Cinnamon Orange Swirls

I'm back!! I can't believe it's been over 3 years since my last post! Life is more hectic today than ever being a full time working momma to an active toddler but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

So, I was looking in the freezer to see what I can make and found frozen puff pastry. It was brought to my house by a friend over 2.5 years ago when my son was 1 month old...yikes! Made an attempt to save it by making these easy bite-size swirls. Came out pretty good...can't even tell it's been in the freezer for that long..hahaha

Click to enlarge

Singkong Goreng (Fried Cassava)

Wouldn't you know it!! Just a few days before this Memorial weekend, I was hit pretty bad by some kind of virus. Starting Wednesday afternoon, I had chills, body ache, fever, headache, and nausea. There's nothing worse than spending the long weekend being sick. And although my ultimate goal is to rest this weekend, my heart just couldn't bear it if a whole long weekend went by without cooking. I felt better on Sunday so I happily made my way into the kitchen...yeay! :)

I went to the store earlier this week and saw cassava roots and had a sudden craving for deep fried cassava. Cassava is plentiful in Indonesia and versatile in its uses. It is common to find cassava used in a variety of Indonesian snacks and desserts.

Ingredients

2 cassava roots
1.5 T. salt, or to taste
3 cloves garlic (minced) or 2 T. garlic powder
1 T. ground coriander
water
oil for frying

Cooking instruction:

1. Peel the cassava skin and divide the length of the cassava root into 4 (approx 2-2.5"). If the root is thick, cut the round in half.

2. Place the pieces into a stock pot and add salt, garlic, and coriander. Cover with water.

3. Boil the cassava until tender. Drain and let the cassava cool down a bit and dry out (so you can avoid splatters when frying).

4. Heat 2" oil in a frying pan. Deep fry cassava until golden brown. Serve while still hot and crispy. Yummmm!!

*Note: You can let the cassava soak in the seasoned water for a couple of hours or even overnight before boiling, depending on how much time you have.

Otak-Otak (Grilled Fish Cake)

I love otak-otak! It's one of my favorite snacks since childhood. It is very popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore although each region has a slight variation on how to cook them. Indonesian otak-otak consist of fish paste seasoned with spices, then wrapped in banana leaf and grilled on charcoal fire. It's served with peanut dipping sauce. Making them does take some prep time but it's so worth it!

Makes about 40

Ingredients
2 lbs. fish paste
2 egg whites
1 C. coconut milk
1/2 C. tapioca starch
1 t. salt
2 t. sugar
1 t. ground white pepper
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
3 Thai chili (optional)
5 chives (sliced)
Banana leaves (cut into approx. 4" x 8" strips)

Cooking instruction:
1. In a large bowl, mix fish paste, egg whites, and coconut milk.

2. In a small food processor, mince together shallots, garlic, salt, sugar, pepper, and Thai chili. Stir the spices into the fish mixture. Mix in the chives.

3. Take a tablespoon of mixture, spread it on the inner edge of a sheet of banana leaf and then roll. Staple each end to seal.

4. There are 3 options to grill otak-otak. The traditional way is to grill them on a charcoal grill. If you have a gas burner, you can place a wire rack on top of it. Use low setting and place several otak-otak on middle of the rack. Turn a few times to make sure the leaves don't catch on fire. The third option is to place them in the oven at 300 F for about 10 minutes, then turn and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve with peanut dipping sauce.

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/4 C. ground peanuts
1/4 C. ground candlenuts
2 red chili
5 Thai chili
1/2 C. warm water
1 T. white vinegar
1 T. sugar
Salt, to taste

Cooking instruction:
1. Combine all ingredients.

Japanese Gyoza

Gyoza dumplings actually originated in China but became popular in Japan. The most common filling for gyoza is ground pork with cabbage and chives. You can also add ground shrimp (ebi-gyoza) or make it vegetarian. They can be boiled, steamed, deep fried, or pan-fried. My favorite is pan-fried because it gives a nice combination of the crispy and soft texture of the skin.

Makes about 50 pieces

Ingredients
1 lb. ground pork
1 C. shredded cabbage
2 t. minced ginger
1 t. minced garlic
2 T. sliced chives or scallions
1 t. sugar
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
Salt, to taste
1 pkg. gyoza wrappers

Dipping Sauce
1/2 C. low sodium soy sauce
1 T. rice vinegar
1 t. chili oil
1 T. sliced scallions

Cooking Instruction:

1. In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients except for wrappers.

2. Fill each wrapper with 1 teaspoon of the pork mixture. Dip your finger in water then dab along the edges of the wrapper. Seal by folding them in half and pressing along the edges.

3. To pan fry the gyozas, heat 2 T. oil in a large frying pan on medium high. Once oil is hot, line up approximately 12 gyozas inside the pan. Leave for about 2 minutes to brown the skin. Then turn the gyozas over (I find that using a chopstick is the easiest and fastest way to do it).

4. Pour 1/4 C. of water into the pan and quickly close with a lid (or you'll get oil splattered all over). Let they gyozas steam for a couple of minutes until most of the water evaporates. Transfer gyozas onto a paper towel to absord the excess oil.

5. Wipe pan and repeat Steps 3 and 4 to pan fry the rest of the gyozas.

6. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, and scallions. Serve gyozas with dipping sauce.

Perkedel Jagung Udang (Corn Fritters with Shrimp)

I've been slacking with cooking all week so I decided to stop by the market to get some inspiration. With summer coming to a close I saw some sweet white corn on the cob on sale. Then I stopped by the seafood counter and saw the raw shrimp was also on sale. I couldn't pass them up so I decided to make corn fritters with shrimp. This is one of my favorite snacks growing up and it's so easy to make. The longest part is frying the fritters.

Makes about 20-24 fritters

5 sweet white corn (cut kernels off the cob)
1 lb. 21-30 raw shrimp (cut into large chunks)
1 stalk green onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
3/4-1 C. flour
1 T. corn starch
1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 T. cold water
Vegetable oil for frying

Cooking instruction:

1. Place corn kernels, shrimp, green onions, and garlic in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, mix flour, corn starch, baking powder, sugar, salt, and pepper.

3. Stir in the dry ingredients to the corn/shrimp mixture. The moisture from the corn will create a nice thick batter. Add 1-2 tablespoon of cold water if the mixture seem too dry. But you still want to keep a nice thick consistency.

4. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium-high. Once oil is hot, place a spoonful of the batter into the pan. This is a good time to see if your batter has the right consistency. If the corn is falling apart, then your batter is too dry so add a little water. Once you know the batter is ok, place large spoonfuls of batter around the pan. Fry for about 4 minutes on each side or until they turn golden brown and shrimp is cooked through. Continue until all batter is used up. Serve hot.

Garlic Sweet Potato Fries

I'm in love with sweet potato fries and they're popping up all over the place. The first time I had them was at TGIFriday's and I've also had them at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. They were so crispy and flavorful I couldn't stop eating them. I've attempted to make "baked" sweet potato fries at home and sadly I usually end up with a sweet potato "massacre." They never came out crispy, instead they would turn into mush and stick to the baking pan or foil. So after spending hours google-ing on how to make the perfect, crispy sweet potato fries, I decided to give it another try,this time, actually deep frying them. At last...success!

The secret to making crispy sweet potato fries is to soak them first in water for 20-30 minutes then dredge with cornstarch and a dash of baking powder. I added garlic powder to give it some added flavor.
Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Make sure you don't over crowd the pan when frying. I fried them for about 8-10 minutes until they start turning golden brown. Lay them out on paper towel to absorb the excess oil then sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Hmmm...I'm in love all over again! :)

Pickled Beets

My mother-in-law bought some fresh, organic beets from the market. Beet is rich in nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, and iron. I just love their vibrant ruby color although I'd advise you not to wear anything white while working with them. I decided to make pickled beets. They're sweet, tangy, and crunchy. A perfect refreshing snack for Summer!

Pickled beets are so simple to make. Peel the beets and slice them about 1/2 inch thick. Immerse the slices in boiling water for about 5 minutes to soften them up a bit. You don't want to leave them in for too long and end up cooking them through. Transfer them into a jar and add about 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of sugar. Fill up the jar with the water you boiled the beets in and stir well. Let it cool then refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. For me, the longer you let them marinate in the vinegar/sugar concoction...the better they taste!

Mixed Veggies Fritter (Bala-Bala)

Bala-Bala is another street food found mainly in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta. It consists of shredded cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, and onions mixed together in a batter and then deep fried. What you end up with is a savory and delicious snack!

I'm not quite sure exactly where the name bala-bala comes from. I always imagined it could be because of its shape -- after it's been deep fried it somewhat resembles spider legs and a spider is called "laba-laba" in Indonesian...perhaps the name was tweaked into Bala-Bala? I don't know...this is completely my own theory! :) Some people also call it "bakwan," although if you're from Surabaya (East Java), bakwan is a completely different type of food...which reminds me of a funny story. I am originally from Jakarta and my husband was born and raised in Surabaya. The first time we talked about our love for bakwan, we were confused about what the other was talking about because our description of "bakwan" were completely different! Then we started arguing about which 'bakwan' was the original version. :)

Makes about 20

4-5 C. shredded cabbage (about 1/2 small cabbage)
8 oz. bag of bean sprouts
1/4 C. shredded carrots
3 green onion stalks (cut into thin strips)
1 t. minced garlic
1 egg
1-1/2 C. flour
3 T. tapioca starch
1 t. baking powder
2 T. chicken bouillons
3 T. sugar
black pepper to taste
2-3 T. water
vegetable/olive oil for frying

Cooking instruction:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. At the beginning, the batter will seem dry and needs more water. Don't worry, as you mix, the vegetables will release its water. But if you feel it's still too dry you can add another tablespoon of water.2. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. Place 4 generous spoonfuls of the veggie batter around the pan. Turn over after 3-4 minutes or when it starts turning light brown. Continue until all batter is used up.
3. Serve hot with Thai chili.