Chicken Bitterballen

This is my first time making bitterballen, I think bitterballen commonly using ground beef but I use ground chicken and I added some diced carrots.
Bitterballen is Dutch delicacy but very popular in Indonesia, it's similar to croquettes but different in shape and unlike croquettes bitterballen do not use potato. It's pretty simple to make, if you plan to have a party you can do all the preps day ahead and fry them on the D day.

BITTERBALLEN

Ingredients :

2 tbsp olive oil
250 gr ground chicken
1 big size of finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
150 gr diced carrots
50 gr celery stalks (finely chopped) or 2 tbs finely sliced fresh parsley
350 ml milk
150 gr flour
salt, sugar, pepper to taste
1/4 tsp nutmeg
100 gr breadcrumbs (I use Italian seasoning breadcrumbs)
2 egg and 2tbsp milk for egg wash
cooking oil for frying

METHOD :
Heat the olive oil and saute garlic and onion until fragrant then add ground chicken, cook until the chicken is done.
Add in some carrot and celery, keep stirring.
Add salt, sugar, pepper and nutmeg.
Pour in some milk and keep stirring until the milk is boiling, then add the flour in, keep stirring to make sure everything is well mixed together and no more liquid.
Set aside and let it cool or put it in the fridge overnight.
When it's cool the mixture is getting harden and is easy to shape, use ice cream scooper to help making all the balls uniform, but re-shape it again with your hands to make sure each ball is firm. This is important, you do not want extra oil absorbing into the balls during the frying process.
Drop each ball into the breadcrumbs then to the egg wash mixture then back to the breadcrumbs again.
Deep fry them until golden brown and crispy.
Ready to serve with your favorite sauce, I love to enjoy it with honey mustard or chili sauce.

Steamed bun stuffed with chicken

I've been craving for this chinese style steamed bun a.k.a mantau for long a while, but never challenge my self to make it. And I was so glad to found out that our local Asian market carry the frozen plain mantau.
So all I have to do is just to make some filling for stuffing then steam the bun. It's very easy to make and my boys are all love it!!
I used the recipe from my virtual friend Cie Ine : http://elkaje.multiply.com/recipes/item/119/MANTOU_ISI_AYAM

Ingredients :

5 pcs plain Chinese steam bun (mantau)

Fillings :

125 gr ground chicken
25 ml white egg
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp fried garlic
1 tbsp thinly sliced green onion (I was out of green onion so I used onion powder)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp thick sweet soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method :


Mixed all the fillings ingredient together until mixed.
Slice the bun but not completely all the way, just like a hot dog bun.
Then stuffed the fillings inside
Steam it until done, and ready to serve with chili sauce. It would be great for brunch or you can pack it for lunch.

K e l e p o n

I still have some leftovers of grated coconut from making PUTRI AYU the other day, and I do not like wasting :P so I decided to make some kelepon today for the boys to snack on after school.
I hope they'll like it ^__^

Kelepon is a traditional Indonesian snack made from glutenous rice flour filled with palm/arenga sugar, boil it, then rolled it into steamed grated coconut. It's really simple to make, I think almost every Indonesian know how.
Normally if the recipe calls from pandan flavor, I always use instant pandan paste, but this time I have canned pandan extracts handy, so I use that instead. And I could not be more happier with the result! I love love love the final color. The green is more natural and I love it!! ..... it really reminds me of home!!
Next time I'll use canned pandan extracts if I can, since I know in some recipes you have to stick with pandan paste.

K E L E P O N

INGREDIENTS :
200 ml pandan extract water (about 1/2 can)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lime stone paste water (diluted a small amount of lime stone paste with 1 tsp lukewarm water)

250 gr glutenous rice flour
100 gr palm sugar/arenga sugar --> shredded (do not substitute with brown sugar)
250 gr grated coconut
1/2 tsp salt
Pandanus leaves (optional)

METHOD :

Mixed grated coconut with 1/2 of salt and pandanus leaves, then steam it until done, or you can put it in a microwave, covered and set on high for 1 minute. Set aside

In the mean time, heat the pandan extracts until warm (do not boil it), add 1/2 of salt and 1 tsp of lime stone paste. Mix it well, then add the glutinous rice flour into it. Use your hand mix it well and knead it until ready to be shaped.

Take a small amount of dough, flatten it, then put a little of palm sugar in the center.

Using your hand, shape the dough into like a small balls, about 2 cm of diameter.

Then boil it in a hot boiling water until done, about 5 minutes.

When it's done, roll the balls into prepared grated coconut.

Ready to serve ^__^

Enjoy it!!

Putri Ayu

Putri Ayu means beautiful princes, some people also call it putu ayu.
This sweet traditional Indonesian dish will always be my favorite. Back then when I was a kid I always loved when my mom took me to the traditional market, and she gave me some treats if I behaved, and putri ayu is the one I always picked along with carabikang (another Indonesian treats I haven't try to make my self yet).

PUTRI AYU

INGREDIENTS :


Toppings :
160 fresh grated coconut
1 tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt

Cake batter :
5 eggs
200 gr sugar
200 gr all purpose flour
150 ml coconut milk
vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Pandan paste

METHOD :

1. Mix together grated coconut milk, corn starch and sugar, then steam it until done for about 5 minutes, or you can put it in microwave and set on high for 1 minute covered.
2. Prepare the molds and spray it with cooking oil such spam to avoid sticking, then put some prepared coconut about 1/3 or the mold or as you wish and pat it with finger tip.
3. Mix together eggs and sugar and set the mixer in high speed, mix it until the egg becoming pale and the sugar is dissolved. Add in the coconut milk and pandan paste and mix it for a little while, then turn off the mixer.
4. Mix together flour, salt and vanilla (I use the powder kind) and add it into the batter. Use spatula to stir and make sure there are no clumps in the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the molds already has layer of prepared grated coconut.
6. Steam it until done for about 15 minutes.

Mini Chicken Spring Rolls

As I mentioned on my previous post that I am planning to bring some Indonesian treats for Dylan's classmates, so today is the day ...
This morning I was so nervous because the treats I made are very time consuming, I prepared as much as I can a night before, but everything need to be fresh, so I did my best to prepare what I can and do the rests in the morning.
But thanks GOD everything went well today. Almost all the kids love the mini spring rolls and the other treats too. So I thought I should post the recipe here for future reference :P

But before I start with the recipe, let me share this tray of treats I brought to school :

The trims on the edges were supposed to be made out of banana leaves, but I can only get frozen banana leaves here so I thought I can replace it with some wrapping tissue, it ain't too bad huh? ...
Inside the tray are mini spring rolls, kue lumpur and putri ayu. Will post the recipe of putri ayu soon.

So here's the recipe for mini spring rolls :

MINI CHICKEN SPRING ROLLS

INGREDIENTS :
50 pcs small sizes spring roll skins (lumpia skins) sold at most Asian market at the frozen section
250 gr shredded carrot and cabbage
25 gr dried shrimp, soak it in a hot water then grind (optional) --> I substitute it with 1/2 tsp of fish sauce.
250 gr ground chicken
125 cc chicken broth or water
100 gr rice vermicelli,  soak it in hot water
2tbs vegetable or cooking oil and a lot more for final frying
1 egg
1/4 tsp white pepper
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
5 cloves of shallots (3 pcs if the sizes are big, or 1 whole regular onion) finely chopped

METHOD :
Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil and saute garlic and onion until fragrant. Add ground chicken and dried shrimp, keep stirring to make sure the chicken is not clumpy.
Add shredded carrot and cabbage and keep stirring
Pour in the chicken broth and the rest of seasonings. Let it boil then add the vermicelli, stir again.
Lastly add the egg and make sure everything is well mixed and no more liquid. Remove from heat, set aside and let it cool.
Prepare one sheet of the spring roll skin, spoon a small amount of filling mixture in the center then fold it like an envelope, seal the edges with egg white.
Deep fry until golden brown, ready to serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Kue Lumpur

It's been a long while since my last post. But I wont bore you with some excuses ... LOL

Okay, tomorrow is Dylan's birthday and I'd love to bring some Indonesian sweet treats to his class on Monday, so today I need to practice some recipes. And I choose KUE LUMPUR among hundreds of yummy Indonesian sweet treats simply because it's my favorite, it's not too sweet and I just love its texture. I hope the kids will love it too...*I am crossing my fingers*

KUE LUMPUR literary means mud cake, but don't get confuse or mixed up with American mud cake. It's totally different.
Kue lumpur has a texture similar to pancake, tastes like in between pancake and custard with a hint of coconut flavor plus raisins. You can choose raisins for the topping, young coconut flesh or any of your favorite sweet toppings.

KUE LUMPUR
Indonesian mud cake

INGREDIENTS :
75 gr margarine
250 ml light coconut milk + 500 ml thick coconut milk *
175 gr all purpose flour
125 gr sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
5 egg + 1 yolk (whisked)
Raisins for toppings

* since I used 400 ml canned coconut milk, what I did was taking 100ml of the coconut milk and diluted it with 150 water. And I added 200ml of water and mixed it to the remaining 300ml so that would make 500ml.

METHOD :
1. Heat the margarine and 250 ml light coconut milk and sugar until margarine melted and boiled, add salt and vanilla. Then add shifted flour and quickly mix with wooden spatula until it gets really well mixed.

2. Turn the stove off and remove from the heat. Gradually add some egg and 500 ml coconut milk and keep stirring until well blended and the texture is smooth and silky. I strained the mixture using a very fine strainer to make sure there are no clumps.

3. Heat the pan on top of the stove and brush it off with some margarine to avoid sticking. Pour the mixture for about 3/4 of each cup, cover and let it cook halfway. Add some raisins then cover it again and cook it until done.

4. Using a small heat proof spatula gently remove kue lumpur from the pan and ready to serve, it's good with cup a tea for morning or early evening snack.