In the kitchen with Silearth

[Silearth 6]

Got some time on my hands--wife is not around and neither are the kids. Decided to do a little cooking and thought to myself "Self, let's share this wonderful food with our dark friends."

 

So looking around the kitchen we find a family pack of drumsticks that I took out of the freezer a couple days ago--must cook it. Good place to start. Let's see what else we can find.....

 

Let's start out with some onion, celery,green onion,limes,lemon grass and garlic--four heads of garlic to be exact. Notice a can of coconut milk in the background? We'll use that in a bit.

 

 

Now here is the chicken. It's been salted, peppered, and is frying in a bit of blueband(clarified butter).

 

Now everything from the first pic has been blended, including all the lovely garlic and the juice from the limes--we did leave the milk out though.

The picture just does not do it justice--it's garlirific!

 

Now everything is simmering in the pot--and yes, the milk is in here as well. I added a bit of tumeric, cumin, and lemon leaves.

When the chicken is done, I'll remove it for a while and dump some potato chunks in the pot until they are tender--then the chicken goes back in.

 

 

To be continued.....

[Yarasa 0]

can not wait for the next episode

[Silearth 6]

Hmmmm....I smell something......

 

Here we are, the finished product. A bit of fried onion adds an extra little zip.

 

And then it's time for me to eat.....A bit of sambal and I am good to go.

[Schot 407]

Very nice presentation Silearth. Dangerous amounts of garlic you say? I'm in! Oh and I've never had sambal on my food. Is it very hot? Looks very tasty indeed and got me quite hungry. I'm off to the kitchen!

[Silearth 6]

Very nice presentation Silearth. Dangerous amounts of garlic you say? I'm in! Oh and I've never had sambal on my food. Is it very hot? Looks very tasty indeed and got me quite hungry. I'm off to the kitchen!

 

I could have been clearer for there are two types of Sambal that I am aware of. One that comes in a bottle like catsup--looks like catsup as well. It comes in two varieties: Hot and extra hot. Then there is your Sambal ulek--the chili paste.

 

I opted for the paste, which is pretty spicy. You can tone down the spice and add some extra flavor by frying the ulek in a pan with chopped tomatoes and diced onion.

[gogoblender 3,086]

Sil... I think you've read my mind...this is exactly the kind of thing I've been wanting to cook lately! The pic thread is beautiful, and your writeup, very easy to follow. I think the only thing on your list of ingredients I don't have is the coconut milk (which I've been wanting to buy for a long time now), the lemon leaves and Sambal.

 

It's funny...the words Sambal you use...my family makes "sambal" all the time...at least when I was growing up... it's usually a mix of lots of ingredients like green chillies, grated coconut, sometimes some dried fish and lots and lots of heat ^^ It's consistency was always sort of soft and liquidy and we'd always get a scoop on top of our rice or beside a prawn curry that would be served with it.

 

A few questions?

 

After you open up the coconut milk, does it stay for a while in the fridge? And the lemon leaves...are they dry or do you buy them fresh from a store?

 

Thanks for the great cooking thread...you've combined simplicity and exotic ingredients.

 

My stomach will thank you when I give this a go.

 

Cheers!

 

gogo

[erialc 2]

OMG Sil I am drooling! That looks incredible and just the sort of thing I love to eat!...Now to track down Sambal! I have never seen it, if I couldn't get that what would be a good substitute?

 

[gogoblender 3,086]

Exactly Claire...I'm curious about this as well..I've never seen it in a bottle either.

 

 

gogo

[Silearth 6]

Well, to clear up the sambal issue.

 

Clicky

 

And here is the bottled variety.

 

Clicky

 

@gogo: The lemon leaves(Lime leaves are usually used, but we couldn't get any) are fresh--they are kept in the freezer.

The coconut milk.....well my wife's family has some unhealthy habits concerning food storage. Most items are cooked and left out for a week. My mother-in-law feels that this is fine as long as you heat the food up each day. This attitude landed my in the ER with unbearable stomach pain a few years back. Ended up with a very nasty intestinal bacterial thing.

 

Having said that, even they don't play around with coconut milk. Store the left over milk in the fridge, but don't keep it around for too long.

[Erling 3]

wooo I convinced mom to make this tomorrow! it looks so tasty, thanks for telling how to make tomorrows dinner!

[Silearth 6]

wooo I convinced mom to make this tomorrow! it looks so tasty, thanks for telling how to make tomorrows dinner!

 

Now that's what I like to hear. Ever since I first tasted Indonesian food I have been hooked--and I have been trying to spread the word.

 

To date I've had Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, African, Brazilian and a few others I can't recall. Nothing brings as much joy to my taste buds as Indonesian(Although I can not stomach their deserts.)

[Borg 0]

Mmmm? I don't have Sambal but I have a whole line of hot sauce bottles waiting to be used. I might have to try this one

[Silearth 6]

Mmmm? I don't have Sambal but I have a whole line of hot sauce bottles waiting to be used. I might have to try this one

 

Ahh, the joys of hot sauce. A common thing for me to say is "If it's not spicy then it's not worth eating." But not everything works with Sambal on it. Sure, I'll eat scrambled eggs with rice in the morning with a healthy portion of Sambal on it. But some things need taco sauce, some things need tapatio, and some things need tabasco--or one of it's tastier cousins.

 

The vinegar based hot sauces are near and dear to my heart, I have several different brands in the kitchen right now. But the king of them all has to be......The good stuff!

 

And back to the Sambal.....any Asian market will sell it, but your local Stater Bros, Von's, Ralph's will have it, at a higher price, in their Asian section. Fry it in oil with tomatos and onion to smooth it out a bit as it can be kind of harsh as is. If you are more adventurous, then Sambal Terasi is another option.

 

Warning! Silearth is about to tell a story..........

 

Back in the beginning--I don't remember if it was before or soon after we got married, but I was at a party with Mrs Silearth. I think I was the only American there. There is food aplenty, but everyone was just chilling because the rice was not ready. Now you can usually tell when the rice is done with this crowd because everyone starts to move to the center of the room, or wherever the rice cooker is.

 

So here I am, I have a plate with hot rice and a bit of several different dishes. I am armed with a fork(many people there were using their hands to eat--I do it quite often these days. I notice that everyone is moving toward another part of the room.

 

Intrigued, I followed the flow and soon found myself standing before a young woman with a dish of some strange, lumpy substance. Hmmmm.

 

"No," she said as she pulled the dish back. "Americans can't eat this."

"Just give it to me!" I snarled as I got myself a healthy portion. As I walked away I took a whiff of it.

 

Dear God!

It smelled horrible!

After making such a scene, it just wouldn't do to throw it away so I tasted it. It was love at first taste.

 

Don't believe me about the smell? My sister-in-law was making some in an apartment and the neighbours called the police to report a suspected drug lab. The police ended up tasting some as well--they liked it.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Silearth

[erialc 2]

oh Sil what is this strange lumpy substance that causes concern?

 

As for the sambal I am going to have a good looky for it after work this week, there's a lot of asian markets here so fingers crossed, if not hehe I will google for an online supplier, I can't wait to make this

[Erling 3]

looking forward to dinner, I tell yah what I think when I have eaten!

[gogoblender 3,086]

oh Sil what is this strange lumpy substance that causes concern?

 

As for the sambal I am going to have a good looky for it after work this week, there's a lot of asian markets here so fingers crossed, if not hehe I will google for an online supplier, I can't wait to make this

 

 

heh,my parents still make it Claire...I'd try and have em send some but I'm not sure if it would survive the trip ^^ Sil, don't hold back on the cooking stories... I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread...Erling, I'm looking forward to how your dinner tastes with Sil's great recipe here.

 

And...planning a trip down to the local asian store... let's see what they got goin in terms of bottled stuffs for exotic flavours. And yeah Sil, I was thinking it was lime leaves. They taste so good..that and cilantro and lemon grass, man...Indonesian just can't seem to be beat for complexity of flavors and pure depth.

 

 

gogo

[Erling 3]

well... what can I say? we don't need to go to resturant to eat dellicius hot indonesian food anymore! yummy! woo u made it in on my top 10 list and family liked it also!

 

will be eaten here again thats for sure

[Silearth 6]

oh Sil what is this strange lumpy substance that causes concern?

 

 

Well it is Sambal Terasi. I it made with dried shrimp paste that is scorched and then cooked with tomato wedges, Thai chilies and shallots. This is then pounded into a lumpy paste in an ulekan(morter and pestle). It smells pretty bad but tastes delightful.

 

Now, to change the subject--My two oldest kids just returned from Indonesia with my mother-in-law. I am so jealous that I could spit..

 

Of course, as with every type of cuisine, not everything is so great. They do some pretty horrible things to avocados.

[gogoblender 3,086]

I like that word you just used Sil, delightful. That's what usually comes to mind everytime I eat Indonesian food. The huge mix of flavors, the surprises you get with all the ingredients... And I think I know what you're talking about regarding that Shrimp Paste. I actually indulged myself the other day and bought myself a bottle of the stuff. A paste, with a small pool of oil on the top that you could see after removing the lid. The smell was actually fantastic, and the taste...spicy, hot... it would dance on the tongue. I have to stop myself from having to keep adding it to everything I make

 

Erling, I"m glad that dinner went of well. Sil, I think you've got a following.

 

What's next on the menu?

 

 

gogo

[Erling 3]

yeah c'mon sil give us something new I can eat at sunday

[gogoblender 3,086]

Sundays with Sil!

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. Erling, I'm curious, did you find it very spicy for you? And next time...take a pic!

[Silearth 6]

Another....?

 

Well there is one. It's very spicy and made with pork though it can be easily made with chicken. I've gotten rave reviews from pretty much every Indonesian person who has tasted my interpretation of this recipe as I've been told that not every Indonesian can make it properly.

 

I have no plans to make this one any time soon, so there wouldn't be any pictures. I'll post after I get home from work.

 

Oh, and don't be scared by the heat--you can vary the amount of sambal used.

[Erling 3]

ugh, no rush... I judt found out we will have tortillias on saturaday 8-)

well... I can take pics of that it thats wanted

 

and I love spicy food as long as I have something drinkable nearby