THE CUISINE OF INDONESIA
THE CUISINE OF INDONESIA.The Indonesian archipelago is made up of over 17,000 islands, and about one-third is inhabited. Understandably, the cuisine is diverse across the regions. Adding to the diversity are the foreign influences brought about by international trading.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has had traders bringing in produce from India, the Middle East, China, and Europe, all of whom have had great influences on indigenous cuisine.
Dishes from Sumatra, for example, often include meat and vegetable curries, an influence from Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. Chinese or Southeast Asian elements are also apparent in some Indonesian food such as bakmi (meatball noodles), mie ayam (chicken noodle) with pangsit (wonton), mie goreng (fried noodles), kwetiau goreng (fried flat rice noodles), bakso (meat or fish balls) and lumpia (spring rolls).
And similarly, Indonesian food has also had an impact on other cuisines. Tempeh, a fermented soybean cake that originated in Java, is now popular across Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia. Rendang sapi (beef braised in coconut milk), tahu (tofu) and various types of sambals (spiced sauces) with Indonesian roots are now also popular outside the archipelago.
To gather recipes for this book, I traveled to parts of Indonesia that I had not previously visited or rarely visited. I flew to the Maluku Islands in search of spices like nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. I went to Padang to learn how to make one of Indonesia’s imperial dishes, the renowned beef rendang. I went across Sumatra to Palembang, savoring classic favorites such as pempek (fish cake) and tekwan (fish ball soup).
As such, you will find that the recipes in this book contain many gems rarely featured in other English cookbooks, including dishes that originate from Flores, Sulawesi and other less-traveled regions. From the extensive research and travels, I have conducted for this book, I have come to realize that Indonesian food uses a wide array of spices for flavor.
Very often, it is the condiment that makes Indonesian food spicy. These condiments are served separately with every meal, and I have included a section in this book dedicated to these great little dishes that contribute so much to the taste and flavor of Indonesian cuisine.
It has been an incredible journey, during which I met many amazing people. Indeed, Indonesia is a magnificent country, home not only to a rich and diverse cuisine but also to some of the kindest and most hospitable people I know.
If you do not wish to invest in such a piece of equipment, all you need is a heavy pot large enough to hold 5–7 liters of water and an accurate thermometer. Seal the food in a heatproof plastic bag and remove the air, preferably via a vacuum packing machine, and then place inside the water bath and set the desired temperature. This simple technique allows the chef to cook food evenly at the exact temperature desired without any danger of overcooking.
More importantly, water evaporates from the food into the air, causing the food to cool and dry out; but if the air is removed from the bag, moisture will be locked in. Food operators that cook sous vide vacuum-seal the food in special plastic bags that are less likely to float. This also enables cooked food to keep longer in the refrigerator, which is handy for commercial operations that prepare large quantities of food in advance. Vacuum packing machines for home use are now widely available and easy to use.
Most recipes in this book require accurate weighing, which will guarantee consistency no matter how many times you cook the dish. It is absolutely essential to follow the given weights for spice mixes and blends as accurately as possible. This will ensure that the spice blends taste authentic.
As all recipes in this book are based on metric measures, we recommend following the stated amounts in the recipes carefully. As such, it is crucial to get an electronic scale with a range from 1 g to 2 kg.
This is why the pressure cooker is such a fantastic tool and an absolute must-have for making stocks, sauces, soups, stews and tenderizing tough meats.
A pressure cooker is sealed and pressurized during cooking. This has some advantages:
The pressure cooker is safe to use, with well-designed pressure limits and a safety valve to prevent ruptures. Simply follow these important points:
1. Read and follow the instruction manual that comes with the pressure cooker.
2. Check that the ring of rubber or silicon lining around the lid is not dry or cracked. These gaskets do not last forever; replace them as recommended by the manufacturer.
3. Always ensure that the inside of the cooker has been de-pressurized before opening the lid. Doing so prematurely can cause hot food and liquid to splatter all over the kitchen or onto you. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for releasing the lid.
4. When preparing food for pressure-cooking, first heat up the food until it boils, and then skim off any scum. Cover and seal the cooker. Once the lid is secure, reduce heat to the minimum and pressure cook at 1 bar or 15 psi. For the older type of jiggle-top pressure cooker, this will mean the valve only releases very small amounts of steam.
5. Do not fill the cooker more than two-thirds full. Food expands when cooked, and over-filling the pressure cooker with food will cause pressure to build up faster, causing safety valves to activate and release pressure, thus affecting how the food is cooked.
6. Most pressure cookers are designed to hold the pressure of water heated to 120°C. If the temperature increases beyond this, then the pressure cooker is designed to release the excess pressure and steam through a vent. When this happens, the water inside the pressure cooker will come to a boil and the stock will end up cloudy, while some of the volatile flavors and aromas will be lost with the escaping steam. It is, therefore, best to first bring the stew or braise to a boil uncovered, and then reduce the heat and seal the cooker to continue cooking at a pressure of about 15 psi.
Although a pressure cooker does require a little attention and extra care, once you are familiar with its use, it will become your greatest kitchen companion as it yields fantastic results.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has had traders bringing in produce from India, the Middle East, China, and Europe, all of whom have had great influences on indigenous cuisine.
Dishes from Sumatra, for example, often include meat and vegetable curries, an influence from Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. Chinese or Southeast Asian elements are also apparent in some Indonesian food such as bakmi (meatball noodles), mie ayam (chicken noodle) with pangsit (wonton), mie goreng (fried noodles), kwetiau goreng (fried flat rice noodles), bakso (meat or fish balls) and lumpia (spring rolls).
And similarly, Indonesian food has also had an impact on other cuisines. Tempeh, a fermented soybean cake that originated in Java, is now popular across Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia. Rendang sapi (beef braised in coconut milk), tahu (tofu) and various types of sambals (spiced sauces) with Indonesian roots are now also popular outside the archipelago.
To gather recipes for this book, I traveled to parts of Indonesia that I had not previously visited or rarely visited. I flew to the Maluku Islands in search of spices like nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper. I went to Padang to learn how to make one of Indonesia’s imperial dishes, the renowned beef rendang. I went across Sumatra to Palembang, savoring classic favorites such as pempek (fish cake) and tekwan (fish ball soup).
As such, you will find that the recipes in this book contain many gems rarely featured in other English cookbooks, including dishes that originate from Flores, Sulawesi and other less-traveled regions. From the extensive research and travels, I have conducted for this book, I have come to realize that Indonesian food uses a wide array of spices for flavor.
Very often, it is the condiment that makes Indonesian food spicy. These condiments are served separately with every meal, and I have included a section in this book dedicated to these great little dishes that contribute so much to the taste and flavor of Indonesian cuisine.
It has been an incredible journey, during which I met many amazing people. Indeed, Indonesia is a magnificent country, home not only to a rich and diverse cuisine but also to some of the kindest and most hospitable people I know.
COOKING EQUIPMENT & UTENSILS
No specialized equipment is necessary for traditional Indonesian cooking. Most dishes can be prepared using widely available tools found in Western kitchens. I would, however, recommend using good quality cooking utensils, particularly pots and pans, so that optimum heat control can be achieved during cooking.MORTAR AND PESTLE
The mortar and pestle are important tools for grinding and crushing ingredients, in particular for making spice pastes, which are key to the flavors of Indonesian cuisine. Choose a mortar that is slightly curved, heavy, sturdy and roughly textured, preferably carved from volcanic rock. A rough stone mortar is best for grinding ingredients by hand.FOOD PROCESSOR, BLENDER AND MEAT GRINDER
These tools are common even in Indonesian kitchens. Th ey are modern conveniences that are especially popular when preparing food for large groups of people. Many spice mixtures can be ground or chopped using a food processor or blender, and a meat grinder is useful for mincing meat or seafood in big quantities. When using a food processor, ingredients should first be roughly chopped before processing with a little oil and water. Use a blender if a smoother texture is required.POTS AND PANS
High-quality stainless-steel or copper pans are a good investment for any kitchen. These items can withstand long-term use and resist the corrosive action of food ingredients and cleaning compounds. Good pots and pans do not transfer unwanted odors, colors or flavors to the food during cooking. Good pans also distribute heat much more evenly, preventing hot spots that can cause burning and sticking.STEAMER
A steamer comes with a perforated insert that fits nicely in a pan, as well as a snug-fi tt ing lid to cover the food while steaming. Simple stainless-steel steamer inserts are widely available and can often fit in pots and pans of different sizes. Use a heavy glass cover so that you can monitor the cooking process without lifting the lid.WOK
Contrary to Western belief, woks are seldom used in the preparation of foods in Indonesia. However, when using a wok, a heavy steel version with a diameter of 30-35 cm is best.RICE COOKER
Indonesians eat a substantial amount of rice and, very often, a large group will eat together. A rice cooker is therefore essential in their homes. A heavy saucepan with a perforated insert and a heavy tight lid can also be used to cook rice. Once the rice is done, the rice cooker switches to a “keep warm” mode, so there is no need to keep watch while the rice is cooking. Regardless of whether the rice is cooked using traditional or modern equipment, soaking the washed rice grains in fresh water for about 25 minutes before cooking is essential to ensure that the rice will not overcook or stick to the bottom of the pot.SLOW COOKER
One of the biggest enemies in the kitchen is high heat. Invest in a good quality slow cooker so that temperatures can be digitally controlled. This useful gadget allows you to start a stew in the morning that will continue cooking even while you are at the office. Aft er returning from a hard day’s work, all you will need to do is season the stew and it will be ready for serving. See the section on sous vide on page 34 for instructions on how to prepare delicious meals in a slow cooker. Follow the same steps but instead of packing food in a plastic bag, place it straight into the slow cooker and set the same temperature as you would for sous vide.WATER BATH
This is essentially cooking food in a plastic bag submerged in water. In order to perfectly cook a dish, it requires bringing it to specific core temperature. To achieve this, the chef requires a medium that can control cooking temperatures to the degree. This can be done with a heatproof plastic bag and a digitally-controlled water bath.If you do not wish to invest in such a piece of equipment, all you need is a heavy pot large enough to hold 5–7 liters of water and an accurate thermometer. Seal the food in a heatproof plastic bag and remove the air, preferably via a vacuum packing machine, and then place inside the water bath and set the desired temperature. This simple technique allows the chef to cook food evenly at the exact temperature desired without any danger of overcooking.
DIGITAL THERMOMETER
Small changes in temperature can make all the difference in cooking, and a digital thermometer is necessary for ensuring that each dish is cooked at the correct temperature. Many recipes in this book provide the optimum temperature for cooking a dish and using a digital thermometer will enable you to follow the recipes closely, thus yielding the best results.HAND BLENDER
The hand blender is a very useful tool for aerating soups and sauces and blending sauces and sambals in small quantities. It is also terrific for foaming up sauces, especially for dishes containing coconut cream. A professional hand blender with durable motors is best.VACUUM PACKING MACHINE
This machine is useful when cooking sous vide. The reasons for packaging food without air before placing in a water bath are simple: most unpacked foods get messy in a water bath, while air-filled bags float, resulting in unevenly cooked food. Air is also a poor heat conductor, so the food will heat faster and more uniformly without air around it.More importantly, water evaporates from the food into the air, causing the food to cool and dry out; but if the air is removed from the bag, moisture will be locked in. Food operators that cook sous vide vacuum-seal the food in special plastic bags that are less likely to float. This also enables cooked food to keep longer in the refrigerator, which is handy for commercial operations that prepare large quantities of food in advance. Vacuum packing machines for home use are now widely available and easy to use.
KNIVES
Both Western and Indonesian cooks use a variety of knives. Because many types of meat, fish and spices require chopping, a heavy chopping knife should always be at hand. Various smaller knives are also needed to clean, cut, trim and slice vegetables, fruits, meats or spices. Knives made from stainless steel are best, as they are affordable and resistant to corrosion.CHOPPING BOARDS
Meats and fish used in Indonesian cooking can often be tough or very dry, so they need to be chopped or pounded into a mince. Therefore, a heavy chopping board is very useful. For safety and sanitation, do not use one chopping board for all tasks. Instead, use several boards of different colors for fish, meat, vegetables, and fruits to prevent cross-contamination of food.GRATER AND SHREDDER
High-quality stainless-steel graters and shredders are useful for grating vegetables, coconuts, nutmegs or limes. They are also great for zesting limes.DIGITAL SCALE
A digital scale takes out all the guesswork in cooking and a good set will provide precise measurements to the gram. Most digital scales can be switched from metric to the US measuring system, making it easy to use.Most recipes in this book require accurate weighing, which will guarantee consistency no matter how many times you cook the dish. It is absolutely essential to follow the given weights for spice mixes and blends as accurately as possible. This will ensure that the spice blends taste authentic.
As all recipes in this book are based on metric measures, we recommend following the stated amounts in the recipes carefully. As such, it is crucial to get an electronic scale with a range from 1 g to 2 kg.
PRESSURE COOKER
Wonderful aromas wafting through the kitchen while you cook may warm your heart and stimulate your appetite, but they are actually some of the most crucial components of the food that are lost from the dish. It should be your aim and biggest challenge to make sure that your kitchen smells of anything but food.This is why the pressure cooker is such a fantastic tool and an absolute must-have for making stocks, sauces, soups, stews and tenderizing tough meats.
A pressure cooker is sealed and pressurized during cooking. This has some advantages:
- Flavors that normally dissipate and fill your kitchen with tantalizing aromas will be better retained, resulting in a cooked dish that has a much richer flavor.
- Liquids can be heated to higher temperatures without vapourising into steam, enabling a greater intensity of flavor to be extracted from the meat and acceleration of Maillard reactions, producing a more aromatic dish.
- With higher temperatures and pressures, at least a third of the cooking time is reduced with a pressure cooker.
- It is great for making clear soups and stocks as it prevents liquid from reaching a boil, which means there is no turbulence to emulsify the oils back into the soup or stock, resulting in a clearer broth. In addition, if the pressure cooker is cooled before opening, the different flavors will condense back into the dish.
The pressure cooker is safe to use, with well-designed pressure limits and a safety valve to prevent ruptures. Simply follow these important points:
1. Read and follow the instruction manual that comes with the pressure cooker.
2. Check that the ring of rubber or silicon lining around the lid is not dry or cracked. These gaskets do not last forever; replace them as recommended by the manufacturer.
3. Always ensure that the inside of the cooker has been de-pressurized before opening the lid. Doing so prematurely can cause hot food and liquid to splatter all over the kitchen or onto you. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for releasing the lid.
4. When preparing food for pressure-cooking, first heat up the food until it boils, and then skim off any scum. Cover and seal the cooker. Once the lid is secure, reduce heat to the minimum and pressure cook at 1 bar or 15 psi. For the older type of jiggle-top pressure cooker, this will mean the valve only releases very small amounts of steam.
5. Do not fill the cooker more than two-thirds full. Food expands when cooked, and over-filling the pressure cooker with food will cause pressure to build up faster, causing safety valves to activate and release pressure, thus affecting how the food is cooked.
6. Most pressure cookers are designed to hold the pressure of water heated to 120°C. If the temperature increases beyond this, then the pressure cooker is designed to release the excess pressure and steam through a vent. When this happens, the water inside the pressure cooker will come to a boil and the stock will end up cloudy, while some of the volatile flavors and aromas will be lost with the escaping steam. It is, therefore, best to first bring the stew or braise to a boil uncovered, and then reduce the heat and seal the cooker to continue cooking at a pressure of about 15 psi.
Although a pressure cooker does require a little attention and extra care, once you are familiar with its use, it will become your greatest kitchen companion as it yields fantastic results.