writer plus extra 2 pens, and 12 bottles of Americolor. Yay!!! Thank you so much, dearie!
So... today, I couldn't wait to try out to make the rainbow cupcakes again and this time, I'm using the Americolor, yipeee!!!

Rainbow Double Vanilla Cupcakes from Lick The Bowl Good by Monica H

Ingredients:
1 ½ sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cups of sugar
2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
1/2 Vanilla Bean, scraped (optional)
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Directions:
- In a medium bowl, mix together salt, baking powder and flour. Stir to combine then set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl, then add in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla extract and the seeds of half a vanilla bean. Beat until well combined.
- Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Start with flour, end with flour.
- Divide the batter into 6 bowls. Color your batter with food coloring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet).
- Spoon or pipe your batter in thin layers into the muffin cups, being careful not to mix the colors.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes for 20 regular cupcakes.

The result *big grin*

Btw, I only got 16 mini cupcakes, not so sure why *blur*

All these cupcakes are dedicated to my dearest Lynn :)