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*swoon* Tepee....(not from puasa or ..... maybe ) Somehow in the back of my mind your name kept popping up as I was uploading that photo. I knew I'd seen them somewhere before, but darling, yours are the uber kuih bangkit! I'm eyeing those molds, which make for verrrrrry lovely little kuih! Hari Raya will be here soon. You do have my snail mail, correct?

This is a great recipe, a while back I followed a similar one to make some roti. Although, it wasn't meant to be eaten as a sweet bread, I made the pastry with butter. The puff pastry was fragrant, flaky and crispy. Thank you, Chef Ong and Bond Girl.

Ah Leung, I'm trying my best to catch up to your amazing series of pictorials. This one has me all excited (I guess it doesn't really take much ) and I will try to make this fish dish soon. Kudos to you and the fabulous series! Thanks so much

We're Indian, but my mom does that. In fact, we all do. Don't invite my family to any event with free snackies; we'll wrap 'em all up in napkins and whisk them away! We're all the same in the end. ← Here in my part of the world, we call that operasi plastik which is a play on words...the term usually refers to plastic surgery, but in the case of food, operasi plastik is endearingly used to describe a scene where the rush to bring out the little baggies and Tupperware containers to grab and snap up all the goodies to take home is total madness. It's hilarious to watch the race to the finish to see who's the fastest with the mostest! Anyway, more OT...I'd head straight for the bagel, applying more than a healthy schmear of butter/cream cheese. Unless we're talking a true NY cheese danish, which I can't find here, well then, in that case I'm all verklempt, oy!

When I was younger, dishes redolent in fiery chiles really appealed to me. But, sadly, this is no longer true. I can cook with fire, I just can't seem to douse the flames.

Hi Yetti, salam kenal! Lucky that you can still go out and buy some! Wonder if you can help me out in finding recipe? I'm currently craving for this sweet cookie, it has shape of flower/star with sesame seed sprinkled on top and kinda brownish. I don't know the name. The cookie will melt in your mouth... I think there's sagu in it? Usually we buy them in bulk in the mall that sell "jajanan" Thanks in advance! Ellis ← Ellis, So sorry for this late reply, but I believe I've found them!!! Kue bangket, and the package lists these ingredients: tapioca flour, regular all purpose flour, white sugar, eggs, coconut milk, and sesame seeds. I'll test how meltingly good they are upon breaking the fast later on. But for now I'm stashing them in my filing cabinet waaaay across the room, because they do smell too enticing . Joie!!!! Thanks for posting the photo of the kutsinta. I love those little cakes, we call them kue lumpang here. Often made with white sugar instead of gula melaka/merah. Very elusive! I tried making them once and they ended up a little on the wet side. I'll give it another go, and hope they come out mooooshy!

Why thank you, Melissa. I wonder if any of these fruits are available to you down in Georgia, hope you'll try some. Perhaps a venture into duriandom?

This is what I had to break the fast and again later on for dessert after dinner. You can read more about it here.

Tepee, what a great idea for a thread, thanks for starting it! Your photos are fabulous, we have much of the same food here as well. Ramadhan is such a special time for our family, many of the foods taken to break the fast only appear during this time. Such as this sweet dish for ifthar. A specialty of my husband’s family, a close relative made it....it’s a special treat. It’s called Pisang Kenari / Baked bananas with a crunchy nut topping. These are a particular kind of banana that when baked turn into a lovely mauve and its nectar is absolutely luscious. The ground cinnamon in the topping perfumes it all. Marhaban Ya Ramadhan.

^ ^ Oooh, those fruits do look freaky but very appetizing to me! The kana is something I'm familiar with, and you can see one of its applications in some photos that I'm about to post in the Ramadhan Fare thread in Elsewhere in Asia/Pacific. The following is somewhat disturbing... what some people do to some perfectly beautiful fruits is downright freaky. Lusty and sensuous papaya is one of my favorites, but I just cannot abide by them pickled. Salak is bad enough in its natural state, but chillied and pickled is .... well, freaky....idiotic salak! Although I think pickled watermelon rinds are great... what do you think of freaky pickled fruits?

Hi Yummy, I think I know what you're craving, let me go out in search for it and/or recipes.

Here is a close up a la Monsieur Jason Perleaux of the gemblong. I'm not sure if you can see, it's packed with sticky rice and shredded coconut. As I understand the cooking process, gemblong isn't sundried after frying and glazing. So the outer crust is crispy and crunchy from the glaze, but the interior is very moist. Yum! Here are some pix of kueh I've had recently. ^ Kue talam asin. I don't know what to call this in English. It is a soft, savory coconut milk rice cake topped with shrimp floss, and garnished with a celery leaf and chopped red pepper. ^ Kue lapis gulung. Layered and rolled, sweet rice cake flavored with coconut milk & pandan. Ooey gooey good. ^ I thought of eGullet member, Pinkpau, when I saw this and had to get it. The soft but not fluffy pau is filled with sweet mung bean paste. This was very good with my morning mug of teh tarik (pulled /poured hot tea with milk).

Durian Delicious friend Bad pillow Yetty Lonely No friend To share sweet flesh Sad pillow

Monica, perhaps you'd consider including a visit to Indonesia as well. It would be my honor and pleasure to welcome & host you! (I'm still waiting for Pan & Suresh to come! )

So it seems like everyone has got the filling down pat, it's the darned crust that's wreaking havoc, is it? sheetz, those tarts look fabulous, did you make them?

Fabulous as usual, gingerly! Ummm, what are those? And how do they taste?

Abra, my sincere condolences. I've never heard of an umu, I hope you'll share this tribute with us. This recipe for Tongan Pulao appears to be quite easy with accessible ingredients, which I'm sure will make for a truly fragrant rice dish. Something I'd like to try to make soon myself.

I'd like to add my congratulations as well, Susan. The Florida Forum is indeed very fortunate to have its first & very elegant host!

^ ^Oh my, yes - what a cutie! touaregsand, would you please describe the scrumptious looking treats on the platters in front of your daughter? I'd love to see chefzadi in Korean attire, too!

My dearest Monica, my heart has been literally pounding as I try to catch up on your splendid blog. I do love reading all the blogs, but somehow I feel that I'll have an emotional attachment to yours. Thank you for sharing your week with us. Don't you and the little monkey share a birthday? I seem to recall a certain "Nemo" birthday cake last year? Very strange and yet so delightful, last night I had a dream about rice pudding, please do share your killer recipe and photo Blog on, Monica!

I believe Caphe Sua Da/Nong is Vietnamese-style coffee, using individual-portion stainless steel drip filters and sweetened condensed milk. It's one of my favorite coffee preparations, good with ice (Sua Da) or hot (Sua Nong).

Happy first birthday to your son, Soup! I love Korean food, so many varied tastes and textures. You ordered and served some amazing dishes for the party! I've had similar experiences with parties, though sometimes the opposite occurred. Sometime ago, while I was back in the DC area, I prepared a huge spread of appetizers and finger food based on some American recipes, that I spent a lot of time on. To sort of round out the buffet table, I also set out some Indonesian treats, both savory and sweet. Not too many, since I wasn't sure how they would be received. Well, to my surprise most of the guests (non-Asian neighbors and friends) really went for the simple Indonesian snacks, and those were gone just as fast as the elaborate American finger foods. Sometimes introducing a new cuisine can be overwhelming and you come away with mixed results. My suggestion would be to incorporate some exciting Korean tasty tidbits along with some more familiar foods you could plan to serve. Gradually adding more dishes to subsequent events. Don't give up, Korean food is still new to some, it's worth a try!

Fascinating photos of the sanduiches, Jason- especially that flank steak one, truly mouthwatering! I wonder what type of banana was used, perhaps plantains?

^ ^ Hello, Hersch! It's so good to know that you were pleased with the Indonesian Beef Stew. You know, the recipe is very forgiving and I've found that using chicken (especially thighs) is delicious as well. Your idea to put the pot of stew in the oven is genius, something I will do the next time around.

Indonesian Beef Stew This is a family favorite and really hit the spot after romping around in the snow. For a "review," check out thispost on the Dinner thread in the Cooking Forum. 2 T vegetable oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, mashed with 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger 1 lb chuck or round steak, cut into chunks (I used chuck top blade steak boneless) 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/4 tsp each ground cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg 1/8 tsp ground cloves 3 T dark soy sauce 1 T light brown sugar 2 T lime juice 1 c hot water Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat and fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook until the onion just starts to turn brown. Add the meat and stir fry just until it has turned color. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered until the meat is tender. Remove the cover after 1 hour and 15 minutes to help reduce the liquid, until the sauce is thick and coats the meat. Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Beef, Southeast Asian ( RG1218 )