
By Liane Arno
I WORKED in Java for a few months at an organisation that was working with local farmers and forest villagers enabling them to bring their organic produce to the international market. It was an incredible experience and it is where I discovered a love of Indonesian food.
Of the organic produce I love seeing coconut sugar being farmed and made. Villagers would climb the coconut palms daily to collect the nectar from the flower bud, then boil the sap and leave it to dry and crystallize. I can’t tell you how superior it is to cane sugar.
Indonesia is also where I discovered Kecap Manis. It is a sweet soy sauce which you can’t go past as a dip for fried tofu, or basting fish on the BBQ. Both the coconut sugar and kecap manis are used in the recipe below.
I WORKED in Java for a few months at an organisation that was working with local farmers and forest villagers enabling them to bring their organic produce to the international market. It was an incredible experience and it is where I discovered a love of Indonesian food.
Of the organic produce I love seeing coconut sugar being farmed and made. Villagers would climb the coconut palms daily to collect the nectar from the flower bud, then boil the sap and leave it to dry and crystallize. I can’t tell you how superior it is to cane sugar.
Indonesia is also where I discovered Kecap Manis. It is a sweet soy sauce which you can’t go past as a dip for fried tofu, or basting fish on the BBQ. Both the coconut sugar and kecap manis are used in the recipe below.
While I was there I tried to learn a few words – and found that often the plural of a word is a duplicate of it. An example is the word in Indonesian for child is ‘anak’ – and children is ‘anak-anak’. ‘Gado’ means mix – so ‘gado gado’ means a big mix. Which is what it is – a big mix of lots of boiled and fresh vegetables – and no rice.
Sauce
Pop all the ingredients in a small pan over medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
1/2 cup peanut butter (I love crunchy but you can use smooth)
6 tsp of red curry paste (you can use store bought or use the recipe below)
4 tsp of Kecap Manis (or 2 tsp of soy sauce and 2 tsp of coconut sugar (but of course you can use palm sugar instead))
1-2 tsp of sambal oelek (which is an Indonesian chili paste – but any other will do)
2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
2 tbsp lime juice
¾ cup of coconut cream (add more if it is a bit gluggy)
Put in a bowl and sprinkle with the chopped roasted peanuts
Platter
On a platter place … it’s up to you but below is a guide:
2 boiled potatoes (cut into cubes)
1 boiled carrot (sliced)
1 bunch wilted spinach
Handful of beansprouts
¼ packet of firm tofu sliced and fried
3 boiled eggs (halved)
1 cucumber sliced
Handful of prawn crackers
Now – dunk and eat!
If you would like to make your own curry paste – here it is:
Curry paste
Soak in 1/3 cup of water for 30 minutes and then drain reserving the water:
4 tsp dried chillis (yes DRIED chillis which have more flavour – and everyone is different to their heat tolerance so it’s up to you how much you use)
Put the drained chillis in a blender and add:
2 tbsp lemongrass (finely sliced) (This is a hard one to find – and you lose so much of it when you get rid of the outer layer which is too fibrous to use. Naughty I know but I replace the fresh stuff with 1 tbsp of lemongrass from a tube.)
1 tbsp galangal (peeled and grated) (Another hard one to find unless you head up to Dandenong so it is easily replaced with 1 tbsp ginger (peeled and grated) and 1 zest of a lime)
4 garlic cloves (peeled)
¼ red onion (or a couple of shallots)
1 tbsp shrimp paste
1 tsp coconut sugar (or palm sugar)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp lime zest (no need if you have used ginger and lime zest rather than galangal)
¼ cup chilli steeped water
Now the complicated bit – blitz the lot.
Sauce
Pop all the ingredients in a small pan over medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
1/2 cup peanut butter (I love crunchy but you can use smooth)
6 tsp of red curry paste (you can use store bought or use the recipe below)
4 tsp of Kecap Manis (or 2 tsp of soy sauce and 2 tsp of coconut sugar (but of course you can use palm sugar instead))
1-2 tsp of sambal oelek (which is an Indonesian chili paste – but any other will do)
2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
2 tbsp lime juice
¾ cup of coconut cream (add more if it is a bit gluggy)
Put in a bowl and sprinkle with the chopped roasted peanuts
Platter
On a platter place … it’s up to you but below is a guide:
2 boiled potatoes (cut into cubes)
1 boiled carrot (sliced)
1 bunch wilted spinach
Handful of beansprouts
¼ packet of firm tofu sliced and fried
3 boiled eggs (halved)
1 cucumber sliced
Handful of prawn crackers
Now – dunk and eat!
If you would like to make your own curry paste – here it is:
Curry paste
Soak in 1/3 cup of water for 30 minutes and then drain reserving the water:
4 tsp dried chillis (yes DRIED chillis which have more flavour – and everyone is different to their heat tolerance so it’s up to you how much you use)
Put the drained chillis in a blender and add:
2 tbsp lemongrass (finely sliced) (This is a hard one to find – and you lose so much of it when you get rid of the outer layer which is too fibrous to use. Naughty I know but I replace the fresh stuff with 1 tbsp of lemongrass from a tube.)
1 tbsp galangal (peeled and grated) (Another hard one to find unless you head up to Dandenong so it is easily replaced with 1 tbsp ginger (peeled and grated) and 1 zest of a lime)
4 garlic cloves (peeled)
¼ red onion (or a couple of shallots)
1 tbsp shrimp paste
1 tsp coconut sugar (or palm sugar)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp lime zest (no need if you have used ginger and lime zest rather than galangal)
¼ cup chilli steeped water
Now the complicated bit – blitz the lot.