Cooking with "Cradle of Flavor"

[djyee100]

Those potatoes look wonderful, Bruce.

Edited October 9, 2007 by djyee100 (log)

[djyee100]

Nobody has tried any desserts from the book, so I decided to make a dessert. Here's Indonesian Spice Cake. This is a sweet aromatic cake, fine-textured and a little dryish, perfect with hot tea or coffee.

[djyee100]

An easy and delicious meal after a long day: Chile Omelet and Stir Fried Asian Greens with Garlic. This really is a 30-minute meal. I'll add this one to my quick & easy repertoire and certainly make it again. (Just as well, my omelet-flipping technique could stand the practice.)

[djyee100]

Penang-Style Stir-Fried Kuey Teow Noodles. I keep calling this dish "kuey-tuey." It's tasty, whatever you call it. The sauce has that sweet-hot thing going on.

This is a straightforward noodle stirfry, doable even on a weekday night. The only fussy step is to make a flavoring paste of roasted shrimp paste and dried chiles. That doesn't take long. The recipe instructions call for using a teeny food processor to process the paste, but since that may be the only cooking tool I don't own (yet), I made do with a mortar and pestle. Given the small amount of paste, a mortar may actually be easier for this task than a processor.

You can make this recipe with either fresh or dried rice noodles. I pulled some dried rice noodles out of the cupboard for this dish, the same kind of noodles that you cook for Pad Thai.

[crouching tyler]

Penang-Style Stir-Fried Kuey Teow Noodles. I keep calling this dish "kuey-tuey." It's tasty, whatever you call it. The sauce has that sweet-hot thing going on.

This is a straightforward noodle stirfry, doable even on a weekday night. The only fussy step is to make a flavoring paste of roasted shrimp paste and dried chiles. That doesn't take long. The recipe instructions call for using a teeny food processor to process the paste, but since that may be the only cooking tool I don't own (yet), I made do with a mortar and pestle. Given the small amount of paste, a mortar may actually be easier for this task than a processor.

You can make this recipe with either fresh or dried rice noodles. I pulled some dried rice noodles out of the cupboard for this dish, the same kind of noodles that you cook for Pad Thai.

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How can a dish of brown gooey (and I mean that in a good way) noodles look so good? And that chile omelet may appear on my table tomorrow around brunch time...

The food looks great - thanks for keeping the thread alive!

I keep saying I am going to dive back into Cradle of Flavor soon soon soon, but one thing or another has kept that from happening. One of those things is a tasty Indonesian restaurant a five minute drive from my house.

[djyee100]

Saturday's Dinner: Mien's Garlic Fried Chicken, Javanese Sambal, & Green Beans with Coconut Milk.

This fried chicken recipe is simple, compared to others I've wrestled with. The chicken is marinated with crushed garlic, vinegar, and salt, and then it's shallow-fried.

The meat is mildly garlicky, and the skin fries up crisp and caramelized.

I had never made a sambal before, and this one is fabulously delicious. I had to stop myself from eating it by the spoonful. The green beans are also a fine complement to the chicken.

Very tasty!

[djyee100]

A Sunday dinner of Spiced Braised Nyona Pork, South India-Style Eggplant Pickle, and Stir Fried Bean Sprouts with Scallions.

The pickle is a bit of a fuss to make, but like so many other things once you start the time passes quickly and before you know it, you're done. It helps if you're a fan of Indian oil pickles (like me). This pickle is very delicious, flavored with a variety of Indian spices and chiles, and it's beautiful to serve.

I wanted to play with my new clay cazuela, so instead of using a Dutch oven, I sauteed the shallots, spices, and pork cubes in a skillet, deglazed the skillet, and transferred everything to the cazuela. This is the pork at the end of the cooking time.

The beansprouts are stir-fried with scallions, garlic, shallot, and chile. It introduces a light, fresh taste to this combination of foods.

The pork tastes spectacular--tender, spicy and caramelized. This recipe has been a favorite on this thread, and now I know why.

[Prawncrackers]

Ok, i know i've joined the party a little late but i couldn't ignore it any longer, better late than never eh?!

Having had my first Beef Rendang in a "pan-asian" restaurant a couple of weeks ago i've been wanting to cook one for myself. The dish in the restaurant was okay but i thought that there was a lot potential for improvement. That's when i remebered this thread and of course this cookbook. I ordered one at the first opportunity and am so glad that i did, it is a wonderful book and an inspirational gateway to a hitherto unexplored world of cuisine for me.

First off, to ease myself in i did something recognisably Chinesesy, Spiced Braised Nyona Pork and Cucumber Carrot Pickle:

This dish was delicious, the flavours familiar and lusciously bold - though next time i'll use fattier piece of pork

Then today i made Beef Rendang:

This was incomparable to the dish i had previously in the restaurant. I'm almost speechless with the depth and balance of flavour, the meat was meltingly tender. I'm delighted that i have added these dishes to my repertoire and am looking forward to plundering more treasures from this book!! Tonight i am a happy boy

Just one thing - anyone know where i can get Salam leaves and Candlenuts here in the UK? Birmingham has a huge Asian population and i can get Indian spices galore but none of the Indian Asian grocers have heard of Salam leaves or Indonesian Bay Leaves. I substituted fresh curry leaves for the salam leaves in the Rendang, am i missing out here?

[C. sapidus]

djyee100: Wow, you have been busy, and your meals look so good! I need to try the Javanese sambal, the eggplant pickle, and the stir-fried bean sprouts – thanks for the nudge. You were smart to cut up the green beans in coconut milk. I left mine whole, and they were difficult to shove in my mouth at a suitable pace.

Prawncrackers: Isn’t beef rendang amazing stuff? The chicken and especially potato rendang are also indescribable – you just have to try them. Macadamia nuts are closely related to candlenuts, so you can substitute them if available.

Looking forward to more from both of you. And Robin, of course. Tap. Tap. Tap.

[djyee100]

Thanks for the encouragement, Bruce. I'm enjoying a little time off this week, so I'm trying out recipes from this book.

Here's a street food snack: Fried Sweet Plaintains.

First, start with very ripe plaintains. They look half-rotted on the outside...

But on the inside the fruit is sweet and firm.

Slices of plaintain are dipped in a simple batter and deep-fried. They don't brown much at all, and may even look a little unappetizing. (This opinion will change when you eat one.)

These plaintains are amazing. The cooked fruit turns a bright yellow and tastes sweet like a yam and acidic like a mango. Very, very delicious. You can dust them with a little confectioners' sugar if you ever stop eating them long enough.

Faced with a fresh platterful in the late afternoon, one might forego dinner to eat this hefty, sweet treat. Not that I would ever do anything like that.

[Dejah]

Then today i made Beef Rendang:

This was incomparable to the dish i had previously in the restaurant.  I'm almost speechless with the depth and balance of flavour, the meat was meltingly tender.  I'm delighted that i have added these dishes to my repertoire and am looking forward to plundering more treasures from this book!!  Tonight i am a happy boy 

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That rendang looks out-off-this-world! I love the stuff and have made it several times. Before I substituted candlenut with macadamia. Since this summer, I have been using the supply my niece brought out from Vancouver.

Leftover cold rendang pieces are great on top of a salad for lunch.

[djyee100]

Warm Spiced Limeade. A hot drink of lemongrass and spices, sweetened with palm sugar, then spiked with lime. It is sweet, spicy, and tart at the same time. Very good, and easy to prepare. I know I'll be drinking this again on a wintry day.

[djyee100]

Nutmeg Tea Cookies. These are shortbread-like butter cookies, good with hot tea or coffee, or a nice cold glass of milk.

[djyee100]

A Malaysian breakfast of Kopi Tiam Eggs. These are soft-boiled eggs that are garnished with soy sauce (I like kecap manis), thin slices of Thai chiles, black pepper, and toast. The recipe calls for 2- or 3-minute eggs, but I like my eggs firmer, so these are 4-minute eggs. This dish is too strong-flavored for me the first thing in the morning, but I would eat these eggs for a tasty light lunch.

Another Indonesian breakfast recipe, Sweet Spiced Mung Bean Porridge. This recipe had the most unsexy name in the book (porridge? you mean like gruel?), but I decided to try it anyway.

Whole mung beans were not sold at my local Whole Foods, but they were readily available at various Asian grocers.

This bean porridge is very sweet, too much so for my taste (I don't like dry breakfast cereals or granola, either). The recipe warns you to hold back on some sugar as you finish cooking, and I left out a couple tablespoons, but I wished I had left out more. When the mung beans are cooked with the spices, they have a pleasant, slightly nutty flavor, but that flavor is lost with the addition of sugar (lots of sugar) and coconut milk. This porridge could stand some more salt, too. Not to my taste, but to yours?

I was cleaning out my fridge and found a small head of cabbage. What to do with it? I made Braised Cabbage with Dried Shrimp. The recipe hints to make this dish with the freshest cabbage you can find. This was the freshest cabbage I could find...in my refrigerator. The recipe says to peel off the cabbage leaves one by one and cut the leaves into 1 1/2-inch squares. I did that for the first 3 leaves. Then I said Forget It and cut up the cabbage the way I always do.

This dish is the Asian equivalent of that Western standby, cabbage cooked with slivers of ham or bacon. The dried shrimp give that salty, savory flavor. This dish is simple and quite good.

Edited October 20, 2007 by djyee100 (log)

[Kim D]

Nutmeg Tea Cookies. These are shortbread-like butter cookies, good with hot tea or coffee, or a nice cold glass of milk. 

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Thanks for including that picture! The recipe said that the cookies are going to spread. Mine didn't. I liked them anyway. Glad to see I'm not the only one that happened to. I will definitely make them again.

[C. sapidus]

djyee100: I would love to try those cookies, and warm spiced limeade is definitely on my list. If you get a chance, try plantains that have turned fully black and soft – they taste incredibly sweet. I do appreciate your candid commentary on each of the dishes that you made.

Tonight we made grilled coconut chicken with lemon basil (ayam panggang sulawesi), stir-fried bean sprouts with scallions (tauge goreng), and jasmine rice. I was worried that the chicken would be too spicy for the family, so I poured off a lot of the coconut oil. The end result was juicy chicken with subtle heat and a rich lemony flavor. My only complaint: the sauce was so good that I wanted more of it. Perhaps next time I’ll reserve a bit of the sauce and serve it over the chicken.

The bean sprouts were quick to make and everyone liked them. They will be a fine addition to our vegetable rotation.

[snowangel]

Bruce, thanks for the report on this dish, and it's a reminder to pull some thighs out of the freezer, as I have two HUGE lemon basil plants. I'm wondering if I couldn't whiz the basil I don't use (fearing a way overdue freeze in the next week or so) with some oil and freeze it, and use it for this dish sometime this winter when I want a blast o summer?

Oh, and thanks for the recommendation on the bean sprout dish. My Asian market gives me somewhere between a pound and a pound and a half of very fresh sprouts just for shopping there!

[djyee100]

Bruce, that grilled coconut chicken with lemon basil looks fantastic. It's going on my (long) list of What To Cook.

[djyee100]

An unusual and delicious soup, Nyonya Duck Soup with Salted Mustard Greens. The major ingredients of this soup are: duck, brandy, salted Chinese mustard greens, Chinese salted plums, whole nutmeg, fresh gingerroot, black pepper, tomatoes, lime juice, and Thai chiles. For all the strong-flavored ingredients, this soup cooks up mildly hot and sour, with sweetness from the duck meat.

Two unusual ingredients are the Chinese salted mustard greens and the Chinese salted plums (optional). I found both of them at the Ranch 99 Market. The mustards greens were in the refrigerator case, and the salted plums in the snacks/candy section. One optional ingredient proved elusive--asam gelugor. It wasn't at Ranch 99 or another Asian grocer. I decided not to make a special trip to Chinatown for it.

I bought the wrong kind of salted plums, BTW. These are big with seeds in them. The recipe specifies the small seedless salted plums. I used the plums I bought anyway.

The recipe calls for a whole duck, but I chose to make a half recipe using duck legs. (The half recipe still yielded 3 qts of soup.) I trimmed off some excess skin and fat from the duck legs before adding them to the pot.

You can be creative in how you serve this soup. I like to have the duck meat, some veg and rice in a shallow soup plate with a few spoonfuls of broth over all. A bowl of the broth, which is very delicious, and some wickedly hot Nyonya Sambal are served on the side. The duck meat tastes especially good with dabs of the sambal.

This soup would be just the thing for a cold wet snowy day. Did you notice the brandy in it?

I'll be away traveling for a couple weeks, starting next week. I'll catch up with this thread when I return. Happy cooking, everyone!

[yunnermeier]

Beautiful. I think this dish is called Itik Tim

[C. sapidus]

Bruce, thanks for the report on this dish, and it's a reminder to pull some thighs out of the freezer, as I have two HUGE lemon basil plants.  I'm wondering if I couldn't whiz the basil I don't use (fearing a way overdue freeze in the next week or so) with some oil and freeze it, and use it for this dish sometime this winter when I want a blast o summer?

Susan: You are quite welcome - it was our pleasure, in fact. I think that basil is like garlic – no such thing as too much. Please give a full report if you try the frozen basil in oil. The coconut chicken sauce renders a fair amount of oil while reducing, so a little extra oil probably wouldn’t hurt anything.

Our basil utilization strategy is to make lots of basil-intensive meals before frost kills our three (well, two and a half) plants. Kasma’s gai pad gaprow (click) is on tap for next week - a cup of basil per pound of chicken. I’m amazed that you have not yet had a freeze in the great not-yet-frozen North. Here in the sunny semi-South, we are about a week past the average first frost date, and no frost in the forecast.

Oh, and thanks for the recommendation on the bean sprout dish.  My Asian market gives me somewhere between a pound and a pound and a half of very fresh sprouts just for shopping there!

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Bean sprouts are a thrifty freebie for your Asian market to give away – a pound of bean sprouts cost about $1 USD around here.

Bruce, that grilled coconut chicken with lemon basil looks fantastic. It's going on my (long) list of What To Cook.

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djyee100: Thank you! Yes, you have added a few things to my Long List.

An unusual and delicious soup, Nyonya Duck Soup with Salted Mustard Greens. The major ingredients of this soup are: duck, brandy, salted Chinese mustard greens, Chinese salted plums, whole nutmeg, fresh gingerroot, black pepper, tomatoes, lime juice, and Thai chiles. For all the strong-flavored ingredients, this soup cooks up mildly hot and sour, with sweetness from the duck meat.

This looks and sounds delicious!

Two unusual ingredients are the Chinese salted mustard greens and the Chinese salted plums (optional).

I will look for salted plums around here, but I know duck would require a special trip. For asam gelugor, I usually substitute cardamom. Does anyone know whether that is a reasonably close substitute?

I'll be away traveling for a couple weeks, starting next week. I'll catch up with this thread when I return. Happy cooking, everyone! 

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Safe travels, you have certainly earned a rest.

Beautiful. I think this dish is called Itik Tim

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Yunnermeier: Spot on - the book transliterates the name to itek tim. Same difference, I'm sure.

[djyee100]

I will look for salted plums around here, but I know duck would require a special trip.

Sometimes high-end markets will have frozen duck in stock in the back. It's not displayed in any of the meat cases, and you have to ask for it. Alternatively, you can always special-order at a good meat market. good luck!

[Kim D]

Our basil utilization strategy is to make lots of basil-intensive meals before frost kills our three (well, two and a half) plants. Kasma’s gai pad gaprow (click) is on tap for next week - a cup of basil per pound of chicken. I’m amazed that you have not yet had a freeze in the great not-yet-frozen North. Here in the sunny semi-South, we are about a week past the average first frost date, and no frost in the forecast.

We love Kasma's gkai pad gka-prow (page 100 in It Rains Fishes)! I used to make Hot Sour Salty Sweet's gai pad bai gaprow (page 202) until I made Kasma's recipe. She's never stingy with the heat.

This weekend I made Sambal Udang (page 262) and Rendang Kentang (page 223). James Oseland isn't stingy with the heat either.

Anyway, I have a question about the shrimp. I bought head on shrimp from my favorite Thai grocery store. I chose the shrimp that were curled up rather than limp. Was that the right choice? When the shrimp were cooked, the shells would not come off. The heads came off with no problem. But the shells were another story. The shells were very thin but not thin enough to chew up. I know because I tried. Good thing I was eating alone. Spitting out the shells might have scared off guests.

- Kim

Edited October 22, 2007 by Kim D (log)

[djyee100]

[The shells were very thin but not thin enough to chew up. I know because I tried.  Good thing I was eating alone. Spitting out the shells might have scared off guests.

I can't answer Kim's question, unfortunately, because I've never managed to buy those wonderful small shrimp with thin shells to eat. My markets seem to stock only the bigger shrimp with thicker shells.

I've eaten shell-on shrimp at other people's houses. I can't say I was totally enthralled by the experience. Maybe the shrimp are more flavorful with the shell, but chewing on that shell, and feeling the bits catch in your throat...eeewwww

I have a question for other people on this thread, who have eaten shell-on shrimp. Do you like them? (My vote, in case you haven't guessed, is in the negative.)

[djyee100]

An updated index for this thread.

Cradle of Flavor

Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore

by James Oseland

Recipe Index:

(numbers refer to post #s on this thread)

CONDIMENTS: SAMBALS, DIPPING SAUCES, DRESSINGS & PICKLES

Javanese Sambal - 156

Nyonya Sambal - 10, 169

Lemongrass & Shallot Sambal - 51

Green Mango Sambal

Sweet Soy Sauce & Lime Dipping Sauce - 40, 74, 116

Nyonya Dipping Sauce - 136, 142

Soy Sauce, Chile & Lime Dipping Sauce

Sweet & Sour Chile Dipping Sauce

Javanese Peanut Sauce - 124

Sweet & Sour Cucumber & Carrot Pickle w/Turmeric - 17, 40, 51, 112

Javanese Cucumber & Carrot Pickle - 74, 97, 142, 158

South Indian-Style Eggplant Pickle - 157

Malaysian Spiced Pineapple Pickle - 100

STREET FOODS

Beef Satay - 10, 40, 45, 59, 112

Chicken Satay- 74

Shrimp Satay

Gado Gado - 124

Chopped Veg. Salad w/Coconut & Lime Leaf Dressing - 116

Crisp Jicama & Pineapple Salad - 45

Fried Sweet Plantains - 160

Bean Sprout & Potato Fritters

RICE & NOODLES

Steamed Rice - 74, 142

Lemongrass Scented Coconut Rice - 10, 40, 51, 97

Celebration Yellow Rice - 83, 112, 144

Spiced Nyonya Rice

Javanese Fried Rice - 10, 116

Herbal Rice Salad

Stir Fried Chinese Egg Noodle w/ Shrimp & Asian Greens

Penang-Style Stir-Fried Kuey Teow Noodles - 154

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup, Kuala Lumpur Style - 67

VEGETABLES

Stir Fried Asian Greens w/ Garlic & Chiles- 74, 134, 153

Stir Fried Bean Sprouts w/ Chinese Chives or Scallions - 123, 157, 166

Sauteed Cabbage w/Ginger & Crispy Indian Lentils

Braised Cabbage w/ Dried Shrimp - 149, 164

Stir Fried Water Spinach, Nyonya Style - 17, 129

Green Beans with Coconut Milk - 112, 144, 149, 156

Ching Lee's Braised Lemongrass Long Beans - 100, 119

Rohati's Crisp-Fried Potatoes w/Chile & Shallot Sambal - 10, 150

Potato Rendang - 32, 173

Fern Curry with Shrimp

Asiah's Eggplant Curry - 36

FISH & SHELLFISH

Fragrant Fish Stew w/Lime & Lemon Basil

Spice Braised Tuna - 10

Padang Fish Curry - 10

Hot & Sour Fish Stew w/Bamboo Shoots

Indian-Style Fish Stew w/Okra

Pan-Seared Mackerel w/Chiles & Garlic - 10, 134

Pan-Seared Tamarind Tuna - 51

Stir-fried Tamarind Shrimp - 130

Grilled Whole Fish w/Lemon Basil & Chiles

Nyonya Shrimp Curry w/Fresh Pineapple & Tomatoes

Stir-Fried Shrimp Sambal - 10, 173

Black Pepper Crab

POULTRY

The Soto King's Chicken Soup - 113

Javanese Chicken Curry - 120

West Sumatran Chicken Curry - 106

Chicken Rendang w/Cinnamon & Star Anise - 10

Nyonya Chicken & Potato Stew - 110

Mien's Garlic Fried Chicken - 156

Nyonya-Style Spiced Fried Chicken - 136, 142

Kevin's Spiced Roast Chicken w/Potatoes, Penang Style - 112

Javanese Grilled Chicken - 83, 97, 112, 144

Grilled Coconut Chicken w/Lemon Basil - 17, 166

Nyonya Duck Soup w/Salted Mustard Greens - 169

BEEF, GOAT & PORK (FOODS OF CELEBRATION)

Beef Rendang - 32, 90, 125, 158

Spiced Braised Nyonya Pork - 10, 100, 105, 157, 158

Malaccan Beef & Vegetable Stew

Javanese Spice Oxtail Stew

Achenese Goat Curry

TEMPEH, TOFU & EGGS

Garlic-Marinated Tempeh

Tempeh Sambal w/Lemon Basil

Carmelized Tempeh w/Chiles

Tofu & Summer Vegetables in Coconut Milk

Twice-Cooked Tofu w/Coriander

Fried Eggs w/Garlic, Shallots, Chiles & Ginger - 16, 123

Kopi Tiam Soft-Boiled Eggs - 164

Chile Omelet - 153

SWEETS & BEVERAGES

Indonesian Spice Cake - 152

Nutmeg Tea Cookies - 163, 165

Purple Rice Pudding w/Coconut Milk

Sweet Spiced Mung Bean Porridge - 164

Plantains w/Coconut Milk & Palm Sugar

Sweet Rice Dumplings w/Palm Sugar & Coconut

Cinnamon Tea - 134

Hawker's Tea

Warm Spiced Limeade - 162

Lime-Cordial Syrup

Singapore Slings