My First IDFB Challenge Entry!: Mie Aceh

I'm so excited to be writing my first IDFB Challenge entry! Setelah beberapa bulan jadi anggota pasif IDFB (Indonesian Foodblogger) yang hanya bisa mupeng lihat kreasi mbak-mbak yang super duper mouthwatering, akhirnya saya memberanikan diri ikutan IDFB Challenge #11 yang bertemakan Mie/Noodles.

Saya selalu suka makanan berbahan mie. Whether it's mie ayam gerobak, bakmi Gajah Mada, mie kocok, ifumie, mie Jawa, atau mie-mie-an yang lain. Tapi ada satu mie yang menurutku yang sangat menantang untuk lidahku. Rasanya pedas, dengan kuah kental, dan kaya akan rempah. Yah, kalau boleh dibilang sih setipe sama makanan India gitu, hehehe. Ayooo coba tebak!? Yep, it's mie Aceh!

Beberapa waktu lalu saya sedang pingiiinnn sekali makan mie Aceh. Tapi apa daya, di Australia ga ada yang jual. Yang bisa saya lakukan hanya ubek-ubek resep di internet. Pengalaman pertama kali membuat mie Aceh, saya menggunakan resep dari salah satu majalah memasak ternama di Jakarta dan saya kecewa berat dengan hasilnya. Rasanya jauh dari yang pernah dulu saya rasakan di rumah makan Aceh. Alhasil saya gunakan tips yang pernah diberikan oleh teman saya yang sesama orang rantau disini and came up with my own recipe. Oya, saking ga sabarnya bikin, sampai ga pakai kerupuk emping!

BAHAN:

• 6 bawang merah
• 4 bawang putih
• 150 gr udang kupas
• 150 gr daging sapi
• 1 sdt cuka
• 1 batang daun bawang
• 900 ml kaldu sapi
• 1-1/2 sdm kecap manis
• 300 gr hokkien noodles (atau mie kuning basah bulet)
• 2 sdm seledri, cincang halus
• 1 tomat
• Taoge
• Kol
• Garam sesuai selera

Haluskan bahan-bahan berikut:

• 8 bawang merah
• 4 bawang putih
• 4 cabai merah besar
• 1/2 sdm jinten
• 4 kapulaga
• 1 sdt kunyit bubuk
• 1 sdt lada
• 1 sdm bubuk kari (optional)

CARA MEMBUAT:

1. Haluskan semua bumbu halus dengan diuleg atau diblender.
2. Tumis bawang merah, bawang putih, dan bumbu halus.
3. Masukkan daging sapi dan udang. Masak hingga berubah warna.
4. Masukkan tomat, taoge, dan kol yang sudah dipotong tipis. Masak hingga sayuran layu.
5. Masukkan kaldu sapi, cuka, seledri cincang, dan kecap manis. Masak hingga air berkurang dan mengental. Tambahkan garam sesuai selera.
6. Masukkan mie dan daun bawang yang sudah dicincang, aduk rata. Masak 1-2 menit.
7. Hidangkan di piring dengan pelengkap kerupuk emping, timun, dan bawang goreng.

The Positive Dog

Last Sunday, hubby and I decided to have our own weekends. He went for rally for Syria around Hyde Park and I went to enjoy Hotaru sushi (my fave!). His rally went on for a couple of hours and I only spend 1 hour, at most, at Hotaru. So, while waiting for him to finish, I went to Kinokuniya, just on the upper floor of Hotaru.

Reading is not my thing, but that time I just had to read something to prepare for an interview, heheh. I basically like to read non-fictions or motivating books. So, I went to the motivation shelf and pick up a small book that I guess I can finish by proof reading in a short time. I came across this book titled "The Positive Dog" by Jon Gordon. The book is super good! I almost bought it, but the price stopped me. The book tells a story about two dogs living in animal shelters waiting to be adopted. Through their journey, they share a lot of things about being positive. Being positive makes you stress less, makes you happier, can lengthen your age, makes you healthier, etc. But staying positive is difficult. You have to feed the "positive dog" with various things like smile voluntarily, do the gratitude walk, etc.

This book is really good to keep you positive. It's small and easy to read. This book help me a bit to relieve the pain inside me, so I really recommend this book to anyone who is currently going through a stressful time and anyone who needs some motivation kicks. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Positive-Dog-Story-Positivity/dp/0470888555

Happy Paper-versary!

As the title goes saying "Happy Paper-versary", indeed it is our first wedding anniversary.

We went out to watch a movie. Had to skip Monday (1-Jul) because it is cheaper on Tuesdays.

It didn't take long for us to realize that we're made for each other, inshaaAllah. And I am very much 100% sure that Allah put His magical hands into our matter. I never knew him, at all, yet after just a month of chatting on Facebook and around 5 times of face-to-face meeting I instantly said "yes" to his proposal. But I wasn't all that stupid just because he graduated from the same high school as me, he plays guitar, and he works in-a-country-that-I've-sweared-to-myself-that-I-will-never-ever-would-want-to-visit that I said "yes". I worked hard to get an answer from God. Alhamdulillah, there was one striking moment where I knew God was telling me, "Dita, this is the person, the answer to your prayers". I realised that finally all of my "hard pray" paid off. Some of my friends joked that that was the result of my i'tikaf, hahaha. But to be honest, I've seeked his help longer than that and put all of my heart out for it.

Some people say, you're a match if your face look-alike. Well, it doesn't happen to everyone, but in our case it does seem to apply. Once, my husband was accompanying me to Qantas office in Jakarta to make a delay to our flights. At the concierge desk, I must admit that both of us acted like siblings. The officer asked us whether we're brother & sister. I laughed at it, and said "No, he's my husband". "You both look-alike, you know," the officer replied. I guess we do :).

Rosewater Meringue Kisses

This cute meringue kisses is definitely a less guilt snack. The ingredients are very simple as well. Kids will definitely love this, because it looks really cute, the color is just oh-so pretty, and it taste yummy melt-in-your-mouth. I had kept one jar full of this kisses and when my husband was having his halaqah at our place, two kids ate almost all of the meringue kisses that I have!

In the real recipe, the kisses are supposed to be sandwiched with cream (or jam?) in the middle. But I didn't bother myself making the cream so I was just happy with the meringues itself :D. Hope you enjoy making this pretty-little-cute meringue kisses!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp rosewater extract
• Few drops of pink food colouring

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat all of the ingredients for about 15 minutes with electric mixer until sugar is dissolved.
2. Spoon mixture into piping bag. Using star tube, pipe about 4cm stars onto trays 2 cm apart.

NOTES:

• Bake all the meringues in one go, because if you leave the mixture too long in open air, it will lose  its fluffiness.

Salt & Chilli Prawns

This salt & chilli prawns recipe is very easy to prepare and make. Suitable for those busy working women or lazy housewife (like me, ahahaha). This dish is meant to be eaten with steamed rice, because  after all it's an Indo-kind-of-dish (even though it's heavily influenced by Chinese cooking as well).

Ingredients:

• 500 gr prawns
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 3-4 tbsp corn starch
• 1 lime
• 2 red chillies, minced
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp spring onion
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

How to make:

1. Mix prawns with juice from 1 lime, leave for 10 minutes. Add in 1/4 tsp of salt, white pepper, and corn starch; mix well.
2. Deep fry prawns in hot cooking oil until golden brown; then set aside.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of the remaining oil from frying the prawns. Saute minced garlic clove and red chillies until the oil almost dries up. Add in chopped spring onions, salt, fried prawns, and sprinkle with black pepper. Mix all together until prawns are evenly coated with the other ingredients.

Source: "Menu Sehari-hari & Akhir Pekan" Vol.1, Yasa Boga

Silk Tofu Soup

Another heart warming soup recipe for winter! Yeay! The soup is very Chinese-influenced. It is very very easy to make and the taste is savoury and light. Anyway, just trust me, it is great to warm up your body in winter or if you are having fever ;)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cylinders of silk tofu, diced
• 100 gr minced chicken
• 100 gr prawn
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 700 ml water
• Some chicken bones (optional)
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour (mix with a bit of water)
• 300 gr cai sim
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• Salt, if needed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat vegetable oil and saute the garlic. Add in minced chicken and prawn, and cook until the colour changes.
2. Add water, chicken bones, white pepper, and fish sauce. Then bring to boil.
3. Add in the tofu; lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tapioca mix to thicken the soup. Add cai sim and sesame oil. Cook until the cai sim wilted.

NOTES:

• You can substitue tapioca flour for corn starch. If you want a thicker soup, you can add more tapioca mix.
• If you don't have any leftover chicken bones, you can leave it out. But it always makes a yummy broth if you use chicken bones :D

Adapted from: "Menu Sehari-hari & Akhir Pekan" Vol.2, Yasa Boga

Tomato Soup

For you who needs some veggie intake boost, this heart warming soup is a good option. This soup is packed with rich-in-vitamins tomatoes and is perfect to warm up a cold winter night. The recipe is actually adapted from BBC Good Food (with a few changes) and I just had to put this on my blog because it's such a pain reading it on the actual website whenever I want to make this again.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg ripe tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp of ketchup
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.2 litres of beef stock
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt
• Black pepper

How to make:

1. Dice the tomatoes. Cut celery, carrot, and onion into small pieces. 
2. Heat olive oil and saute the onion. After it starts to wilt, add in celery and carrot. Cook the vegetables about 10 minutes. Stir a couple of times to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3. Squirt ketchup and stir. Add in the diced tomatoes, sprinkle a pinch of sugar, black pepper, and 2 bay leaves. Put the lid on and let the the tomatoes stew over low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Pour the hot stock and stir. Turn the heat high and when everything is bubbling, turn the heat to low and put the lid on. Simmer for another 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
5. Take out the bay leaves. Use a hand blender to puree the soup right in the soup pan, or you can ladle the soup into a blender and pureed it.
6. Lastly, improve the taste to your liking by adding more black pepper, sugar, or salt.

Notes:

• The actual recipe calls for vegetable stock, but I find it tastes better using beef stock
• Best served warm with accompanying puff pastry. Or you can make it into tomato zuppa soup.

Source

Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

Am so very sorry that I haven't put up anything for a month (?). I was kinda busy here and there, got flu for a while, needed to catch up with house work, and when I was ready to blog the Mac needed a repair. But anyway, finally now I'm catching up on my blog posts!

A couple of weeks ago I was severely craving for a very moist red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I wanted to try another recipe and found an "ultra" moist red velvet cake recipe that turned into an ultra disaster. It was nowhere wear good and I had to throw away the whole batch. Afterwards, I quit looking for an ultra moist recipe and just searched for the best red velvet recipe. So then I came across this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 20 ml (up to 50 ml) Queen's Pillar Box Red food colouring
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda

Cream cheese frosting:

• 450 gr cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cup confectioner sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Prepare the mini cupcake pan and place the patty papers.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a small bowl, mix food colouring and cocoa powder evenly.
3. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Then beat in vanilla and red cocoa paste. Add 1/3 of the flour mix to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Repeat and end with the last third of the flour mix. Beat until well combined.
4. Mix vinegar and baking soda (it will fizz). Add it to the cake batter and stir well to combine. 
5. Working quickly, spoon the cake batter into the mini cupcake pans half way full. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Check early, cupcakes is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
6. Cream cheese frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the confectioner sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat with low speed to incorporate. Then turn the mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. 

My cuppies have dome-shape top because I put it on fan-forced oven mode

The cream cheese frosting is amazing! The cake is just okay (but maybe because I accidentally put 1 teaspoon of baking soda into the dry ingredients). The color wasn't as I had expected because when the wrapper is ripped open, you can see chocolate cake crumbles. The original recipe calls for 60 ml American food colouring whereas I live in Australia and I think the products here might have a different effect. I contacted Queen's Food (I used their Pillar Box Red food colouring) and they said usually they used about 20ml of colouring for one red velvet recipe. But if you ought to use the whole bottle, it shouldn't give any bitter taste.

I brought some of the cuppies to my halaqah because I couldn't possibly finish it by myself at home and hubby doesn't like red velvets. They said it was good and looked really cute. So, I guess I approve this recipe! ;) 

Source

Sambal Pecel Ayam

Looking for a pecel ayam chilli condiments? Look no further because you just found a good recipe! I just sounded like a marketing gal :/. My Padang-nese friends loved it! But my husband still like the sambal ijo better (I don't know why). The pecel ayam recipe will follow yaaa... because I haven't made it again and I needed to make some changes to the recipes.

Ingredients:

• 7 red chillies
• 10 small red hot chillies
• 2 tomatoes
• 5 garlic cloves
• 4 shallots (I use 1/4 of red onion)
• 4 candlenuts (kemiri)
• 1 tsp lime juice
• Salt

How to make:

1. Fry all the ingredients with oil, except lime juice.
2. Put all the ingredients in a food processor, add lime juice and salt.

Source: "Sajian Ala Kaki Lima"

Mie Aceh

So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I was quite busy, quite scared doing some "real" baking, and two days ago I just caught flu :(. Today I'm going to share with you my Mie Aceh recipe. Yes, it's MY recipe! Hehe.. I'm a big fan of Mie Aceh for it's spicy and flavorful taste. I used to buy it at Pidie 2000 near my campus in Depok. 

My first attempt at Mie Aceh failed after I blindly followed a recipe on a famous Indonesian cooking magazine *bzzzz*. It was missing the "essential" taste of Mie Aceh. A few days later, I gathered some recipes from the internet and came up with my own version of Mie Aceh. Surprisingly, it turned out to be really good and was a really close match! I was super satisfied. Hubby liked it too. It was his first time eating Mie Aceh. I had promised him to treat him to Pidie 2000, but never had the chance. So, this was also an attempt to fulfil my promise.

The color is not quite right :/ Please see the last picture.

Ingredients:

• 6 shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 150 gr prawn, peel off skin
• 150 gr beef
• 1 tsp vinegar (cuka)
• 1 green onion (scallion)
• 750 ml beef stock
• 1-1/2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 400 gr hokkien noodles (or mie kuning basah)
• 2 tbsp celery, chopped finely
• 1 tomato
• Beansprout
• Cabbage, chop thinly
• Salt

Ground spices:

• 8 shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 red chillies
• 1/2 tbsp fennel seed (jinten)
• 4 cardamom pods (kapulaga)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp curry powder (optional)

How to make:

1. Ground together all the ground spices.
2. Saute shallots, garlic cloves, and the grounded spices.
3. Mix in beef and prawn, cook until it changes color.
4. Add in tomato, beansprout, and chopped cabbage. Cook until the vegetables are wilted.
5. Add in beef stock, vinegar, chopped celery, sweet soy sauce. Cook until the water has decreased. Add salt if needed.
6. Mix in the noodles and add the chopped green onion. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Serve to individual plates. Complement the dish with sliced cucumber, kerupuk emping, and fried shallots.

This picture was take the night before the previous picture. It looks more mouthwatering for me, hehe.

Notes:

• For beef stock (because I always failed at making a nice stock), I used 2 stock cubes and 900 ml of water.
• This is just my preference, I don't dunk in all the noodles into the spice/seasoning paste (or whatever to call it). Instead, I took another pot, scoop 1 soup ladle full of the spice/seasoning  paste, add 1 portion of noodles, and sprinkle some green onion and salt (if needed). Cook for about 2 minutes until any water left has dried - or at least thickens.