Upcoming post(s): A plate of celebration

I`m back! After what...6 months? Oh well, 3 weeks maybe..but it sure did feel like ages.
This is my first time having an "upcoming post" and the reason is, it`s almost 1:30 AM here and I don`t want to be late for work (again). So, for now, I hope you don`t mind me giving this spoiler post and I promise I`ll share the step-by-step recipes later. If you don`t hear me again within this week, please, feel free to scream at remind me.

So here`s the story. We actually have been delaying to celebrate our (err...his) big achievements due to a pile reasons involving the quake and the forgetfulness (I know!). This year (technically, this March) he finally finished his undergrad study, started his Master, and...this is probably the most relieving news for us, he got the full scholarship. Phewww!

And today I somehow remembered about us still not having the celebration. By celebration, I mean cook a lot and EAT a lot, and by a lot, I mean 3 kinds of dishes. When I got home at 7 pm and with one  (one!) stove in my mini kitchen, I should be realistic and yes, 3 dishes was what I could do best.

So, here they are:

1. Herbed rice

I`ve planned to cook whatsocalled nasi kuning, or literally means yellow rice. The rice is cooked with coconut milk and turmeric, hence resulting the vivid yellowness. But I ended up making some tweaks with it and you`ll see later why I call it herbed rice instead of its original name. Or you probably can guess already from the picture.

2.  Spiced chicken stew

Believe it or not (especially for those of you who know him in person), this recipe  basically came from him. I`m serious. So, one day I got back from a 3-day trip for a conference and he already made me Indonesian style (aka. spiced) fried chicken at home. What a lovely surprise! Despite my fear of looking closely how he has used our (nope, my!) kitchen and the equipments, I was incredibly impressed with the chicken (and him, of course!). After getting the recipe from him, I added this and that and the chicken turned out to be a non-fried version as I didn`t have time for frying.

3. Stir fried fish and potato with sambal

I just feel somehow the rice and the chicken wouldn`t be right without sambal on their sides. Or, should I say, I think my life will go wrong without sambal on my plate.

The final spoiler, here`s how the celebration came!

See you soon!

Steam-fried tofu patties

So after getting busy with sneezing, coughing, and wiping my nose (sorry) since Monday, I finally took a day off today. I thought I would get bored to death staying at home alone as I was too dizzy to read  or watch anything, let alone cook in my kitchen. But with the medicine, I dozed off right after my lunch (instant noodles, yikes) and dinner (store-bought bento, better). Now I`m awake and except for the stuffy nose and the occasional coughing, I`m feeling much much better now.

I hope my story won`t cause you loosing your appetite, because I`m going to share this steam-fried tofu patties recipe. I learned about this steam-frying technique from cooking gyouza and love the way it gives moisture to the browned food without having to turn it into a stew or soup.

Shall we start now?

Lightly wash the tofu, drain, and remove the excess water by wrapping it with a paper towel and let it sit that way for like 30 mins.

While waiting, chop garlic and saute it with bit of oil to bring out the aroma. Try not to overcook it as burned garlic is NO good at all, even for a garlic addict like me. Set aside when the sauteed garlic is done.

After the tofu turned drier (it`s almost impossible to make it 100% dry with a paper towel), place it in a mixing bowl.

Dump in shirasu (tiny white anchovies), chili slices, sesame seeds (better if toasted), spring onion, and sauteed garlic and season it with salt and pepper.
You can substitute the anchovies for minced beef, chicken, or pork if you`re a meat lover.

Mix everything well with your hand, a potato masher, or a wooden spatula.

With your hand, take a fistful of the tofu mixture, softly squeeze it to make it compact, and shape into a patty.

Put a bit of oil  on a frying pan but do not turn on the heat yet, place the patties one by one, and now you can turn on the heat.

Carefully (I used two spatulas) flip over to brown the other side.

After both sides are browned, pour in a mixture of water, soy sauce, sugar (or mirin), vinegar, salt, and pepper. The liquid should be enough to cover one third to one half of the patties and later you can reduce it to your preference.

Throw in carrots and mushrooms, quickly close the lid, and let the steam cook the tofu and vegetables.

How long the steaming process will take depends whether you like the carrots to be mushy or crunchy. For me, I steamed them for 5 minutes and the carrots were cooked through but still leaving the crunchy texture.

So this is what we had for one of our meatless days. The lightness of the texture makes this dish a good choice when you need a break from non-fish meats and heavy meals. Or you can omit the fish  if you`re more into a vegan diet.

Enjoy!
p.s. I gained weight. Gasp!! Now you know why I had these patties.

Ingredients:
White tofu
Tiny white anchovies (shirasu)
Sesame seeds
Spring onion
Carrot
Mushroom
Water
Soy sauce
Sugar
Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Sweetie greenies

Do you like brownies? I do. Love it. Well, who doesn`t, anyway. And the easiness in making it just make it a perfect treat. But this time I`m not going to show you how to make it (as it seems like everyone mastered it already). Instead you are going to see how I turn it into greenies. No, I won`t mix spinach into the chocolate batter if that`s what you`re worrying about.
Now, do you like green tea? Please say you do.
Aha, now you got the hint.

I use the same recipe for brownies I made before, with some changes, though.
First, melt the butter in the microwave or on low heat in a sauce pan. Transfer the melted butter in a mixing bowl, add sugar, and cream it.

Whisk it until it turns into a paler emulsion-like batter.

Beat the eggs, pour into the batter in batches, and whisk.

Mix cake flour (70 g) with green tea powder (1 tbs). Naturally, the more green tea you add in, the more bitter and green the cake will be. So you might want to test some proportions of the green tea to get your preferred green-teaness, but I hope this recipe can be a good one to start with.

The flour mix may seem not green at all, but once you dump it into the batter and stir it, you`ll see how the batter will turn greener and greener nevertheless.

It`s okay to add in some more green tea powder if you think it`s not green enough for you, but keep in mind that it will affect the taste at some level.
And to harmonize the greenness, I added chocolate bars broken into chunks and toasted almonds.

Pour the batter onto a baking dish lined with parchment paper and sprinkle toasted almond to cover the whole surface.
Bake it in preheated oven at 180 C for 25 min

And voilà! Dessert is almost ready!
Oh don`t worry about the surface getting browned.

Because the beautiful greenies are still there waiting for you.
The bittersweet aroma of the green tea and the gooeyness of the chocolate are nicely wrapped in the cake while the crunchy almonds inside and out give an edge to the whole joy.
Oh, what am I blabbering about.
Enjoy!

By the way, have you tried Green Tea KitKat??
I haven`t. I know. I`ll get them tomorrow.

Ingredients:
100 g unsalted butter
90 g sugar
2 medium-sized eggs
70 g cake flour
1 tbs green tea powder
Toasted almond
Chocolate chunks

Bake at preheated oven at 180 C for 25 min