Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

No self respecting fan of Asian cuisine would say no to Rendang. It’s a classic beef curry from West Sumatra and loved by people all over the world. It’s funny. I don’t think of Rendang as special - I appreciate the sauce but not the stringy, dry, and flavourless meat - and prefer other less-known but exotic stuffs such as sambal goreng udang (prawn sambal), ayam pop (chicken boiled in coconut water, lightly fried), or even beef-brain curry, a childhood favourite. But most non-Indonesian friends I know demand Rendang instead. 

There are different variations of Rendang: from the dry, black-brown type with stringy meat to the almost-soupy kind with, often, tough cubes. The Chinese makes theirs with pork! My favourite is made of beef, with thick gravy and tender meat with additional hard-boiled eggs to stretch the meal further.

I swear by this recipe (modified to show steps using canned coconut milk) from Lita which I’ve made numerous time to great success. Rendang is actually very easy to make but it takes a long time (and a lot of energy) to achieve that perfect orange-brown colour.  The meat and spices are essentially fried gently with oil from the coconut milk.  Furthermore, boiling down that much water off the coconut milk to achieve thick gravy is not an easy feat. Once done, however, I am rewarded with economical yet delightful meal for weeks as I simply open my freezer and pop a cube of tender meat and sweet gravy into the microwave. 

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Servings: for two

In my spare time, I often look at the Bittman’s videos in NYT. One day, he had Jamie Oliver over as a guest. I thought the chicken recipe was clever and proceeded to make it. The secret is in the heavy pounding:  make it as thin as possible for even and quick cooking.  It was beautiful served with foil-steamed, olive-salt-and-pepper seasoned green asparagus.  Just make sure that the chicken is pounded really thinly otherwise cooking takes a while and the chicken becomes too dry.

The video is here.

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For me, crispy pork is a holy grail. Unlike other western cities, the city we live in has no little dingy chinese shops where pork slabs and whole birds hang on meat hooks in window display. We normally go to New King in Amsterdam for such treat.

Now, no more. Thanks to Charmaine of Tasty Treats. Her accurate recipe brought a smile to our faces.

The crispy pork tastes sophisticated and restaurant-made due to the use of fermented beancurd which is apparently the key and not found in any other recipes. Her roasting method, save for the step-up in temperature at the second stage probably specific to my oven, is right-on. The vinegar worked well to puff up the skin.

For truly good result, use the best pork belly you can find. It should be fresh and firm. It should not be too thick or too fatty (one layer of fat is ideal). Then, the flavours are displayed in their full glory through the tender meat and crispy skin.

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Servings: for two or three portions of noodle, with lots of leftover roast pork.

I’ve been experimenting with noodle recipes. Some turn out to be decent but not really great. I puzzle over several aspects such as the amount of water, the kneading and cutting method but recipes by Indonesian housewives are so inaccurate as they assume people know these stuffs already. And these ladies don’t entertain queries. They bite when asked like a pack of teased chihuahua. (continue…)

I raved about Japanese Home-cooked meals served in Ootoya. Apparently, a lot of the recipes can be found in Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking. Not all, but the basics are there.

One of such is what she calls "Pari pari-style Chicken" which resembles Ootoya’s Grilled Chicken with Basil Sauce but without the basil sauce. Pari-pari Chicken on its own is delicious due to the grated garlic. A simple addition of grated garlic adds a subtle dimension to the boring soy-sauce.

Baking the chicken pieces creates pan jus and I hate to waste good pan jus. So I mix it with broccoli and a side dish of healthy vegetable is done in minutes!

Below is my modification.

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