I stumbled upon her blog not too long ago. Her talent in cooking and food photography catches my attention. The more I read, the more hungry I became. Sefa, the owner of Food is Love  has done a very good job on her blog.

The recipes that she shares Her are authentic Indonesian cooking. I have not tried a lot of Indonesian food. Only when I visited Bali. Through Food is Love, I am getting to learn so many new things that I never knew in Indonesian cooking! Let’s welcome Sefa today, sharing with us one of her great recipes!

When Leemei asked me to be a guest writer in her blog, My Cooking Hut, I was flattered as I am still a rookie in food blogosphere while she is quite famous among the foodie bloggers worldwide. Definitely I said yes.

Actually I supposed to make this post last January; unfortunately I was sick for two weeks then had to prepare for my final exam. Fortunately, Leemei is a very tolerant and understanding person; she lets me take my time to complete the article. Thanks Leemei!

Ayam Masak Habang or translated as chicken cooked in red chilli sauce is originally from Banjar, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a very special dish in Banjar that can be served everyday or when one have visitors or when there are special occasions such as wedding, eid ul fitr, ritual meeting, etc. Though during the special occasion it’s served with nasi kuning (yellow rice) but eating ayam masak habang with nasi kuning is also normal for breakfast. For an everyday eating, ayam masak habang is normally served with steamed rice which rice is long grain one with a broken white colour. When they eat ayam masak habang with this kind of rice, they’ll have vegetables soup consist of carrot and potato as the side dish.

I am so lucky to have a Banjarese friend living in US. When I asked her about the recipe, she gave me the authentic one that she got from her mother. She told me that the correct way in cooking ayam masak habang is without burning the chicken and only left oil and the spices.

If you see from the photo of ayam masak habang that I cooked, the colour is not red. It supposed to be red but mine is brown instead. It happened because I used Thailand’s dried red chilli. This kind of chilli is turning brown when you cook and mix with other spices.

When I reported this issue to my friend, she told me that it always happens when using Thailand’s dried red chilli. She suggested to buy California’s chilli or New Mexico chilli’s since they are almost similar with the one used in Banjar. Unfortunately I haven’t found that type of chilli. But never mind the colour as it tasted heaven!

The authentic ayam masak habang used ayam kampong (chicken that living freely outside the cage) but it’s hard to find ayam kampong in Germany unless you have your own farm or buying from the farmer directly. But don’t worry, my friend’s mother gave a tip when not using ayam kampong that is to cook chicken without oil over small head until all water from the chicken evaporated. This method can get rid of the rancid from the chicken meat. I followed the tip and it worked. The chicken tasted much better without that rank smell.

Nasi kuning that is served for ayam masak habang is different from the normal nasi kuning found in Java, Indonesia. It has more spices inside but both cooked in coconut milk.

Now, let me share you the recipes of Ayam Masak Habang and Nasi Kuning.

Recipe: Ayam Masak Habang

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken thighs, skin out, cut into 2 pieces (or whole chicken)

Lemon juice

 2 salam leaves (salam is an Indonesian bay leave)

2 cm cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 cup of boiling water

½ cup cooking oil

Spices, purée:

3 cm fresh ginger

0.5 oz shallots

0.5 oz garlic

15 pcs dried red chilli*, soak in hot water overnight or 30 minutes boiled, seed out

¼ tsp palm sugar/coconut sugar**

Salt to taste

½ tsp terasi (shrimp paste) dissolve in 1 tbsp of tamarind juice

Method:

1.    Clean chicken thighs and marinade with lemon juice for 15 minutes. Rinse well. Set aside.

2.    Heat oil in a skillet or wok pan. Sauté purée spices until fragrant. Add salam leaves, cloves and cinnamon stick. Mix well.

3.    Add chicken meat, mix and cook until done over small heat.

4.    Add water when chicken meat changes its colour. Continue cooking until water evaporated. Stir thoroughly and turn the fire into small heat when the water started to be less.

5.    Continue cooking until all water evaporated and only left oil and spices. Removed from the heat.

*amount can be adjusted (used California or New Mexico dried chilli to get the real red colour as substitution for Banjar dried red chilli)

**to enrich the taste

For Nasi Kuning, I cooked it in a shortcut by using rice cooker. But first I soaked the rice in water for 30 minutes to avoid rice for being uncooked.  In this recipe, I made my own measurement since my friend only gave me the ingredients. You can make your own as well.

Recipe: Nasi Kuning

Ingredients:

2 cups of long grain rice, soak in water for 30 minutes, drain

1 pack of coconut milk (500 ml)

2 salam leaves

1 stalk of pandan leaf

3 cloves

4 cardamoms (green one)

1 stalk of lemongrass

2 cm cinnamon stick

Spices, purée:

3 shallots

3 cloves of garlic

2 cm fresh ginger

2 cm fresh galangal

2 cm fresh turmeric

¼ tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for sautéing

Method:

1.    Heat oil in a small pan. Sauté purée spices until fragrant. Remove from the heat. Set aside.

2.    Mix rice, coconut milk, sautéed spices and other ingredients in a rice cooker container. Cook until set.

It’s delicious and takes about 25-30 minutes to make – Risotto Alla Bisi y Pancetta – Pea & Pancetta Risotto. Risotto is a rich and creamy, traditional Italian rice dish. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. So many theories out there as to how to make the best risotto. I gather that they key points are: right type of rice and decent hot stock.

According to BBC website, the way to add the stock is a matter for debate. Traditionally it’s ladled over the rice and lots of stirring takes place until the stock is absorbed. However, modern time-saving methods involve adding all the stock at once and popping the whole thing in the oven or just cooking it gently over the stove. I personally prefer the traditional method. 

There are lots of combinations you could use to make risotto, depending on what you like. I have a bit of mushroom and asparagus left in the fridge. So, I thought I would add them to finish off (to make this dish even more flavoursome!!) However, the main ingredients are still pancetta and peas.

The three most popular grains of risotto rice you’ll find are:

• Arborio The most popular grain, it is large and rounded and has a wonderful creamy texture.
• Carnaroli Fork’s favourite grain – this long, elegant grain that tends to hold its shape well even when completely cooked. It’s a good choice if you find your risotto always turns a little mushy.
• Vialone nano Now available in this country, this is said to have the creamiest, smoothest texture of all.

I choose to use Arborio grains, which can easily be obtained from the supermarket. It may be quite challenging to make risotto for the first time. Once you gain the experience, you will have the confidence the next time you make risotto. This rice dish is prepared in a slightly different way compared to Asian cooking but it’s as good!

Recipe: Pea & Pancetta Risotto

Adapted from Sainsburys

Serves 4

Ingredients:

25g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 shallots, peeled & finely chopped
130g pack cubetti di pancetta
250g risotto rice
2 chicken stock cubes made up with 1 litre boiling water
190g Fresh ‘n’ Ready peas or frozen peas
50g grated parmesan
20g pack flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Method:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the butter & olive oil, then add the shallots & pancetta & cook for 3- 5 minutes. Add the rice & stir to completely coat in oil.

2. Gradually add the stock, stirring well after each addition until all the stock has been incorpoarted. This will take approximately 20 – 25 minutes.

3. Finally stir in the peas, parmesan & parsley & cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

4. Serve on individual plates with parmesan shavings & sprigs of parsley (optional).

 Note:

1. My experience is – the timing is sometimes not as accurate as it depends on what kind of stove (gas/electric) you use and the type of saucepan. For saucepan, I usually use cast iron (good for retaining heat) or stainless steels with non-stick surface.

2. Add the stock bit and bit to achieve good consistency (you don’t want it to be too watery like congee). It’s advisable to taste from time to time to ascertain if the grains are cook and then decide if you need to add more stock.

It’s one of those lazy days that I fancy easy, quick, and yummy dish like Nasi Goreng. Nasi Goreng means Fried Rice in Malay/Indonesian language. It’s a one-dish meal that can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. The rice used in making nasi goreng is cooked a few hours before to avoid sogginess. More frequent than not, left over rice from the day before is used to make good fried rice.

There are many variations of fried rice. The ingredients that are used to make fried rice could be pork, chicken, beef, vegetables, prawns, and eggs. The common seasonings used are soya sauce, dark soya sauce, and white pepper. Sometimes, chili, belacan (shrimp paste) and sesame oil are used depending on what type of nasi goreng you want to cook. As for garnishing, spring onion is commonly used. Occasionally, fried shallots or fried ginger could be the option.

The most common nasi goreng/fried egg at Chinese restaurants is egg fried rice. That’s the most basic fried rice. Yeung Chow Fried Rice or Yang Zhou Chao Fan is another popular fried rice at most Chinese restaurants in the Western countries. 

Nasi goreng that I made this time is very much Chinese-style, where I used chicken, eggs, carrots, and peas. Just as simple as that. As I didn’t have spring onions (oppsss!) I garnish it with a touch of toasted sesame seeds – that makes a difference! 

Recipe: Nasi Goreng (Malaysian Chinese-Style)
Serves 6

Ingredients:

Oil, 3 tbsp

Chicken, (cut into cubes or thinly sliced), 250g (I used chicken thigh)

Garlic (finely chopped), 2 cloves

Frozen peas, 230g/1 cup

White pepper, 1/2 tsp

Cooked rice, 460g/2 cups

Eggs (lightly beaten), 4-5 eggs

Frozen Carrots, 230g/1 cup

Soya sauce,  2 tbsp

Dark soya sauce, 1.5 tbsp

Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp

Sesame oil, 1 tsp

Sesame seeds, enough to garnish

(** Adjust the seasonings according to your taste)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok or saucepan.

2. Make sure the wok/saucepan is warm enough then put in chopped garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly brown.

3. Put in the chicken and stir-fry for 5 minutes or so until it’s almost cooked. Put in oyster sauce and give it a quick stir.

4. Set the chicken to a side of the wok/saucepan to make some space to fry the beaten eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked, scramble them and mix with chicken.

5. Put in carrots and peas. Stir for about 5 minutes.

6. After that, put in rice and stir-fry for another 5 minutes or more.

7. Then, add in soya sauce, dark soya sauce, and sesame oil. Give it a good mix/toss. Serve warm.

I was gawking at all the familiar Malaysian dishes on her website. They look exactly like those that I eat so very often in Malaysia. The more I browse, the more hungry I get. If you are a Malaysian living abroad, I’m sure you’ll get cravings from time to time (or most of the time) for real Malaysian meals at home.

Is Claypot Chicken Rice something that you have not had for a while? Today, Gertrude, from My Kitchen Snippets, une très talentueuse ‘food blogger’ Malaisienne (a very talented Malaysian food blogger), currently living in Pennsylvania, is sharing with us her recipe for claypot chicken rice!

I would like to thank Leemei for inviting me to be her guest on her wonderful blog. I got to know My Cooking Hut a few months ago while I was blog hopping and I was mesmerized by her beautiful blog. I was amazed by her beautiful food pictures and her culinary skills. I was really flattered and nervous at the same time that she asked me to share and feature a recipe on her blog. Since both of us are from Malaysia, so, I create a dish that can be found all over Malaysia.

Claypot chicken rice (????) can either be served as dinner or lunch. It is a dish that you can find at most of the hawker places in Malaysia. Claypot chicken rice is cooked in the claypot first. Then, the rest of the ingredients like chicken, mushroom and Chinese sausages are added in. Thus, I reckon, it can be easily catagorized under one-pot cooking.

You may find some claypot chicken rice are cooked with fair amount of dark soy sauce. Apart from that, some places serve claypot chicken rice with dried salted fish. Dried salted fish enhances the taste of the claypot chicken rice.

Chinese sausage is very commonly used in rice dishes. It is a MUST add ingredient in claypot chicken rice. Without it, it would not be complete and authentic! The best part of this dish is the crusty bottom layer of the rice and the flavorful meat on the top. The meat is steamed so delicately, preserving its juices that adds a distinctive flavor to claypot chicken rice.

To try My Kitchen Snippets‘ Claypot Chicken Rice, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Chinese sausage

4 chicken thighs – cut to bite size pieces

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp dark soy

2 tbsp light soy

2 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 tsp cornflour

2 tbsp of rice wine

1 inch ginger (julienned)

1 tsp of salt

½ tsp of pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

3 spring onions (chopped finely)

5 dried shitake mushrooms, (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes)

2 cups rice

3 cups chicken stock

Method:

1. Mix the chicken with all the ingredients except the rice, mushrooms, spring onions and stock. Leave to marinade for at least half an hour.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and stir-fry marinated chicken meat for 1 minutes. Add mushroom slices, sliced chinese sausage. Dish out and put aside

3. Put the rice and chicken stock in the cold claypot and place it over a medium heat with the lid on. Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer, then leave the rice to steam for 15 minutes. The rice should be nearly cooked, with little holes in the flat surface.

4. Spread the chicken mixture all over the top of the rice, and put the lid back on. Continue to steam over a low heat for another 15 minutes, until the chicken is white and cooked through. Give it a few stir and sprinkle the spring onions over the top and serve piping hot.

**Photo & Recipe: Courtesy of My Kitchen Snippets

Weather has turned slightly cold. Can’t believe that it’s already autumn. Days are getting shorter, doesn’t make me feel better. It’s getting dark at about 7pm nowadays and I dare not imagine the coming winter days when the night approaches at about 3.30pm So depressing *sigh* I am not ready for this!

Every time this year, I tend to feel that anything soupy is always a good idea. One-pot cooking method makes the process easier and simpler, especially when it has been a crappy week! The best thing about one-pot cooking is that you can make it in big portion that can last for probably 2 days to (which usually tastes even better the next days!)

For me, my one-pot food is something like Fish Congee. I love Congee, absolutely one of my favourites apart from noodles. You may or may not have tried congee. But, if you come from Asian background, you probably know what I am talking about - Congee is (in Chinese cooking) broth or porridge made from rice. Long time ago, there was a post that I mentioned about Le Creuset Cocotte. It’s always my best friend when comes to cooking stew, curry, soupy stuff. I just love how it can retain the heat!

Not a lot of people like congee, even some Chinese people that I know! It was probably the texture of it. For me, I was brought up with congee. Mom is always an expert in making this as my dad is a big fan! Mom cooks Cantonese congee that is thick in consistency. Sometimes, she makes it a bit runny in consistency as that’s how my dad likes it, which is the ‘TeoChew‘ way. Mom also makes ‘kids or babies’ version of congee that uses big slices of pork (for the stock only, they are discarded after) and peeled fresh tomatoes. That was what she fed me when I was little!

In Malaysia, you can easily spot food stalls that sell congee. Usually, it’s plain congee and served with great selections of side dishes. Basically, you can choose what you like with your congee. This is ‘TeoChew‘ style of serving congee. When you go to Chinese restaurant for dim sum, century egg & pork, chicken, fish, seafood congee are the common ones on the menu. These are the Cantonese congees. The main difference between the two as I mentioned is the consistency.

I was a bit nervous when I introduced fish congee to Arnaud, didn’t have a clue if he would like it! For him, being French, it could probably be something that doesn’t look too appealing to eat! The situation could almost certainly be made equal to the time when I was being introduced to the French delicacy – Foie Gras! Well, to my surprise, fish congee becomes one of his favourite main dishes too!

If you are new to this, never tasted Chinese congee before, give my fish congee try! You’ll never know!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

200g (about 1.5 cups) of rice, washed

2 litres of water (spare a bit more to adjust the consistency)

1cm thinly sliced ginger

1 big fillet of cod/haddock (or any white fish), cut into medium cubes

pinch of salt

some chopped spring onions, to garnish

some fried onions/shallots and gingers, to garnish (optional)

Marinate for fish:

1-2 tbsp oysters sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp seasame oil

0.5 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

Method:

1. In a big pot (a cocotte if you have one), put in the rice and water. Bring it to a boil.

2. When it comes to a boiling point, give it a good stir. Put in some salt and the sliced ginger. Then, put the lid on. Turn the heat to low.

3. Check and stir from time to time. It takes probably 20 – 30 minutes for the grains to start breaking. If you use Jasmine rice, it will be quicker. Long grain rice like basmati takes slightly longer.

4. Let it cook for about 1.5 – 2 hours. Remember to stir and check the consistency. If it becomes too thick, add some water. I usually tend not not make it too runny. The consistency that I always look for is like something like the consistency of pancake batter.

5. Once it has been cooked under low heat for about 2 hours with desired consistency achieved, stir in the cod/haddock fillet that has been cut into cubes.

6. Put the lid back on to let the fish cooked for about 15 minutes.

7. Serve congee in bowls, sprinkles with some spring onions, fried gingers and onions. You can adjust the seasoning by adding soya sauce if you wish (I always like this). Drizzle some sesame oil and a few dash of white pepper (to give a real kick to this dish!)

I love my Le Creuset Cocotte. It was my last year’s Christmas present! Such an important piece in the kitchen. I have used it to make soup, curry, briyani rice, congee and many more.

Just a few days ago, I used it to cook fish Chinese Congee. This cast iron piece is so suitable in cooking congee as it retains the heat longer than any other pots. To make the best congee, allows slow cooking time of a least 1.5 hours or more in order achieve the smooth and silky texture. It also depends on the type of rice you use. I usually mix basmati rice with a bit of short grain rice.

Not only I think Le Creuset is one of my best pots in the kitchen, a good size of 26cm in diameter allows me to cook more and keep for the next day.