Tamarind Chicken

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

This was my very first time to use commercially prepared tamarind concentrate. What amazing stuff! So thick, and black, and intense. For the marinade, which eventually became the sauce, I mixed it with ginger, garlic, sweet soy sauce, sambal ulek, and cornstarch. When time came to prepare the dish, I stir-fried the marinated chicken, then added the remaining marinade, along with some diced tomatoes and green chiles. The cornstarch in the mixture thickened the sauce, and the resulting dish was a bewitching chicken stew so tasty that it barely made it from the stove to the table as I couldn't resist tasting it 'just one more time' before serving.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

To subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

10:19 PM PDT Permalink |

Balinese Catfish

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

These filets of broiled catfish are brought to life with a Balinese-style tomato sauce made with onions, garlic, sweet red peppers, tomato puree, sweet soy sauce, and chicken stock seasoned with bay leaves, ginger root, and lemongrass. Piquant and savory.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

01:06 AM PDT Permalink |

Ginger Mango Chicken

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

This dish exceeded my expectations, as I was concerned that the mango might turn mushy during the cooking process. But surprisingly, it held its own from the pan to the plate. The sauce, which also served as a marinade, is a simple sombination of ginger, scallions, sweet soy sauce, and sesame oil. The mangoes were added at the very last minute to ensure that they maintained their texture. The flavors worked perfectly and came together in a nicely savory, fruity, gingery gestalt.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

01:05 AM PDT Permalink |

Spicy Indonesian Noodles

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

This Indonesian noodle dish was especially hearty and tasty. I used some thick egg noodles I bought at an Asian grocery, and medley of other ingredients that included bits of boiled pork, stir-fried shrimp, bean sprouts, cabbage, shredded carrots, finely sliced onions, sweet red peppers, and green chiles, seasoned with sweet soy sauce and sambal ulek. Spicy and satisfying. I made plenty, so there were lots of leftovers to enjoy all week.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:58 AM PDT Permalink |

A Spring Roll By Any Other Name

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

I love spring rolls, and in four years of making them for my Chopstick Cinema menus, I can honestly say that I've mastered the art. There was a time when they turned out greasy, heavy, and sometimes even burnt. But now, I know how to make them turn out light, crispy, and golden.

The Indonesian variety are called Loempia, a word very close in spelling to the similar Philippine variety called Lumpia. I filled these with ground pork, cabbage, bean, sprouts, thinly sliced onions, and shredded carrots, seasoned with sweet soy and sambal ulek. The dipping sauce is a simple dish of sweet soy.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

07:57 PM PDT Permalink |

Dutch Treats

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Duch traders did a brisk business in Indonesia during colonial times, and in the process, they left their collective thumbprint on local cuisine. One of Indonesia's most popular Dutch-style snacks are these little croquettes made from leftover fried rice. The rice is mixed with a light roux to make it hold together. Then it's shaped into little balls, dipped in an egg wash and rolled in fine bread crumbs. Who knew leftover rice could be this much fun?

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

07:47 PM PDT Permalink |

Curried Pork in Sticky Rice

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

These sticky rice balls are filled with curried pork in coconut milk. The presentation I'd originally intended for this dish was a banana-leaf wrapper, but unfortunately, there are no food-grade banana leaves in any of our local markets, and all I had on hand were bamboo leaves which have a slightly bitter taste, so I had to improvise and wrap them in aluminum foil instead. No doubt they'd have been slightly more attractive, and perhaps more tasty in some subtle way if I'd wrapped them in banana leaves, but they were delicious nevertheless.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

07:41 PM PDT Permalink |

Indonesian Pickles

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

I often make pickles for my Asian menus. My favorite method is a simple salt cure, a thorough rinse, and a dressing of sweetened vinegar. This time, since I wanted to use onions and garlic in the recipe, and I'm allergic to them when they're raw, I decided to boil the vinegar before pouring it over the salt-cured vegetables. The result was a delightfully sweet-salty-crunchy medley of brightly colored vegetables. The perfect accompaniment to all those spicy Indonesian flavors.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month, along with my 'Spiral Road' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

07:30 PM PDT Permalink |

Spotlight on Spice: Sambal...The Heart and Soul of Indonesian Cuisine

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Long before I was bitten by the international food bug, years ago when I knew nothing of Asian food, Gil Pryor, the chef at the St. George where I used to work as a waiter and bartender, came back from Tin's Asian Market in Oakland with a jar of Sambal Ulek. He jokingly referred to it as 'Hotter Than Seven Bitches' chili sauce, and that evening he used it to make a spicy shrimp dish that was a sold-out special that soon became a regular favorite of the St. George patrons.

Of course I'd never heard of Sambal Ulek, and knew not that it was a staple of Pacific island cuisines. However, I have since come to know that there are many types of sambal, which in one form or another are the heart and soul of Indonesian food. Sambal may be added to recipes as a flavoring agent, or served as a condiment at the table.

Although the term Sambal also refers to an aboriginal group native to the Philippines, sambal is most commonly known as a spicy, chili pepper-based condiment used in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. Types of chili peppers most commonly used are habanero, cayenne, cavbe rawit (Thai), lombok (Java), and naga jolokia (taliwang).

The various types of sambal include:
Sambal Asam made with chili peppers and tamarind.
Sambal Bajak made with chili peppers, garlic, shrimp paste, and candlenuts.
Sambal Balado made with chili peppers, oil, garlic, onion, tomato, salt and lemon or lime juice.
Sambal Belcan made with shrimp paste, tomatoes, mangoes, sugar and lime juice.
Sambal Tumis made with shrimp paste, onions, garlic, and tamarind.
Sambal Kemiri made with red and green chili peppers, shrimp paste, candlenuts and lemon or lime juice.
Sambal Manis made with chili peppers, onions and sugar.
Sambal Trassi made with chili peppers, shrimp paste, sugar, and lemon or lime juice.
Sambal Udang made with chili peppers oil, garlic and shrimp paste.
Sambal Ulek made with chili peppers and lime. The term ulek is the name for a bamboo pestle.
Sambal Udang made with chili peppers, garlic and shrimp paste.
Sambal Jeruk made with green chili peppers and lemon or vinegar.
Sambal Setan made with Madame Jeanette peppers.
Sambal Pedas Pedas made with extra hot chili peppers and lime.
Sambal Taliwang made from extremely spicy naga jolokia peppers, shrimp paste and garlic.

Sambal may be purchased at Asian and international markets, and from a few online retailers. Today's photograph was borrowed from the Pondok Indonesia Restaurant, located at 2781 Commercial Drive in Vancouver, British Columbia. (2 blocks away from Broadway Skytrain station)(Phone: 604.872.8718). Their menu looks fantastic, and they even offer their signature sambal for sale in the restaurant market. I'm definitely going to have dinner at Pondok Indonesia when I finally travel to British Columbia.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

05:02 PM PDT Permalink |

Shopping for My "Spiral Road" Indonesian Menu

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Shopping for my 'Spiral Road' Indonesian menu was relatively easy, since I already had many of the spices on hand. I was able to buy all of the fresh ingredients at my local market, but I did have to make a special trip to Cost Plus for a jar of Sambal Ulek. And I never did manage to find any tressi shrimp paste, and I couldn't think of a suitable substitute, so I had to omit it from my recipes.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

05:00 PM PDT Permalink |

In Search of Indonesian Ingredients

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Last night, I went in search of Indonesian ingredients on the Internet and almost lost my hard drive in the process. I Googled the keywords 'buy Indonesian ingredients' and a list of sites came up. One of them had a column of little ads down the right side, one of which appeared to offer a selection of Indonesian products. So I clicked on it.

Faster than you can say Sambal Ulek, my system was flooded with nearly 800 infected files, two of which were Trojans, the wicked, evil, Darth Vader Death Star of computer viruses. Scared the bejesus outta me! But fortunately, my AVG antivirus program caught them, and Windows XP recognized them too. With great trepidation, I shut down and restarted my system. When it came back on, the only thing awry was that my lovely Kamakura Daibutsu Desktop wallpaper was gone, and had been replaced by a crayon blue screen. Other than that, everything else was intact. So I guess I dodged a bullet this time. But needless to say, I've spent all day backing stuff up like I should have been doing in the first place.

In the process however, I also managed to find a perfectly safe website called The Old Dutch Store that offers quite a nice selection of Indonesian essentials.

And locally, I went shopping at Cost Plus a couple of days ago, where I found a jar of Sambal Ulek, but not much else in the Indonesian realm.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:02 PM PDT Permalink |

A Tropical Table Setting

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Whenever I make tropical food, I like to use tropical colors and lots of natural materials such as wood or bamboo. This time, I have chosen a motif of blues and greens, with a colorful sarong as my table dressing. And of course...Chopsticks!

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

08:47 PM PDT Permalink |

Special Indonesian Cooking Utensils

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

The preparation of Indonesian food involves lots of stir-frying and sauces. So a wok and a set of stovetop cookware are essential. Other useful items would be an electric rice cooker, a food processor or blender, a fine shredder, a mandolin, and as always, a good set of sharp knives.

To subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

02:09 PM PDT Permalink |

Beverages to Go With an Indonesian Meal

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

Although much of Indoneisa is Muslim, there is a small segment of the population and many tourists who enjoy beer and spirits. Home-distilled spirits include arak, brem and tuak, all fermented from palm sugar. On the island of Java, they serve a ginger-water and coconut beverage called Sekoteng. Beers available in Indonesia include several locally brewed pilsners: San Miguel, the Philippine beer; Bintang, made by a local Heineken brewery; Anker and Bali Hai, both of which are Indonesian brands. Of all the local beverages, beer is most certainly the perfect accompaniment for the fiery spice of Indonesian cuisine.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

05:40 AM PDT Permalink |

Deciding on My 'Spiral Road' Indonesian Menu

This Month's Film: The Spiral Road
Cuisine: Indonesian

After much deliberation over dozens of tempting Indonesian recipes, I have decided on these dishes for my 'Spiral Road' menu:

Pickles: Atjar Bening - Mixed Vegetable Pickles
Appetizers: Loempia Spring Rolls, Chicken in Sticky Rice, Fried Rice Balls, Sambal Badjak
Noodles: Bami Goreng (Fried Noodles)
Main Dishes: Tamarind Pork (Babi Asam Pedis), Ginger Mango Chicken (Ajam Djahe Mangga), Balinese Fish
Side Dish: Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) Dessert: Grilled Pineapple Kebabs with Ongol-Ongol (coconut squares)

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

03:21 PM PDT Permalink |