KennethT

Thank you, everyone! Exactly the answers I was looking for! Another +1 for EGullet!

Thanks @rotuts but I don't think I was clear. I'm not looking to make salt fish - like a bacalao or anything - just wondering whether presalting (maybe overnight like you would with chicken) is a good idea with meaty fish. I'm not trying to preserve it or anything - just looking for optimal texture.

Is it analogous to presalting a chicken or steak? I'm thinking about meaty chunks of grouper, tuna, swordfish, etc....

That place is awesome! I've had some great conversations with the owner. She wants me to sell her some of my kencur and home grown Indonesian chillies. As far as I know, they don't carry the beef skin crackers (I've looked for them before) but they do have pre-fried shrimp crackers and some other krupuk (they look like shrinky-dinks).

ooof, that's a shlep!

Interestingly, I think the kulit in krupuk kulit means leather also...In many parts of Java, a shadow puppet show called wayang kulit is very traditional. The puppets are made from leather and the shows typically depict a portion of, or sometimes the whole, Ramayana (which is really long) and is accompanied by a full gamelan orchestra.

Thanks everybody. I didn't think of Ottomanelli - I used to go there all the time but haven't in years. When I clicked on the Mercato link, it looked like it was coming from Ideal foods in Brooklyn... I think my first stop should be at a couple meat markets in Chinatown. I've never bought from Ends Meat but they probably would be a good resource since they deal with whole animals.

I've been thinking about making krupuk kulit - the unbelievably delicious and addictive puffed beef skin cracker common in Java (Indonesia) but have no idea where to get the fresh beef skin. Ideally, it's made from the softer, "inner skin" but I'm not even sure what that means.... I've looked at the Weee online grocer with no luck. I'd think Chinatown may have it, but I'd assume they have more pork products than beef ones... curious for any suggestions... Thanks!

I think the biggest problem with a fast release while braising would be the homogenization of the liquid fat (that has rendered out of the beef and would normally be floating on top) into the braising liquid.

What region is your tabbouli from? It has a lot more bulghur in it than I usually see. The Iraqi version my friend's mom used to make as well as the Jewish Moroccan version I've had have almost no bulghur by comparison - they're mostly green.

Now, see the new and improved version !!!!

This is the new and improved version of sambal kacang - Indonesian peanut sauce. It could also be called sambal pecel - pecel is a vegetable dish consisting of bland, boiled leafy vegetables served with this type of peanut sauce, similar to the more famous gado gado, but without the tempeh, tofu, etc. This is a traditional version, meaning that it's quite labor intensive and is made from all whole ingredients. Makes.... a LOT - multiple portions! This recipe is for the base, which you would thin with boiling water to the consistency you want. The reason for this is that the base is very dry and will last a long time - a couple of weeks at room temp or several months in the refrigerator. When you want some, just take a few spoonfuls and thin with boiling water until you have the quantity and consistency you're looking for. Ingredients: 200g raw peanuts (deskinned) 60g red chillies - mostly keriting (medium spicy) and a few rawit (very spicy) 125g shallots (about 8 small shallots or 3-4 Western shallots) - skin and ends removed 20g garlic (peeled, end removed, halved and germ removed if exists) 4-8 kaffir lime leaves, destemmed (size dependent) 11.4g roasted shrimp paste - 3 sachets ABC brand (3.8g each) 1C (approx.) peanut oil 60g palm sugar, grated or chopped finely 1T salt (plus more to taste) 1t MSG 1t seedless tamarind paste Instructions: 1) cook the whole chillies in a pan of boiling water until soft - about 5 minutes, drain 2) heat the oil in a wok over medium/low heat and fry the shallots until softened and slightly brown 3) remove/drain the shallots, repeat with the garlic 4) remove/drain the garlic and fry the lime leaves for a minute or so, then remove/drain 5) fry the peanuts in the oil, stirring constantly, until just less than golden brown, then remove/drain 6) In a food processor, roughly chop the chillies/shallots/garlic/lime leaves/shrimp paste, remove and set aside 7) Roughly chop the fried peanuts 8 ) Move the chilli/shallot, etc mixture to an Indonesian mortar (cobek), add the tamarind, salt, MSG and palm sugar then grind until smooth as possible 9) Add the peanuts to the mixture and continue to grind - the paste will become very stiff and dry as it cools To check seasoning, add a little bit of boiling water to a teaspoon or so of ground mixture and mix until you have the desired consistency

Another entry in the Most-Labor-Intensive dish contest, also from the Padang food canon... This one is ayam balado - chicken in balado sauce. You can balado-ify practically anything - chicken, eggs, potatoes, beef, fish, you name it. What qualifies it for a contender in the MLI contest? First, the chicken is braised in a ground spice paste liquid containing garlic, turmeric, candlenuts, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, etc... The chicken is removed and some of the braising liquid retained. The chicken is then shallow fried in oil, and then removed and drained, and then, in the same oil, a ground mixture of chillies and shallots (preferably ground by hand) and sliced tomatoes are fried with some lime juice, the reserved braising liquid and more kaffir lime leaves added. The result is super savory but refreshing at the same time... one of my favorites!!!

I've never heard of pressure cooking the curry base so I'm very curious about it. How do you think it compares with being simmered traditionally? Most videos I watch making Indian curries (from India) don't cook the curry base very long - probably around the same time as your pressure cooking it. Do you think the result is superior? If so, in what way?

I made this again today and I think it came out even better - the only change was that instead of using all 250g of keriting chillies, I used 3 big red chillies, 3 of my home grown cabe rawit (kind of like Thai chillies but more plump) and the balance of the 250g being the keriting.