Bubur Ayam (Chicken Porridge)

The bubur ayam (chicken porridge) idea came when I had leftover cakwe that I had bought from an Asian grocery. Turned out that cakwe from Asian grocery is not like what I had expected. The appearance is the same with cakwe Medan, but the taste is totally different, meh. 

The bubur ayam recipe does look like a long list, but it's worth the work. Especially if you're badly craving for it, hehehe.

INGREDIENTS:

Porridge:

• 300 gr of jasmine rice
• 2 litres of water
• 3 cm ginger (or about 2 tsp crushed ginger)
• 2 sticks of lemongrass

Chicken:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 cm ginger
• 1 whole chicken
• 1 1/2 litres water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp white  pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, for frying the chicken

Soy sauce:

• 1 1/2 tbsp kikkoman sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp anchovy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Serving:

• Finely chopped celery
• Fried red onion
• Pickled radish
• Sliced cakwe

DIRECTIONS:

1. Porridge: Mix all the ingredients together and cook it in your multi cooker / rice cooker according to the direction. If the porridge came out too dry, you can dilute hot water and stir until you get the porridge consistency that you want.
2. Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a pan. Saute 5 sliced garlic cloves.
3. Boil water, add in chicken, ginger, and sautéed garlic. Cook until chicken becomes tender. Drain the chicken and cut into dice pieces. You can save the broth in the freezer for cooking later.
4. Saute 3 finely chopped garlic cloves, add the diced chikcen, add white pepper and salt.
5. Soy sauce: Stir well all of the ingredients together.
6. Serving: ladle the porridge into a bowl, sprinkle cakwe, chicken, and pickled radish on top. Garnish with finely chopped celery and fried onion. When you're about to eat, add 2-3 tsp of soy sauce and mix all the porridge. If you find it not salty enough, you can add more soy sauce.  

Crepes

Eating crepes always makes me happy. This recipe is often my go-to whenever I crave for some light snacks. It's very easy to make and so yummy as well! I found this recipe from Beth La Manach from "Entertaining with Beth" in Youtube. I definitely recommend you to try, as I have been making this over and over again.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 4 tbsp melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Mix in the milk to the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth.
3. Add the well beaten eggs, mix to combine.
4. Sprinkle the melted butter. Mix well.
5. Heat non-stick pan and dab with bit of oil.
6. Pour the batter and quickly spread around the batter in the pan by rotating the pan.
7. When the sides begin to turn golden, scrape the sides. Then turn it over on top of cutting board and tap hard on it to get the crepes to come off of the pan. 
8. Spread your favourite filling onto the crepes and fold into quarter circle.
9. Dust some powdered sugar on top.

NOTES: I upgraded the sugar amount to 2tbsp for a tad sweeter crepes.

Source

Mexican Rice

OMG, I can't believe it has been more than two months since I last posted something here *shame on me*. When I was about to post this recipe, suddenly the card reader refused to read my SDHC *darn-all of the pretty pictures were in there*. It took me quite a while (too long) to get a new card reader. Also, I've been busy prepping for my store opening at Etsy, inshaaAllah, and taking some free online courses to refresh my brain. So, that pretty much sums up why I haven't been able to post anything here. But I did, though, tried some new recipes; but it wasn't worth the upload... so... meh.

Anyway, I will just post what I had already drafted last month before the card reader incident happened. So, here it is:

On the 29th night of Ramadhan I pushed myself to do the last i'tikaf while I was having a severe sore throat. And the next day, I succeeded in losing my voice. Since then my throat hasn't gotten better. I didn't prepare anything festive and special for Eid. I just went around from one open house to another, hehe. I did manage to make opor ayam (by hubby's request) on the 10th of August, tho, but I was still feeling unwell so I didn't have the chance to take serious pictures and blog it.

Oh ya, this Ramadhan I participated in Indonesian Foodblogger cooking challenge (view my entry here) with the theme "noodles". I submitted my mie Aceh recipe and alhamdulillah it made it to the top 10! I didn't win eventually, but at least getting a place in the top 10 in my first attempt (out of 30 participants) is pretty impressive :). I can't wait to try other people's noodle recipes because they all look so yummo!

Today I want to share a Mexican rice recipe. I was browsing the internet yesterday and came across the word "Mexican rice". Hmm... I got curious and searched for a recipe. After reading the ingredients, I said to myself, "This is easy! I can make use of my quite-old-but-never-used cast iron pan as well". I called my husband in the last minute to get me a bunch of coriander leaves (how I wish I have a herb garden!). I adjusted the recipe with what I had in the kitchen. If you want to check out the original recipe, scroll down until the end of this post!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 3 green chillies
• 2 cups of jasmine rice
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• Salt
• 1/2 cup of coriander leaves, minced
• Lime

DIRECTIONS:

1. Process tomato and onion in blender until smooth. Measure and reserve exactly 2 cups (I forgot to measure it and just dunked in the whole thing into the pan). Discard excess.
2. Remove seeds from 2 green chillies. Mince flesh and set aside. Mince the remaining green chillies for later.
3. Wash rice thoroughly with cold water and rinse. Do this around 2-3 times.
4. Heat oil in oven-safe pan with tight fitting lid (I used cast iron pan) over low-medium heat. Drop a few rice grains, if they sizzle then it's ready. Add rice and stir fry until rice is light golden and translucent, about 6-8 minutes.
5. Add garlic and 2 minced green chillies; stir constantly until fragrant.
6. Stir in broth, pureed mixture, and salt. Increase heat and bring to boil.
7. Cover pan and transfer pan to oven. Bake in 190 degrees Celsius for 30-35 minutes. Stir well after 5 minutes.
8. Stir in the minced coriander leaves and the remaining minced green chillies.

This Mexican rice taste very nice. It is like some sort of tomato rice and the coriander leaves gave it that extra fragrance and unique taste. Hubby liked it and gave a thumbs up! We ate it with accompanying fried egg.

NOTES:

• The green chillies flavour didn't really come out, to be honest, so it's a bit missing that "chilli" (not hot) taste. Maybe using real jalapenos is best or maybe adding green bell pepper can work too.
• I used 1 block of chicken bullion in 2 cups of water. Just use accordingly to your chicken bullion instruction and adjust it to the recipe's chicken stock measurement.
• Don't be afraid to mix in a lot of coriander leaves! Because it really makes this rice taste sooo good. I was a bit afraid of mixing in the whole 1/2 cups of minced coriander leaves, but regretted it at the end that I had not put more!
• I don't really know how to properly serve Mexican rice, but having it side-to-side with grilled chicken or fried egg would be really nice!

Source

A Good 5 Minute

The next morning after I was feeling really hopeless, desperate, you name it; hubby sent this to my Whatsapp:

BACA 5 MENIT SAJA, INSYAALLAH BERMANFAAT  

HUSNUDZON kepada ALLAH 

Nabi NUH belum tahu banjir akan datang ketika ia membuat kapal besar &i ditertawai kaumnya. 

Nabi IBRAHIM belum tahu akan tersedia domba ketika pisau nyaris memenggal buah hatinya. 

Nabi MUSA belum tahu laut akan terbelah saat dia diperintah memukulkan tongkatnya.

Nabi MUHAMMAD SAW pun belum tahu kalau Madinah adalah kota tersebarnya ajaran yang dibawanya saat beliau diperintahkan berhijrah. 

Yang mereka tahu adalah bahwa mereka harus PATUH pada perintah ALLAH dan tanpa berhenti BERHARAP yang terbaik. 

Ternyata dibalik keTIDAKTAHUan kita, ALLAH telah menyiapkan SURPRISE saat kita mematuhi dan menunaikan perintahNYA. 

Seringkali tangan-tangan ALLAH bekerja di detik detik terakhir dalam usaha hambaNya.
So, never give up !! Make better for the best :) 

Kalaupun hasil yang kita usahakan jauh dari harapan, bahkan menyakitkan, jngan kita berkecil hati. Karena sering ALLAH mencintai kita dengan cara-cara yang tidak kita sukai. Tetap HUSNUDZON kepada ALLAH apapun yang terjadi. 

ALLAH berfirman:
"Boleh jadi kamu membenci sesuatu, padahal ia amat baik bagimu, dan boleh jadi pula kamu menyukai sesuatu, padahal ia amat buruk bagimu. Allah mengetahui sedang kamu tidak mengetahui."
(QS. Al-Baqarah: 216). 

✔Ingatlah:
Tidak ada yang tidak mungkin bagi ALLAH SWT
Selamat pagi  :)

It totally made me tear.

Just A Little Bit More...

A couple months ago I was catching up a bit with an old friend who is also a "rantau". We were in the same boat when talking about how boring it was having to leave our jobs just to be with our husband and all we did at home was just housewife's jobs. I am at my most now. I am bored to death, despite that I know I can do other things (and have facilities to support). I needed something to distract me 5 days a week from 8 to 7. 

I started looking for a job about a month after I arrived here on my spouse visa. I thought I could change industry and looked for some supply chain or engineering job. Whenever I wrote my cover letter, I was never sure what to write because I barely had any experiences in that. Sometimes it got to the extent that making cover letters was really a pain for me. I don't know how many applications I've sent but I always end up with rejection emails, sometimes even within a day or just after a couple of hours after I clicked the "submit" button. I never got a call for an interview. Not a single one call back.

So, then when Ramadhan came, I focused myself in Ramadhan and committed not to do any jobseeking stuff. Afterwards, I changed my strategy completely. I tried seeking for jobs related to my previous experience in market research industry and also changed my cover letter and resume completely. Alhamdulillah, within a week or two, I was able to get a call for an interview with an agent and another one from a data collection services company.

I remember telling my "rantau" friend how stressful it was for me being jobless for quite a long time (I had to bear with no-work condition visa for 6 months until I was finally able to get that green light to start applying for a job). She was almost desperate as well. It was difficult for her just staying at home waiting for a miracle to come. Around 3-4 months after applying for a job, she finally got a call for an interview. And alhamdulillah, she got the job. One thing that I remember from her was her saying, "Hang on just a bit more...". And that sentence got stuck in my head ever since. Whenever I tried to be positive, I just remember that sentence... just a little bit more...

I'm still doing the sabar-ikhtiar-doa-tawakal routinity. Hopefully something will come up for me real soon. Aamiin. 

How to Plan Your Ramadan Meals

Hello readers! How is your fasting going up to now? Can't believe that 1/3 of the Ramadhan month has passed us. So sad, isn't it? Since we only get to encounter it once a year. Anyhow, due to the month of Ramadhan, I might not be posting up recipes because I'm doing less cooking, but I will share with you some tips that I got from my halaqah to make the most time for your ibadah in Ramadhan.

COOK LESS

Who loves to cook and spend hours in the kitchen? I'm one of them, hehe. Well, in the fasting month, every minute is so precious that it is even too precious to be wasted just for cooking. So, in the fasting month, try to spend less time in the kitchen. If you usually cook for almost 2 hours (or more) and even had the time to bake cakes or cookies, please hold the urge. Try to cook less than an hour and only bake cakes and cookies when you are on your period.

PLAN AHEAD

This is very important in order to achieve efficient cooking and effective grocery shopping. I know how painful it is if you have to think what to cook every other day. Save your time and pain by planning ahead your menu; what you would like to cook during Ramadhan. So you will have more time to concentrate on your ibadah and not flipping cooking books nor browsing for recipes. It helps you to spend less time for grocery shopping as well, and you know when to restock.

STOCK UP AND PREPARE YOUR SPICE MIX BEFOREHAND

If you can't cook from scratch in less than an hour, stock up some ready made pasta sauces or instant spices (such as soto, rawon, balado, etc). By stocking up, you're saving your time from grocery shopping! If you love your own recipe, you can whip up a big batch of blended spices and freeze them in one-time-cooking portions. When you need them, just take them out of the freezer.

SOUPY FOOD

A member of my halaqah said that in Ramadhan her husband likes to eat soup-y stuff. When I thought about it, I think that's a great idea because it helps your throat to swallow the food (especially for sahur). So, during this Ramadhan, the menu I have planned is all soup based.

ORDER YOUR LEBARAN COOKIES 

My friend say to just order Lebaran cookies from your favorite shop. But if no one makes the same good cookies as you, you can still make your own cookies but NOT in the last 10 days of Ramadhan. The last ten days is the time when we should make the best of our time, the best of our prayers. So, while there is still time left, hurry make the cookies now! :)

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.