Indonesian Cooking. Dina Yuen
the banana is already cooked; you just want to brown and crisp the outside batter, which takes relatively little time. Conversely, an ingredient as substantial as chicken breast needs much longer cooking time at lower temperatures to ensure that the inside is thoroughly cooked while the outside doesn’t burn too quickly. Also remember to allow the oil to come up to temperature before dropping in any ingredients otherwise you’ll end up with a soggy, oily mess. A good way to check if the oil is hot enough is by sticking a chopstick in the oil. If little bubbles surface around the chopstick, the oil should be hot enough.
Getting the Most Out of a Lime We’ve all experienced the great annoyance of buying limes that looked beautiful at the market only to get home and find that they’re dried up. A good technique to getting the most juice out of a lime is to either microwave the lime for about 20 to 30 seconds or run it under hot water for a minute, then roll it around firmly with the palm of your hand on a cutting board. This yields a spectacular amount of juice from good limes and at least something out of a bad one. Save your taste buds and stay far away from all the pre-bottled versions, they’re just not a good substitute.
Keeping Herbs Fresh By now, you realize how strongly I advocate using all fresh ingredients and there’s no aspect of Indonesian cuisine that warrants that rule more than using fresh herbs. Most of us don’t have the time to shop more than once a week so I use this technique to save time and cost, and prevent waste. As soon as you get home with fresh herbs, rinse each type in cold water and drain thoroughly. Using either a paper towel lined basket or baking sheet, spread the herbs gently and pat dry with another paper towel. Allow them to air dry completely for at least several hours up to overnight. Once they are thoroughly dried, store each type separately in zip lock bags lined with new sheets of paper towels.
Useful Tools and Utensils
Having the right tools for the job makes cooking a joy. Here are some items that I think make the whole Indonesian cooking experience easier, more enjoyable, and produce tastier results. Typically, Indonesian kitchens are simply outfitted, but it’s difficult to argue that some modern conveniences can save time and hassle without affecting the quality of the food.
Asian Butcher Knife/Cleaver As cliché as it might sound, it’s true that a dull knife is far more dangerous than a sharp one. I have experienced this myself, cutting my fingers in nasty accidents due to dull, low quality knives. I’m forever loyal to my Asian butcher knife with its huge rectangular shape and seemingly invincible steel heft. I know some of you may not be familiar or comfortable with this type of large knife but once you get used to its size and weight, you’ll find it to be an extremely versatile and useful tool. I use this for everything from mincing garlic to cutting vegetables and chopping through all types of meats with bones. These knives can be purchased inexpensively at Asian grocery stores.
Asian Strainers There are many types of these strainers, the good ones feature some type of mesh-looking wire material in a rounded shape with a long wooden handle attached. Asian strainers are great for picking up noodles, vegetables, and anything you’re either boiling or deep-frying that need to be drained. Make sure to purchase one with a long handle; it will save your skin from potential hazards while removing whatever you’re cooking from its liquid. This tool beats using tongs for picking up noodles or something like shrimp chips where you’re cooking a large quantity and need to drain them quickly. Certain recipe such as the Iced Coconut Cream with Jellies (page 114) require a particular kind of strainer which can be difficult to find in Western countries. The closest tool would be the ladle strainer, which looks just like a regular metal ladle but has small round holes.
Cutting Board An often-overlooked tool in kitchens is a strong, sturdy cutting board. Many Indonesian kitchens use large wooden butcher blocks as cutting boards, which is a great tool if you have a lot of space to thoroughly clean it and don’t mind their weight. My preference is a large cutting board made of plastic or silicone with at least half an inch of depth. A good sized plastic cutting board will serve as a multi-purpose tool because you can use it for mincing herbs and spices; cutting vegetables and fruits; or chopping meats and seafood. Unlike wooden boards, you don’t need to worry about bacteria seeping through its pores or the wood warping from water. Always clean your cutting boards with soap and hot water, allowing them to air dry thoroughly.
Food Processor In lieu of a traditional mortar and pestle, a modern day food processor is a fabulous tool. Besides grinding all types of herbs and spices that produce many of Indonesia’s sambals and pastes, these nifty gadgets are a huge time saver when it comes to grinding all types of meats and mixtures. Were you so inclined, you could of course do everything the old-fashioned way and manually chop meat into its grounded state. While markets nowadays offer pre-ground meats, some recipes call for further fine grounding and mixing with other ingredients, which food processors complete in seconds. Like any other tool, investing in a good quality food processor will save on costs in the long run—a sturdy one should last for many years if not several decades.
Meat Pounder This is a tool that is not often discussed in Indonesian cooking but I have found it to be a great way to make perfectly cooked meats. For example, the recipe for Banjar Chicken Steak (page 65) calls for pan-frying chicken breasts. You can’t always get perfectly shaped chicken breasts; one side is often much thicker than the other which means that cooking will be uneven. One side will be completely done cooking while the other is still raw on the inside. Using a meat pounder solves this issue easily. When using a meat pounder, I like to lay the meat across a plastic cutting board and cover it with a large piece of plastic wrap to protect from splattering bacteria all over the kitchen, other ingredients, and myself. With this method, you can then pound on the meat to whatever desired thickness without worrying about raw meat and its juices flying all over the place.
Metal Ladle A metal ladle with a long handle is necessary to work with soups and certain noodle dishes. Purchase one that’s a good size with a sturdy handle, preferably one that is metal throughout or those with an outside layer of wood on the handle. Plastic ladles are never used in Indonesian cooking unless for serving desserts or cold dishes, and wooden ladles can often impart a strange flavor to the dish so should be avoided as well.
Mortar and Pestle (Cobek or Ulek) A traditional Indonesian mortar and pestle is one of the greatest kitchen tools of all time. Unlike those from other countries, Indonesia’s version is flatter and more open on top, like a plate with rounded edges rather than an enclosed bowl-like contraption. The pestle is also shaped differently, having a distinctive curvature for ease of grip allowing for Indonesia’s unique technique of grinding. Made of basalt stone, the Indonesian mortar and pestle allows herbs and spices to have optimum surface area contact with the rough stone that produces the delicious and spicy sambals with their smooth texture. Typically heavier than their Thai or Mexican counterparts, the Indonesian mortar and pestle is more readily available in Western regions in recent years. These should never be washed with soap of any kind but rather rinsed thoroughly with warm water and allowed to completely air dry before storing.
Rice Cooker One of the easiest tools to use in an Indonesian kitchen is a good quality rice cooker. I can’t imagine any modern day kitchen