Stuffed Bean Curds

I saw my sister's helper preparing Stuffed Bean Curds or Tahu Sumbat Goreng and asked her for the recipe to share on my blog. I've was told that in Indonesia they call it Tahu Berontak (Revolting Bean Curd) and it's stuffed with bee hoon (rice noodles) and taugeh (bean sprouts).

It's nice on it's own or dipped with a little chilli sauce.

The Filling

Ingredients:

Carrots (shredded fine)

Long Beans (sliced thinly)
Minced Chicken (or prawns would be nice)
Shallots (bawang merah) ground to a paste
Garlic (bawang putih) ground to a paste
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Oil

Method:
Heat Oil and saute the shallots and garlic paste till fragrant.
Add the chicken and fry till it changes colour.
Add carrots and long beans and cook till done.
Season with salt and pepper
Remove and set aside to cool.

Prepare the bean curds (tau pok) by slitting one side.

Stuff the bean curds with the filling.
Make sure you do not cut open the bean curd too wide as you will have the filling falling out into the oil when frying.

The Batter

Ingredients
Plain Flour
Rice Flour (a few spoon fulls at add crispiness)
Water
Shallot paste (about 2 tea spoons)
Garlic paste (1 tea spoon or less)
Turmeric powder (just a pinch)
Salt
Kaffir Lime leaves (sliced fine)

Method
Mix the flour with water to make a thick paste.
Add the shallot, garlic, turmeric and salt.
Finally add the lime leaves and mix.

Dip the stuffed bean curds in the batter and deep fry.

Remove when cooked (it turns a golden brown) and drain on absorbent paper.

Vegetarians may omit the minced chicken.

Apom - Coconut Milk Pancakes

I always thought that Apom or a sort of pancake was a traditional Indian breakfast food. That was until my sister's Indonesian helper made some one m0rning for our breakfast. She said they do make it in Jawa where she comes from and they call it Apoom (only a slight variation in the pronunciation).

This morning, I got her to make some while I took down the recipe.

Ingredients

(for the apom)
4 cups dilute (thin) coconut milk
500 grams rice flour
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
screwpine leaves (daun pandan)
salt to taste

(for the sauce)
2 cups thick coconut milk
2 tablespoons rice flour
sugar to taste
salt to taste
screwpine leaves

Method (apom):

Heat the coconut milk with the screwpine leaves. Do not boil as this will cause the oil to seperate from the milk.

Beat the eggs with the sugar until it turns fluffy.

Remove the screwpine leaves from the heated coconut milk. Add the rice flour and plain flour. Add yeast. Add in the beaten egg and sugar.

Mix well and let rest (covered) for one to two hours.


Use a small wok with cover to cook the apom.

Add a ladle of apom mixture and swirl the wok to spread the mixture.

It can be decorated with screwpine leaves. According to my sister's helper, they also add strips of jack fruit to make it more tasty.

Cover the wok.
Temperature control is important. If the flame is too hot, it will burn the sides of the apom while the centre will remain uncooked.

The apom is ready.

To make the sauce, add the sugar, salt, rice flour and screwpine leaves to the coconut milk. Bring to the boil while constantly stiring the mixture to prevent curdling or seperating.

Come join me for breakfast. Apom and coffee.

Petite Tuna Sandwich Rolls

A simple tea-time snack, but it can easily be served as finger food at cocktail parties and the like.

You can use your own favorite recipe for the tuna filling or you can follow this simple one that I use.

Ingredients:
1 large loaf
Bread
(use only fresh bread, even day old bread may not be
suitable as it tends to crumble when you roll it)

2 cans
Tuna
(I prefer to use tuna chunks in water
but you could use any variety)
4 generous tablespoons
Mayonnaise
2 medium sized
Onions
(finely chopped)
Pepper Powder
(about 2 teaspoons or according to taste)

Drain tuna and place into bowl together with the mayonnaise and chopped onions.

Mix the ingredients and season with pepper powder.

Trim edges from bread slices and cut into half.

Spread mayonnaise on the prepared slices and place a spoonful of the filling on the bread.

Roll the bread.

Press down the ends of the roll with a fork to prevent it from opening.
(This tip was shared with me by my good friend, Chef Peter Pang.)

The rolls are ready to serve.

The filling can also be used for normal sandwiches which can be lined with lettuce, tomato and cucumber. Other kinds of filling (eggs, sardines, chicken and etc. as long as it is not in large chunks) can be used for these rolls.

Cracker Chicken Puff

For a first post I'm just reproducing this recipe from Notes to Myself. My sister's Indonesian helper, who taught me this recipe, calls it "Kabin Goreng" i.e. fried biscuits.

Have a couple with your cuppa.

Ingredients:

(for filling)
2 medium potatoes, cubed fine
1 carrot, cubed fine
chicken fillet, cubed fine
(to cube the potatoes, carrots and chicken, first cut into matchstick size strips then cube them. you'll get very fine cubes this way.)
milk (fresh, full cream, low fat – your preference) about 1 cup

(seasoning for the filling)
shallot (grind in blender) about 4 table spoons
garlic (grind in blender) about 2 table spoons
white pepper power (according to taste)
salt (according to taste)
corn flour (as jelling agent)

oil for cooking and for deep frying

cream cracker biscuits

(I've tried several brands, but I like Jacob's best )
eggs for coating the crackers before frying

Note of warning – I cook for fun. Measurements stated above are not scientific. Use your own judgment.

First heat oil in wok and deep fry the potatoes until it turns light brown. Remove and place on kitchen rolls to blot excess oil. The potato needs to be fried so that the filling remains good longer.

Leave a little oil in the wok and fry shallot and garlic paste until fragrant. Add the carrots and fry till soft. Add the chicken. When chicken is cooked, add the fried potatoes. Pour in the milk and cook until it is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the corn flour with a little milk and add to the wok. This is the gum that holds everything together.

While the filling is still hot, scope some on to a cracker and spread it. Cover with another cracker.

Remove any excess filling sticking out between the crackers for a neat look.

Please note that the filling has to be hot to enable the crackers to stick together.

If you decide to prepare the filling earlier, DO NOT ADD the cornflour. Add the cornflour only when you re-heat the filling before you put the crackers together.

When the crackers are ready, prepare the eggs for coating.

Break 2 or 3 eggs in a bowl and beat them. Mix some corn flour with a little milk and add to the beaten eggs.

Heat enough oil in a wok. Dip the prepared crackers in the egg mixture and deep fry until golden brown. When done remove and lay on kitchen tissue to absorb any excess oil.

Allow to cool before cutting into triangles. The crackers tend to break if cut when still hot.

Enjoy!

Other then cube-ing the ingredients (which is a bit tedious) it is actually a very simple recipe. A friend tried it with minced meat and it turned out very well indeed.