GRILLED LEMONGRASS CHICKEN WITH LEMONGRASS SWEET CHILLI SAUCE (GAI YANG DTAKRAI)

If you like the aromatic of lemongrass, you should try this dish! Seriously. My hubby doesn't really into lemongrass, but when he tried this dish he likes it a lot.
Both chicken and the sauce are having lemongrass aromatic.



There are 2 kind of grilled lemongrass chicken. One is Vietnamese style and the other is Thai style. And I made the Thai style this time. The original name of this dish is Gai Yang Dtakrai (please correct me if I am wrong).

I love Thai foods, might be because Thai food's ingredients are similar with Indonesian food's ingredients. And plus, I love the combination of sweet and sour which is a common taste in Thai foods.

Better I stop talking and let's try this yummy grilled chicken :).....



Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with Lemongrass Sweet Chilli Sauce

Ingredients:
7 pieces chicken - legs and thighs, rinse and pat dry

Marinade Sauce:
2 stalks of lemongrass, finely minced the white part only (I used food processor to mince it)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine
4 tbsps soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp galangal powder
1 tbsp blackpepper
1 tsp dried crushed chilli
3 tbsps brown sugar

Lemongrass Sweet Chilli Sauce:
1-1/2 stalks of lemongrass, finely minced the white part only (I used food processor to mince it)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsps shaoxing wine
1/4 cup fish sauce
3/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp dried crushed chilli (you can reduce it if you dislike too spicy)
1/2 cup water
2 to 3 tbsp tapioca starch solution

Preparation:
For the Marinade Sauce:
Mix all ingredients. Put chicken in the ziplock bag and pour the marinade sauce over the chicken. Make sure all chickens are soaked in the sauce. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Alot better if you marinate it for overnight.

For the Lemongrass Sweet Chilli Sauce:
Mix all ingredients except the tapioca starch solution. Boil it over high heat. Once the sauce is boiling, pour in the tapioca starch solution. Keep stirring until the sauce is thicken. Let it cool before you serve it.

Brush the grill pan with olive oil. Preheat it over high heat. Place the chicken on the grill pan. Reduce the heat into medium heat. Grill and brush the chicken with the marinade sauce. Grill it until both sides are browned.

-OR-

Preheat the oven over 375F.
Put the marinated chicken on the baking dish. Cover it with alumunium foil. Bake it for an hour. Don't forget to brush the chicken with the marinate sauce every 15 minutes. Uncover the chicken. Brush the chicken with the marinate sauce. Bake it for another 20 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the chicken when it is ready to serve.

CHEESEBURGER PIZZA

My hubby and I are getting bored with Hawaiian Pizza. We are too often making Hawaiian Pizza in the past. Until one morning when my hubby bought cheeseburger from BK drive-thru before we went to church, and I helped him to open the burger's wrapper *yea, he is driving and eating to save time ;)* suddenly this crazy idea came across my mind....CHEESEBURGER PIZZA!

At that time, I was thinking why can't I transform a cheeseburger into a pizza? It must be taste good, especially cheeseburger is a common food in America and 99% people in this world like cheeseburger. I just can't wait to implement this idea into a real pizza *oh uh...don't worry I still pay lots of attention and concentration on the preaching ;)*

First of all, I listed down what is the ingredients are needed in a cheeseburger. Of course there will be beef patty, sweet pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise and mustard. Then, to make it merrier I decided to add olives and pizza sauce as pizza without pizza sauce equivalent incomplete.



Surprisingly, it tasted really good! It just different than other pizza which is using canadian bacon, ham or pepperoni. I used ground beef instead of all those deli's meats.

My hubby's comments? He likes it! He said, "I never heard nor imagine of cheeseburger pizza before. And this is really good sweetie!". And I just simply smiling with satisfaction after I heard his comments and compliments :)



Cheeseburger Pizza

Ingredients:
1 homemade thin crust pizza (or store bought pizza crust)
1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp of salt and pepper
Oil for stir frying
4 whole dill sweet pickles, thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup sliced olives
2 heaps tbsps mayonnaise
1 heaps tbsp mustard

Cheese Mixture:
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups Mozarella Cheese

Pizza Sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tbsp dill sweet pickles' juice
2 tbsps pizza seasoning
1 tbsp oregano
3 tbsps Splenda Sweetener (or 1 tbsp granulated sugar)

Fresh Toppings:
1 roma tomatoes, seeded and small diced
1 leave romaine lettuce, small shredded

Preparation:
For The Beef Topping:
Saute garlic with olive oil until fragrant. Saute in ground beef until brown. Add in salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For The Pizza Sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil it over medium high heat. Let it cool before use.

Finishing:
Preheat the oven at 500F. Grease a pizza pan 14". Lay the pizza dough on the pan. Prick it with fork. Spread the mayonnaise and mustard on the pizza dough evenly. Spread the pizza sauce evenly. Sprinkle it with 1/2 of cheese mixture. Add onion, olives, cooked beef, and the remaining cheese. Top it with dill sweet pickles.
Bake it for 12 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Sprinkle it with tomatoes and lettuce before you cut the pizza.

TELOR PINDANG (BRAISED EGG)

This style of braised eggs are common in this universe. Of course, every country cook it differently. In Indonesia, we braise it with a bunch of shallot's skin and guava leaves. But in China, they will braise the egg with black tea and other chinese herbs.

The uniqueness of this braised egg is after the eggs are completely boiled into hard boiled eggs, we should crack the eggshell. Then, reboil it again so when we peel off the eggshell we can see the brown trails where the crack is. But some people wouldn't crack the eggshell, they just peel off the eggshell and reboiled the egg so the whole eggs will be brown instead of white color.

In Indonesia, this braised egg included in our traditional food. We can eat it as a snack, or as toppings for some traditional Indonesian foods such as Timlo Solo (Meat and Vegie Soup), Gudeg Jogja (Green Jackfruit Sweet Stew), etc. But, in China, they treat this egg as a snack. And it is pretty easy to find them, because they are sold as street foods. I remember when I was studied in China, at night along the way from my apartment to my campus were transformed into night market, so there were lots of people who are selling fruits, foods, clothes, toys, etc. And surely this chinese braised eggs is one of them who sold at the night market.

As for me, since I can't find guava leaves so I combine this 2 countries way of braising the eggs *that is the beauty of cooking by yourself, you can be creative as much as you want as long as the taste doesn't go too far from the original taste if you care the authentication :)*. For sure, I still put more "Indonesian herbs" in my recipe so it still legit to call it "Indonesian Braised Egg" :). I guess this recipe is helping you guys who lived in the country which doesn't have/hard to find guava leaves ;).The taste is similar than the one use guava leaves.



Telor Pindang (Braised Egg)

Ingredients:
6 large eggs
Shallot's skin from 8 cloves of shallot
4 cloves of shallot, finely sliced
1 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 bags of dark tea (any brand will do but should be dark)
1 liter boiling water
3 pieces bay leaves
3 tbsps Indonesian sweet soy sauce
2 tsps salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

Preparation:
In a saucepan, combine water and dark tea. Let the tea bags sitting in the boiling water for 5 minutes until the water become dark brown. Discard the tea bag. Add in shallot's skin, shallot sliced, garlic, bay leaves, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, salt and pepper. Boil it over high heat. Add in eggs. And boil it for 7 minutes or so and make sure the eggs are covered by the tea mixture so it will boiled evenly. Remove the eggs and crack the eggshell (Just crack it! Don't peel it!). Dump it back into the tea mixture. Reboil it for another 7 minutes over low heat.
Soak the eggs in the cold water for an easy peeling and smooth egg. Ready to serve.

PERI PERI CHICKEN

Wow...wow...wow...what a cute name for a dish! Yep, a cute name with a good taste!
Peri Peri Chicken is the most famous menu from Nando's Restaurant. Nando's is originally from South Africa (thanks to my dearest blog friend, Anjuli who gave me the info, because all these times I always think Nando's is originally from Malaysia!!). They have several franchise all around the world. Well, I can't say all around the world, but few countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and USA has it.

The first time I tried Peri Peri Chicken was when I lived in Indonesia. And, since that day I just simply love it. Especially I love spicy :). But don't worry, if you dislike spicy, you can choose the mild one, so it will not spicy at all! *oups...don't trust my judgement because I love SUPER EXTREME SPICY :)*.

Now, it's been ages I didn't eat Peri Peri Chicken because I can't find Nando's Restaurant at the area where I lived. Sadly, I almost forget about it!! Until, I saw a photo of my friend who ate at Nando's Restaurant and there were a photo of a full set Peri Peri Chicken. Suddenly, my mouth is watering and my jaw is almost drop looking at the chicken! And believe me, tho it just a photo but it looks good and really tempting.

So, I rushed to ask Mr. Google and there were loads of "Nando's" Peri Peri Chicken recipes. All the recipes are very similar one to another. So I decided to make my own Peri Peri Chicken recipe.

While the chicken was baked in the oven, I crossed my fingers hoping it will taste good. And.....voila.....it tasted good! My hubby liked it and I am happy cos I can eat Nando's Peri Peri Chicken anytime :).

PS: My Peri Peri Chicken is spicy tho I put "Mild" sticker on it :). So, you should reduce the chilli if you dislike spicy.



Peri Peri Chicken

Ingredients:
6 piece chicken drumstick

Marinade Sauce:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, small diced
2-3 tsps salt
70 ml apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 red chilli pepper
5 green thai bird's chilli, sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tbsps oregano

Preparation:
1. Saute garlic and red bellpepper until fragrant over medium high heat. Pour in vinegar and lemon juice. Reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients. Stir it for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the stove.

2. Pour the chilli-vinegar mixture into a food processor or blender. Process it until fine and smooth. Keep it in the refrigerator and let it cool.

3. Place the chicken in the plastic bag (food saver bag). Pour 2/3 the cold chilli-vinegar mixture. And reserve the rest for additional condiment after the chicken is baked.

4. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours. Bake the chicken over 350F until both sides are brown. Once in a while bash the chicken with the marinade sauce. Don't forget to turn the chicken so it can baked evenly.

5. Serve it with rice and salad. Also, you can pour the reserved sauce over the chicken on the serving plate. Enjoy

TOFU AND SHRIMP WITH TOMATO SAUCE (TAHU UDANG SAUS TOMAT)

Easy. Simple. Delicious. Those 3 words are really described this dish. If you lack of idea or want to use the ingredients left in your fridge *obviously I am talking about my own experience :)* this simple dish is really an answer for you! :). Especially on summer. The tangy of fresh tomatoes and the sourness plus the sweetness of the shrimps are really freshen your day!

Then, since this is my new experiment, of course I need someone to test it and tell me how is it. As usual, my hubby becomes my food tester :). And.....he likes it! *phewww*



Tofu and Shrimp with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 lb shrimps, peel and devein
1 package firm tofu (you can use any kind of tofu as long as it is firm tofu)
2-1/2 cups water and salt solutions (2-1/2 cups water combined with 1/2 tsp salt)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsps cooking rice wine
2 tbsp ang ciu/shaoxing
3 tbsps thai sweet and sour sauce
150 ml water
1 stalk spring onion, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsps tapioca starch solutions

Preparations:
Cut the tofu into the shapes you like. Soak the tofu in the water-salt solutions for about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the tofu and pat dry the tofu with paper towel. Fry the tofu in the preheated oil until both sides are golden-brown color. Strain it and let the oil dripped.
In another pan, fry the garlic with 2 tablespoons oil until fragrant. Stir in shrimp until the shrimp change into pink color (remember stir fry it until pink color only, do not fry the shrimp too long if you don't want your shrimp becomes rubbery). Add in tomatoes, stir fry for about 1 minute. Add in soy sauce, cooking rice wine, shaoxing, thai sweet and sour sauce, salt and pepper, to taste. Stir for another 1 minute. Add in water, stir well. Add in fried tofu, stir well and let the sauce boiled. Once the sauce is boiled, pour in tapioca starch solution, stir fast until you see the sauce is a bit thicken (you can add more starch solution if you want thicker sauce). Remove it from the stove. Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle it with spring onion. Bon appetite! :)

REMPEYEK KACANG

Long time ago there was a little girl who lived in Indonesia. And everytime her family went to a city called Bandung which was famous with their local snacks, they were always buy this one kind of snack that unfortunately she hated it. She was confused why her dad, mom and siblings like this un-scrumptious-at-all snack. For her, she loves all kind of snacks (and snacking) but not this one.

Now, she is a grown up woman and guess what? She still dislike this snack. Tho she lived in a far away country from Indonesia, she never miss that snack. Until few days ago, when she accidentaly saw a pic of it, she can't stop thinking about it. Out of nowhere, she can smell a good smell of fried key lime leaf from that snack right in her nose!

So, she determined to try to make herself the snack that she hated when she was a kid. After the snack was well fried, and ready to serve, she can't wait to let her husband to try it. Unfortunately, her husband doesn't really like it :(. But, she does! When she fried the snack, the smell of fried key lime leaf and fried food is flowing on the air. Now, she knows and understands why her family are all like it.



Okay.......I tried to become a novelist but I guess I am failed! :). The story is lame huh? Now, let me tell you the real one. Actually, the story above is talking about me :). And "the snack" we are talking about is rempeyek kacang (it is made of rice flour, coconut milk, key lime leaf and peanut). That's true, I recently like rempeyek kacang. When I was a kid, never ever ask me to try it. I don't know why I hate rempeyek kacang so much. But, after these years hate it I am starting to like it now :). The crispy-ness of the rempeyek kacang and the smell of fried key lime leaf are really made me realize that I missed this good snack!

You will have no problem to find it in Indonesia. I guess, almost all cities in Indonesia are selling rempeyek kacang. Some people make it thick and not that crunchy, but some people (including me) make it thin and crunchy. And I loved the one I made, thin batter with a little bit peanut.
I got the recipe from the old old old NOVA magazine (or newspaper? since it doesn't look like a magazine)



Rempeyek Kacang

Ingredients:
150 gr raw peanuts, peeled and panbroiled
200 gr rice flour
450 ml thin coconut milk
2 small eggs, whisk
8 pieces key lime leaves, finely sliced
2 tsps lime stone
Vegetable oil for frying

Spice Paste:
7 cloves garlic
6 candle nuts
3 tsps coriander
2 tsps cutcherry powder
2 tsp salt, or to taste

Preparation:
In a big bowl, combine spice paste, key lime leaves and rice flour. Pour in coconut milk, eggs and lime stone water gradually. Mix it until well combined.
In a small pan, brush the pan with oil. Scoope 1/8 to 1/4 cup batter. Sprinkle it with panbroiled peanuts (the amount of peanuts are as your desire). Pour the batter into the small pan. then move the pan into circular motion until the pan is covered by the batter. Don't worry about the shape, it doesn't need to be perfect). Cover the pan, and let it cook for about 2 minutes or until half cooked. When you didn't see any liquid batter, then it's the time to remove it from the pan and dump it into a prepared bigger pan with hot oil for deep frying. Fry the rempeyek over high heat until golden color and crispy dry.
Remove it from the pan, and let it dry from the oil on a strainer. Let it cool and keep it in a tight lid container. Ready to serve.

FRIED WONTON WITH SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

Who doesn't know Bakmi Gajah Mada (a franchise noodle restaurant in Indonesia)? I bet everyone who is Indonesian will know it. Bakmi Gajah Mada is a very famous noodle restaurant in Indonesia. You can found them easily in the malls. I remember, when I was a little girl (at 80's), the first and only restaurant of Bakmi Gajah Mada is at Jalan Gajah Mada (Gajah Mada Street). And it explained why they named it Bakmi Gajah Mada, because it is located at Jalan Gajah Mada.

I also remember, my mom and dad liked to bring us, the kids, to eat bakmi Gajah Mada. Besides noodle soups, they also sold the side dishes, such as fried wonton, wonton soup, meatballs soup, etc. For those who doesn't want eat noodle, they also sold rice and veggies or meats.

For me, who is a noodle lover of course I will order chicken noodle soup with beef meatballs *put a little bit of vinegar, hot chilli, and pepper....man....it's heaven!*. Usually, we will order fried wonton with sweet and sour sauce for the appetizer. And let me tell you, their fried wonton is sooooo delicious! The wonton is crispy and the sauce is very good and tangy! Grab one fried wonton then dip it into the sauce.....yummmmm!

So, from all those memories of the good foods and the fun eating out with the whole families inspired me to make my own 'Bakmi Gajah Mada' fried wonton with the sweet and sour sauce *minus the chicken noodles*. And.....the sauce is really good!



My hubby brought some to his work then he shared it with some of his colleagues....and they all like it! :). I am happy, not only because people like my food, but everytime people *especially my hubby's co-workers* gave compliments for my food, it always bring smiles on my hubby's face :). And I know, he proud of me :). That's the most great feeling that paid off all my tired-ness of cooking :).



Now, let's grab one fried wonton and dip it into the sweet and sour sauce........absolutely YUMMMM! :)

Fried Wonton with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 lb (250 gr) pork butt, minced
3/4 cup minced young bamboo shoot
4 stalks of green onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 cloves shallots, thinly sliced
3 tbsps sesame oil
2 tbsps rice wine
4 tbsps fish sauce
1/2 tsp blackpepper
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 tbsp olive oil, for frying the shallots
Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 package of wonton wrapper

The Sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsps ketchup
1/2 to 1 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
150 ml chicken broth
2 tbsps sugar
1-1/2 tbsps rice vinegar

Preparation:
For The Wonton:
In a small pan, fry the shallot with olive oil until fragrant. Set aside.
In a big bowl, combine pork, young bamboo shoot, green onion, garlic, fried shallots with the oil, sesame oil, rice wine, fish sauce, blackpepper, and tapioca starch. Mix it well. At this point, you should taste it by scooping 1 tsp pork mixture and microwave it for 20 seconds. And you can add more spices, as your desire.
Lay 1 sheet of wonton wrapper. Scoope 1 teaspoon of pork mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper. Then fold the wrapper to form a triangle, then pull each corner down and glue it with water. Do it until all the wrappers are gone.
Fry the wonton into a 350F hot oil until crisp and brown. Drain it from the oil then place it on the paper towel. Keep it in the lock and lock container. Do not cover the wonton when it still hot, because it will make the wonton soggy!
Serve it with the sauce.

For The Sauce:
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Cook it over medium-high heat. Keep stirring until the sauce is thicken.