This dish consists of lontong(compressed rice)and the vegetable soup called sayur lodeh. You may use other vegetables of your choice i.e young jackfruit, petai etc. If you can't take hot food, scrapped off the chilli seeds. This recipe produce a big pot of soup!



SAYUR LODEH
Ingredients:
4 tbsp cooking oil
3 pc daun salam
5 cm galangal, bruised
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2 tbsp dried prawns, washed and dried
300 g small prawns, shelled and deveined
1 choko (labu siam), julienned
1 can bamboo shoots, cut into 2.5 cm squares
80 g Chinese cabbage, cut into 2.5 cm squares
160 g long beans, cut into 3 cm length
160 g French beans, cut into 3cm length, at a slant
600 g (2 pieces) firm tofu
1 can (400ml) coconut cream

Processed ingredients:
5 red chillies
12 shallots
5 cloves garlic
6 candlenuts
1 tbsp prawn paste (belacan)
¼ tsp turmeric (kunyit) powder

Garnishes:
fried shallots
fried soy beans
fried dried prawns
fried colourful crackers

Method:
1. Cut the firm tofu into small cubes or slices.
2. Heat up the oil in a deep heavy-based pot. Stir-fry the tofu until light golden brown. Remove and drain the tofu.
3. Lower the flame, fry the processed ingredients together with daun salam, galangal and lemon grass until fragrant. Add the dried prawn and continue stir-frying.
4. Add the small prawn and 5 tbsp coconut cream and stir-fry a few minutes.
5. Add the remaining vegetable, stir to mix.
6. Add the remaining coconut cream and 4 can of water (4 x 400ml). Bring to the boil and continue stirring.
7. Add the fried tofu, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season with sugar and salt to taste. Serve with lontong (compressed rice cubes), topped with garnishes.

I used to make lontong (compressed rice cakes) using ziplock bags until I read Donlung's tip at NK to use the packaging of the rice itself. Here is what I do.



Ingredients:
500 g long / medium grain rice

Method:
Cut the top of the rice package off and remove 275 g of the rice, leaving 225 g in the bag. Fold the top down 1 cm twice, secure with staplers. With a satay skewer, poke about 10 holes through both layer of the bags. Put the bag in a big pot filled with water. Make sure there are enough water for the bag to expand. Boil for 1 hour, checking frequently that the bag expands to a nice smooth shape. Cool the rice and cut into cubes with a wet sharp knife, clean the knife in between cuts.

This Indonesian chicken porridge is very aromatic. It is a nice change from the traditional chinese chicken porridge. Although the list of ingredients seem daunting, it is not hard to prepare. Instead of boiling the chicken and then tear the meat to small pieces, I sliced the chicken breast fillet thinly, boil it in the gravy, drain the pieces when cooked and then grill them in an oven to get crispy edges. Instead of yu char kway and fried soya bean, I used wantan skin strips and fried peanuts as toppings. I also omitted the coconut milk from teh porridge, instead I use 1 tbsp of coconut cream.



Ingredients A:
250 gr rice, washed and drained
1.5 l water
2 pandan leaves
2 daun salam
800 ml thick coconut milk


Ingredients B:
500g chicken thigh
3 tbsp oil for pan frying
1/2 tsp sugar
2 daun salam
2 stalk lemon grass, bruised
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 spring onion, finely sliced
700ml water
5 yu char kway, finely sliced (and grill to crisp if preferred)
100g soya beans, fried
wantan wrapper, fried
parsley, finely sliced

Ingredients C:
5 shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 cm turmeric, toasted
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 candlenuts
salt to taste

Method:
1. To make the porridge: boil the rice with pandan leaves and daun salam from ingredients A. Add coconut milk and salt, cook while stiring until porridge is thickened.
2. Ground/process ingredients C finely.
3. Heat up the oil from ingredients B and pan fry the ground ingredients until aromatic. Add the daun salam, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves from ingredients B, stir to mix. Add the chicken and spring onion, cook until chicken just changes colour.
4. Add water and sugar, cook until the ingredients are absorbed. Remove the chicken from teh gravy, then tear the chicken meat into fine shreds.
5. Serve the porridge in a bowl with shredded chicken meat, yu char kway, fried soya beans and wanton strips. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 6

An inexpensive and easy recipe. The aroma of the spices when you grill the pepes is heavenly. You can use chicken thigh fillets, but wings are good too. The spices can be either ground or sliced finely. This recipe was given to me by my Indonesian friend Judy Cole. Thanks Judy.



Ingredients:
6 big chicken wings
3 red chillies, seeded
6 shallots
6 cloves garlic
3 cm turmeric
4 candle nuts, toasted
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
3 kaffir lime leaves
salt
pepper
msg (optional)

Method:
Slice the ingredients finely or pound/grind them. Rub the chicken with the spices, then wrap it in banan leaf (or aluminium foil). Steam on big fire for about 10 minutes, then grill.

Serves 2-3

This is a very easy vegetable dish that can be made from almost any basic vegetables you have on hands. I didn't follow the recipes strictly. Instead of fresh shredded coconut, I rehydrated dried shredded coconut from the Phillipines.



Ingredients:
10 string of yard long bean, chopped into 2cm lengths 
75 gram cabbage, chopped
100 gram beansprout 
50 gram spinach, chopped 
100 gram cassava leaves, chopped 
1/2 medium ripe coconut, peeled then shred coarsely 
 
Ground spices:
5 red chillies 
4 cloves garlic 
10 cm lesser galangal (kencur)
5 kaffir lime leaves 
1/2 tsp sugar 
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)   

Method:
1. Boil each vegetable separately, drain well and set aside.
2. Mix the ground spices with shredded coconut, then wrap in banana leaf. 
3. Steam the parcel until cooked. Mix with the vegetables to serve.

Serves 6

Source: Cheat Eat



Ingredients:
200g muscovado or dark brown sugar
400ml water
300g Hong Kong flour (low gluten flour used in Chinese pastries, substitute with cake flour if unavailable)
60g rice flour
4 tsp double acting baking powder

Method:
Bring the 400ml water to a boil and add sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolve. Leave the sugar solution to cool.

Arrange Chinese tea cups or a 12 bun ½ cup muffin tin in a wok. Add water to the wok and bring it to a boil. At the same time the tea cups will be heated up by the steam.

Sieve the Hong Kong flour, rice flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the sugar solution into the flour, using a whisk to mix. Alternatively, if you are lazy like I am, use a standmixer. Make sure that there are no lumps in the batter.

Make sure water in the wok is at a roaring boil. Pour the batter into the hot tea cups to at least 80% full. If using muffin tin, place cupcake liners in the tin before pouring the batter. Steam for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the cake. Do not open the lid for the first 10 minutes however or the cake may go flat.

Don't mean to toot my own horn but these home made huat kueh are the best I have ever tasted. They are fluffy, moist and have that intense flavour of muscovado sugar which I love.


Serves

For easy apple pie taste without the hazzle, this pastry can be made using ready-rolled puff pastry. If you have a sandwich maker, it is even easier.



Ingredients:
400g can pie apple
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup sultanas or raisins
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
4 sheets frozen sweet puff pastry, halved
icing sugar, to dust.

Method:
1. Preheat a 2 hole sandwich maker (see note). Combine apple, banana, sultanas, sugar and spice in a bowl.
2. Place half a sheet of pastry onto the base of the sandwhich maker. Place a spoonnfull of apple mixture into each recess. Place another pastry half on top.
3. Close machine. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Continue with remaining ingredients. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with custard.

Note:
You will need to use a traditional sandwich maker with this recipe - not a sandwich press (which does not seal the filling). If you do not have a sandwich maker, cut pastry into even sized squares, add filling and fold pastry over to form a turnover. Bake in a hot oven (200C) for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Serves 4

A shortbread for coffee lovers. Because I did not have coffee powder, I used instant coffee granules and 'squashed'them in my flour sieve. I added 1 teaspoon of coffee emulco for the extra fragrance.



Ingredients:
250g butter, cubed
1 cup icing sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 cup cornflour
2 tbsp coffee powder
30 walnut halves

Method:
1. Place butter and icing sugar into a large bowl. Beat together with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift flours and coffee together. Stir into creamed mixture to form a soft dough.

2. Form dough into walnut-size rounds. Arrange on lightly-greased baking trays, leaving room for biscuits to spread. Flatten biscuits slightly. Prick with a fork. Top with walnuts.

3. Bake in a slow oven (150C) for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Serve with espresso coffee if desired. Store in an airtight container.

Variation 1
Replace the walnuts with hazelnuts, pecans, almonds or macadamia nuts if preferred.
Variation 2
Drizzle some melted dark or milk chocolate over cooled biscuits to achieve a tasty and attractive effect. Or dip half of each bisuit into melted chocolate. Allow excess chocolate to drip off, the place onto baking paper-lined trays to set.

Makes about 30