Empal daging (Sauteed sweet-spiced beef)

We were craving for beef (and chicken, and lamb...) and the craving got so uncontrollable when I was done cooking my urap sayur. First we had urap sayur with fried fish and I just said, "No, this is not right! I want beef!!". He smiled from ear to ear hearing "beef" word.

So here it is, sweet sauteed beef or Empal Daging. This is sooo soooo sooo very good, you really have to try it. Unless you`re a vegan. Or alergic to beef (is there such a thing?). Or banned from beef (like what I do to him for weekdays). Other than that, please, try this.


So, as usual, start with sauteing garlic. Only this time, add ginger, galangal, and kencur (Kaempferia galanga; an aromatic spice smells somewhat between galangal and ginger). You can just omit kencur if you don`t have it.


When your kitchen starts smelling like an Asian restaurant, dump in the beef. Beef!



Then, pour in coconut milk and add brown sugar and turmeric powder. Stir well.


How much sugar should you add? It depends on how sweet you like it to be.
For me, I sprinkled the sugar in batches and when I started to taste the sweetness, I stopped adding the sugar.

Now, let the soup thickened but stir it occasionally as you don`t want  the beef to get burned at the bottom side. You can add salt and pepper at this stage, but remember not to put too much salt because the soup will be very thick like sauce thick at the end.



Hang on..you almost there..keep your eye on the soup...



..until it looks like this. Taste it, and add salt if you think it`s not enough.


Yum yum! Bring me rice and I can finish the whole beef just like this. Wait, it`s not finished yet.

Heat your frying pan, drizzle oil, and saute the beef until both sides looks crispy. It won`t take long.



Now you can get your rice. For you, of course.




Ingredients:

Garlic
Ginger
Galangal
Kencur
Turmeric
Brown sugar
Coconut milk
Salt and pepper
Beef

Urap sayur

Next Monday will be my turn for a paper presentation. I work in the same lab, but no longer a student. And yet my name is still on the list of presenters after 5 years. So after spending weeks searching papers and sighing, I`ve finally got one.
It`s already Saturday night now, yet my PowerPoint is still far away from done. Not to mention the script. Not to mention the review. Bored already?

Sorry. Let`s get back to my other world. The fun world. The yummy world. The no-paper world. Ooops..no "paper" word anymore, promise.

Alright. This is the theme. Fibers.
 I, as the person in charge with providing meals in our house, am perfectly aware that we are lacking fibers in our daily food. Proven by his weight and BMI. Oh!

So this dish, called "urap sayur" in Bahasa Indonesia,  is one of my tricks to manipulate my self into eating more vegetables. It`s basically steamed or blanched vegetables mixed with spicy grated coconut. BUT, grated coconut is something very rare and and expensive here. The good thing is, I found something really really good here. So now I proudly present:

OKARA.
Or soy pulp. A by-product from tofu-making process. Okara is (very) high in fibers. And cheap. Perfect!

Now, let`s begin with sauteing chopped garlic, ginger, sand galangal (kencur in Bahasa Indonesia), kaffir lime leaves, and chilli powder. Add soy sauce and fish sauce at this stage.

When you can smell the fragrance, dump in the okara, and mash it up while also mixing with the spices. The okara will start breaking down into lumps at the beginning. Keep stirring until it starts losing the water content.

When it gets drier and drier, it will turn into something look like dessicated coconut. I`m not specialized in technical cooking terms, but I think this process somehow can be called "toasting" as you will feel as if you just heat-dried okara on the pan without the presence of oil, which is almost instantly absorbed by okara itself, or liquid, which was in a very small amount and already evaporated throughout the drying.

Now adjust the taste by adding salt, pepper, a pinch of brown sugar and cardamom powder.

Also, since okara is apparently a strong absorbent, when you add soy sauce or anything liquid, it will quickly absorb it and make it a bit difficult to distribute the sauce evenly. That`s why I think it`s better to add the sauce when you start sauteing the spices. But you can surely add salt or pepper or anything in powder now.

So, when your okara looks like something in the picture above, it`s done. If you have left overs, you can keep it in a tupper box or zip-locked bag and store it in fridge for like 3 days. Actually my okara finished after 3 days (thanks to his appetite) and the last batch was still good.

Now,  the other fibers. It`s Fiber Day, remember?
I used steamed cabbages and bean sprouts.Cost-friendly buddies. Love them.

 Place them in a mixing bowl and throw in the spiced okara.
 

Mix them up. I used tongs for this. You can use your (clean! very clean!) hands if you like.
I also added cilantro (my love) and the taste and smell just got much much better!

Done mixing? Now, go get your plate and steamed rice and then place the urap sayur on top, or on the side, or in a different plate, whereever you like!

Enjoy your fibrous healthy meal!



Oh yeah, I`m so busted!

I admit I can`t be a vegan. Even only for one meal.
After getting my urap sayur done, I can`t help cooking something meaty (and less healthy) for the side dish.
I promise I`ll get back on that in the coming post. It tastes really really great you have to try it.

Happy Sunday!

Oh...shoot! It`s Sunday already....!

Ingredients:
Okara
Garlic
Ginger
Sand galangal
Chili powder
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Brown sugar
Cardamom
Salt
Pepper
Cabbage
Bean sprouts

Avocado smoothie

When it comes to avocado, I can be a very annoying picky eater that you`ll regret for offering me a plate of avocado salad or avocado sushi. "I want avocado smoothie!". That`s what you will hear from me.
Perhaps this stubbornness of mine came out from 23 years living in a place where people only have avocado as smoothie. Smoothie only. ONLY.
Here in Japan, I almost choked when I was watching cooking program on TV showing avocado in salad, sushi, hamburger (hamburger!), stir-fried dishes, ....and many other dishes, but not in desserts whatsoever. At the beginning, I kept disagreeing on using that fruit (yes, my mind calls it fruit) for dishes. But now I just watch and watch and watch. No complaint, although I still think that I would love it better as smoothie. I know I should have a try on them (avocado dishes), but maybe later.

I know there`s a very little chance (probably zero chance!) that you don`t how to make avocado smoothie, but I`ll just share the recipe anyway. This smoothie is super easy and quick to make yet it has a very rewarding deliciousness.

Cut the avocado lengthwise into halves and remove the seed out.

Scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

If you use a stick blender like I do, grab a measuring cup or glass or anything your blender can fit in to nicely. Consider about the smoothie`s volume you want to get when choosing your container. In my case, I used 2 (my) palm-sized avocados and I made about 500 ml smoothies.

Place the avocado flesh into your cup, add sugar (or honey for a healthier choice), and milk.

Put in your blender and start pureeing the mixture.

Now is time to adjust the sweetness and texture. I didn`t have any avocados left so I added a very low amount of milk. That way, my smoothie won`t get too watery and in fact, it was very thick at the beginning.Then I added some more milk in batches until the texture is fine for me.

Sadly, adding more milk means more sugar as well.

Keep adjusting until you get it right.

By right I mean you touch it with your finger, lick it, and say "YUM!"

 
And this is the final touch, which is very important for me. Chocolate syrup. Or sweet condensed chocolate milk. Or melted chocolate bar. Anything liquid tastes chocolate and sweet will do fine.

 I`m drooling now.