Pempek

Pempek, mpek-mpek or empek-empek is a savoury fishcake delicacy from Palembang, Indonesia, made of fish and tapioca. Pempek is served with yellow noodles and a dark, rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko (lit. vinegar sauce).

Pempek is the best-known of Palembang's dishes. Its origin is undoubtly Palembang, however the history behind the creation of this savoury dish is unclear. According to local tradition, around the 16th century there was an old Chinese immigrant who lived near the Musi river. He noticed an abundance of fish caught by the local fishermen. In the Sumatran tropical climate, before the invention of refrigeration technology, most of these unsold leftover fish decayed and were wasted. The indigenous people, however had limited knowledge and techniques for processing fish. During that period, most of the indigenous people simply grilled, fried or boiled their fish instead of adding other ingredients to make new dishes. The old Chinese man mixed in some tapioca and other spices, which he then sold around the village on his cart. The people referred to this old man as 'pek-apek, where apek is a Chinese slang word to call an old man. The food is known today as empek-empek or pempek.

Another theory suggests that pempek was a Palembang adaptation of Southern Chinese ngo hiang or kekkian (fish slice) as a surimi (yújiāng) based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce.

Dough

Pempek dough is made from a mixture of boneless ground fish meat, most commonly tenggiri (wahoo), with water, salt and tapioca. Ikan gabus (snakehead) is also commonly made as pempek. Numerous pempek sellers and producers in Palembang use a cheap combination of fish, which has a strong scent. According to tradition, the best tasting pempek are made of belida or belido (Chitala lopis), but due to its rarity and superior taste, pempek made from this fish are usually more expensive. Pempek in Bangka Island are made from mackerel (ikan kembung) and its sauce is red chilli based, while in Jakarta or other cities they could be made from gourami fish. The latest variant is pempek udang, pempek made of minced shrimp originated from Sungsang area in Banyuasin near the Musi river estuary, it is noticeable with its pinkish color.

The dough is boiled in hot water or steamed until hardened as partly cooked dumplings, and stored to be fried later just before serving.

Sauce

Kuah cuko is produced by adding palm sugar, chili pepper, garlic, vinegar, and salt to boiling water. The color of this sauce is dark brown. This sweet, sour and spicy sauce is essential for flavouring the pempek, since the pempek dough is very mildly savoury. The sauce of Bangka pempek is chili based, made from the mixture of ground red chili and vinegar and its color is bright red. Traditionally all pempek sauces are served hot and spicy, the ground chilies are mixed in the sauce. However since some people desire unspicy sauce, or cannot eat hot and spicy sauce, the ground chillis were often separated as sambals. In some pempek restaurants, the bottled kuah cuko sauce is left on customers' tables and they are welcome to pour on the amount of sauce they desire. There are two kind of sauces available, spicy hot and plain.

Serving

The boiled or steamed pempek dumplings are deep fried in cooking oil until light pale brown right before serving. They are cutted in bite-size, served with yellow noodles or rice vermicelli, showered in kuah cuko, and sprinkled with chopped cucumber and ebi (ground dried shrimp) powder. The additional fish krupuk crackers might be offered.

Sources: wikipedia & berburukuliner

Batagor

Batagor (abbreviation from: Bakso Tahu Goreng, Sundanese and Indonesian: "fried bakso and tofu") is Sundanese Indonesian fried fish dumplings served with peanut sauce. It is traditionally made from tenggiri (wahoo) fish meat. Sometimes other types of seafood such as tuna, mackerel, and prawn also can be used to make batagor. Just like siomay, other complements to batagor are steamed cabbage, potatoes, bitter gourd and tofu. Batagor is cut into bite size pieces and topped with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chili sauce and a dash of lime juice. Because being fried, batagor have crispy and crunchy texture. Since the serving method is identical, today batagor and siomay often sold under one vendor, with batagor offered as variation or addition to siomay.

Batagor is ubiquitous in Indonesian cities. It can be found in street-side foodstalls, travelling carts, bicycle vendors, and restaurants. The dish is influenced by Chinese Indonesian cuisine and derived from siomay, with the difference instead of being steamed, batagor is consider as fried type of siomay. Batagor was invented in 1980s in Bandung, and the most famous variety is Batagor Bandung. It has been adapted into local Sundanese cuisine. Today, most of Batagor sellers are Sundanese.

Source: wikipedia & stevanolorens

Kerak Telor

Kerak telor (English: Egg crust) is a Betawi traditional spicy omelette dish in Indonesian cuisine. It is made from glutinous rice cooked with egg and served with serundeng (fried shredded coconut), fried shallots and dried shrimp topping. It is considered as a snack and not as a main dish. The vendors of kerak telor are easily the most ubiquitous during annual Jakarta Fair and it has also become a must-have menu item for visitors at the event.

Each of the portion is made by order. The kerak telor vendor put a small amount of ketan (English: sticky rice) on a small wok pan and heated it on the charcoal fire. Add an egg (chicken or duck, but duck eggs are considered more delicious, and add some spices and mix it. The dish is fry on wok without any cooking oil so the omelette will stick on the wok and enable to put it upside down straight against charcoal fire until it cooked. The spicy serundeng (sweet grated coconut granule) with ebi (dried salted shrimp) and fried shallots is sprinkled upon the omelette.

In the Colonial era, kerak telor was a privileged food and was served in big parties for colonial government or rich Betawi. According to gastronomy expert Suryatini N. Ganie, kerak telor was created in order to make glutinous rice more tasty and satisfying. In modern day, kerak telor vendors no longer dominated by native Jakartans, some of them come from Padang, Tegal, Garut and Cimahi.

Ingredients:

* 100 gr of white glutinous rice, and soaked with water less than 2 hours
* 4 duck eggs
* 4 tablespoons fried onions
* 4 tablespoons grated coconut is roasted
* 4 pieces chili pepper, thinly sliced
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground pepper
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 4 tablespoons dried shrimp powder
Method :

1. Heat a frying pan until quite hot crust egg
2. Put one tablespoon of vegetable glutinous rice that has been soaked with water was approximately 50 grams of the lid and cook for about 2-3 minutes
3. Open the lid, then give 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons onion, 2 tablespoons of roasted grated coconut, 2 tablespoons dried shrimp, two of hot pepper sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper powder and ½ teaspoon sugar, stir well
4. Flatten the side of the frying ± 20 cm in diameter, cover and cook until fragrant again
5. Turn the egg to pan crust and the upper surface exposed to the fire burning fragrant

Source: wikipedia & cooking receipeguides

Kerupuk & Keripik

Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of kerupuk. In Indonesia the term kerupuk refers to the type of relatively large crackers, while the term kripik or keripik is refer to smaller bite-size crackers; the counterpart of chips (or crisps) in western cuisine. For example potato chips is called keripik kentang in Indonesia. Usually krupuk is made from the dried paste from the mixture of starch with other ingredients, while keripik is usually made entirely from thinly sliced, sun-dried, and fried products without any mixture of starch. Another flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimps is called rempeyek. The leftover rice can be made crackers through sun-dried and deep fried to make rengginang or intip (Javanese) rice cracker. Kerupuk and keripik can be consummed solely as snack, or cracked and sprinkled on top of certain food as complement to add crispy texture. Certain Indonesian dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, rujak, asinan, bubur ayam and certain kinds of soto were known to require certain type of krupuk for toppings.

Kerupuk

There are numbers of variations on krupuk, many of which are made from the mixture of starch with seafood (shrimp, fish, or squid), but occasionally with rice, fruits, nuts or vegetables; these variations are more usual in southeast Asia. Krupuk udang (shrimp cracker), krupuk bawang (onion cracker), krupuk kampung (cassava starch cracker) and krupuk gendar (ground rice cracker) is ubiquitous in Indonesia. The examples of popular krupuk udang brands in Indonesia is Finna and Komodo brand. To achieve maximum crunchiness, most of this pre-packed raw krupuk udang must be sun-dried first before being deep fried at home. To cook krupuk, a wok and plenty of very hot cooking oil is needed. Raw krupuk is quite small, hard, and darker in color than cooked one.

Sidoarjo in East Java, also Cirebon and Garut in West Java are major producers of krupuk, and many recipes originate from there. A common variation, called emping is made from melinjo (Gnetum gnemon) nuts. Melinjo crackers were part of the dinner menu on Barack Obama's state visit to Indonesia in 2010, where he praised the crackers, alongside bakso (meatball soup) and nasi Goreng (fried rice), as delicious.

Fish cracker krupuk kemplang and krupuk ikan is particularly popular in Southern Sumatran city of Palembang and also on the island of Bangka. Another popular type is krupuk jangek or krupuk kulit, cracker made from dried cattle skin, particularly popular in Minangkabau area West Sumatra. Krupuk mie (noodle cracker) is yellowish krupuk made from noodle-like paste usually used for asinan topping, particularly popular in Jakarta and most of markets in Java.

Keripik

The smaller size cracker, known with its diminutive name kripik, can be savoury or sweet. It is often made from various dried fruits, tubers, vegetables, and fishes. The most popular are kripik singkong (cassava cracker) and kripik pisang (banana cracker), however another types of fruits or tubers crackers are also available such as; kripik apel (apple cracker) from Malang in East Java, also kripik nangka (jackfruit cracker), kripik salak (snake fruit cracker), kripik talas (taro cracker), kripik ubi (sweet potato cracker), and kripik sukun (breadfruit cracker). Another type of kripik are often coated with batter and deep fried until crispy and dry, such as kripik belut (eel kripik), and vegetable kripik such as kripik bayam (spinach cracker).

Tempe Chips (Keripik Tempe)
Ingredients

500 g tempeh
250 gr rice flour
5 lime leaves thinly sliced
250 ml water
500 ml cooking oil
Spice puree:

3 cloves garlic
1 tsp coriander
10 pecan
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Tempeh slices as thin as possible, set aside
2. Place the rice flour in a container, place the spices, stir while pouring a little water until smooth. Add slices of lime leaves and stir well.
3. Heat the cooking oil, dip the tempe one by one into the batter of flour, fried. Fried tempeh into some oil until fairly submerged. Once cooked and dry, remove from heat.

Source: wikipedia & javakitchen

Siomay

Siomay (also Somay), is an Indonesian steamed fish dumpling with vegetables served in peanut sauce. It is derived from Chinese Shumai. It is considered a light meal that is similar to the Chinese Dim Sum, but is cone shaped. It is traditionally made from tenggiri (wahoo) fish meat. Sometimes other types of seafood such as tuna, mackerel, and prawn also can be used to make siomay. Other complements to siomay are steamed cabbage, potatoes, bitter gourd and tofu. Siomay is cut into bite size pieces and topped with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chili sauce and a dash of lime juice.

Siomay is ubiquitous in Indonesian cities. It can be found in street-side foodstalls, travelling carts, bicycle vendors, and restaurants. Just like bakso, lumpia, and pempek, siomay was influenced by Chinese Indonesian cuisine. However Chinese Indonesian siomay usually served not with peanut sauce, but in sweet-sour and spicy chili sauce. Siomay has been incorporated into Indonesian cuisine for a long time, and the most famous variety is Siomay Bandung. It has been adapted into local Sundanese cuisine. Today, most of Siomay sellers are Sundanese. Another variety of siomay is called Batagor, also originated from Bandung. It is an abbreviation that stands for Baso Tahu Goreng. Batagor is very similar to siomay, except that it is fried instead of steamed.

Ingredients

200 g fish fillet
150 gr minced shrimp
150 g squash, finely grated
250 gr sago
1 tablespoon salt
100 g egg whites
10 pcs red onion, finely
6 cloves garlic, finely
beancurd

Complement:

pare
know
potato
cabbage
eggs

Directions:

1. Mix the fish meat, shrimp, and salt and stir well. Enter the squash, egg whites, onion, and garlic, stirring until blended.
2. Enter the sago flour, stirring until blended.
3. Spread batter on the fish, tofu, eggs, cabbage and melon, and enter. The rest, make a round shape.
4. Steamed dumplings in a steamer and all supplementary heat until cooked.
5. Serve dumplings with complementary and peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:

500 g roasted peanuts, remove skin
milled until smooth.
150 gr large red chili
50 g onion
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 pcs lemon juice

How to Make:

1. Fried red peppers and red onion. Remove and puree.
2. Mix the ground spices with ground nuts, sugar, salt, and a little water, stir until blended.
3. Heat the peanut sauce to a boil. Lift. Give the lemon lime.

Source: wikipedia & tabloid nova

Martabak

Martabak is a popular dish in Indonesia. There are two kind of Indonesian martabaks, sweet and savory. In way of cooking, they have no similarities at all. Although they have completely different taste, looks and way of cooking, they usually can be found next to each other, i.e. a sweet martabak seller usually also sells the savory one.

Martabak manis

Martabak manis or sweet martabak, is a rich-flavoured pancake-like sweet dish which is popular in Indonesia. Sometimes referred to as "martabak bangka", where Bangka is an island in Sumatera. In Jakarta and West Java, Indonesia, these sweet, thick pancakes are also known as "terang bulan" or "kue pinang bangka". Also known as "apam balik" in Malaysia.

Usually made by street vendors in the evening, martabak manis is pan-cooked, using a specially shaped pan, usually with a diameter of about 25 cm and 3 cm thickness. After cooking, the pancake is topped with a lot of butter or margarine and a variety of toppings according to the customer's taste. The two major flavors are chocolate and cheese. Common toppings for chocolate flavor include a lot of chocolate muisjes or chocolate sprinkles, coarsely ground peanuts, sweetened condensed milk and sesame seeds. As for the cheese flavor, grated cheese and condensed milk are used. After the toppings are added, the pancake is cut into two, and one side is flipped onto the other. A large amount of butter or margarine is then added onto the outer part or the skin of the martabak. The martabak can also be made half chocolate and half cheese, or both chocolate and cheese together which is usually called "martabak spesial". Banana as a topping is also becoming more popular recently.

Martabak telur (egg martabak)

Martabak telur or egg martabak, also called "martabak asin" or salty/savory martabak, is a crepe-like dish with egg filling. The filling commonly includes duck eggs - up to six eggs for a large one - onion, green onions, cooked ground beef and seasonings. The martabak's "skin" is made by spinning the pastry until very thin, like filo pastry. Then it is shallow-fried in a custom made flattened heavy wok. While the skin or pastry is laid flat on the wok, the egg mixture is then poured in. Then the pastry is folded quickly while being fried, making a rectangular wrap. This requires a mastery in cooking technique. When it is done, the martabak is cut into smaller squares for serving. It is often enjoyed together with pickled diced cucumber, and a dark brown sauce made of vinegar and palm sugar.

Ingredients

Deep Fried Beef Rolls

* 50 spring roll wrappers (I used frozen)
* 1/2 lb ground beef
* 5 large eggs
* 5 scallions, stalks finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons ground coriander
* canola oil, for deep frying


Dipping Sauce

* 1 cucumber, diced
* 1 large carrot, diced
* 5 Thai chiles, finely chopped
* 5 shallots, thinly sliced
* 3 tablespoons white vinegar
* 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Deep Fried Beef Rolls:.
2. Brown grown beef in a skillet.
3. Discard excess fat.
4. Mix ground beef with chopped scallions, salt, coriander and eggs.
5. Fill each spring rolls with ~ 2-3 tablespoon of the ground beef mixture.
6. Fold the edges to make a rectangle shaped rolls.
7. Deep fried beef rolls in oil, 2-3 minutes per side
8. Dipping Sauce:
9. Mix all ingredients together, cover with plastic wrap, chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Source: wikipedia & Food.com