Gado Gado

Indonesian vegetable salad. The vegetables used below are only a suggestion, you can use nearly anything that is available to you. Do use at least 4 different vegetables.
Ingredients:

White Cabbage, diced.
Green beans
Bean sprouts
carrots
2 Eggs, hard boiled.
Peanut Sauce.
Tomatoes.
Prawn crackers.
Preparation:

Seperatly boil all the vegetables lightly.
Drain and arrange in layers on a dish. Pour the Peanut Sauce over this.
Decorate with the sliced egg and tomatoes.
Just before serving, sprinkle the crackers over the sauce. Best enjoyed when salad is cooled down slightly.

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Sambal Ulek

The most basic sambal
Ingredients:

20 red Chillies or Lomboks (approx. 6 - 9 cm. long)
2 teaspoons Salt
Preparation:

Wash Chillies and chop. Mix with salt and rub into a coarse paste in mortar or in blender. Put into sterilised jar.
This sambal is perfect by your meal or for cooking and as a base for other sambals. Can be kept in fridge for about 1 to 2 months.

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Sajur Lodeh

Mixed vegetable dish with coconut.This is a soupy dish made with 3 or 4 different vegetables.You can use almost any veg. you have at hand.
For example: White Cabbage, French green beans, Carrots, Tauge, Bamboo shoots, etc. Very nice as a main or side dish with plain boiled rice.
Ingredients:

1 Onion.
2 Cloves of Garlic.
2 teaspoons Sambal Ulek or 1 fresh hot Chilli.
3 tablespoons Peanut oil.
1 teaspoon Laos powder.
800 gr. Mixed Vegetables.
350 ml. Coconut milk
350 ml. Chicken stock
2 tablespoons Kecap Manis.
Pinch of Pepper and salt.
2 Eggs (Hard boiled)
250 gr. Chicken breast.(boiled)
Preparation:

Puree the onions, garlic and sambal ulek in a blender.Add Laos powder.Heat oil in a wok and stir fry the paste for 2 min.Stir in the coconut milk and Chicken stock.Bring to boil.Add the vegetables in order of cooking time. Simmer until all vegetables are tender but still crunchy. Add Kecap Manis,Salt and Pepper, finely sliced Chicken and quartered Eggs and boil for a further minute.
Serve hot.

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Ikan Santen

Fish in a hot coconut sauce.


Ingredients:

500 gr Mackerel
Salt
2 Onions
1 tablespoon Sambal Ulek
1 stalk lemongrass
1 teaspoon trassi
1 slice galangal
400 ml (one tin) Coconut milk
1-2 laurel leaves
1 Daun jeruk purut
Oil


Preparation:

Season the fish and fry on both sides in the oil to a golden colour. Don't overcook, the fish must remain firm. set aside.

Using a mortar & pestle or food processor, make a paste from the onions, sambal, lemongrass, trassi and galangal. Add the coconut milk and, on a low flame, reduced the sauce to about halve its volume . place the fish in the sauce and add the laurel and jeruk purut leaves and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve with boiled rice.
Remarks:

You can replace the mackerel with any type of "oily" fish that's available to you locally.
The sambal ulek can be replaced with 3 or 4 red chillies and the lemongrass with a tablespoon of lemon zest.
Lemongrass, Ginger and Galangal are also widely available as a paste in jars which will keep for a long time.

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Ikan Boemboe Bali

Medium to hot balinese fish dish. Ideal as a side dish with a larger Rice meal (Ricetable) or on it’s own with plain boiled rice. Choose a fish with nice firm white flesh that can be divided in fillets like Cod, Haddock or any other locally available fish. Do not overcook the fish as it must be served whole.


Ingredients:

500 gr Cod fillets
2 Onions
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Red Peppers
3 Tbs. Tomato puree
1 Tbs. Kecap Manis
150 cc. Water
3 Tbs. Oil
flour to coat fish
oil for fryer

Spices (Boemboes):

2 Lime leaves
2 Bay leaves
1 cm. Galangal
1 cm. Ginger root
½ tsp. Trassi
2 tsp. Sugar
1 stalk Lemongrass


Preparation:

Divide the fish into four fillets. Coat with the flour and deep fry until golden brown. Set aside. De-seed peppers and slice thinly. Chop onions and garlic.
Heat oil in wok than add peppers, onions and garlic and stirfry for 4 mins.
Grate galangal and ginger root. Add all the boemboe spices to wok and fry for a further 2 mins. add remaining ingredients and the fish and simmer for 10 mins. Make sure the fish remains whole.

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Ikan Pedis

Indonesian spicy Fish Dish. In this recipe I've used Mackerel but you can substitute this with any oily Fish. This recipe is suitable to be finished in a steamer or in the oven. Ikan Pedis Ingredients







Ingredients:
½ Green Cabbage
1 tbs Curry powder
1 strand Lemon grass
Pepper and Salt
2 fresh Mackerels
4 tbs Oil
6 diced Onions
4 Red Pepper, sliced
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 tsp Sambal Ulek
2 Lime leaves
2 Bay leaves
2 Curry leaves
3 tbs Lemon juice
1½ tbs Sugar
2 tbs Kecap Manis
2 cm Fresh Ginger, sliced


Preparation:

Bring a pan with water to boiling point and add pepper, salt, curry and lemon grass. Add the whole Cabbage leaves and boil for about 2 min. Drain and remove hard centre. Arrange half the leaves on the bottom of ovenproof dish.Ikan Pedis
Clean the fish,cut length wise, fold open and remove bones. Arrange fish, with skin on the underside, over the cabbage. Heat oil and fry Onions, garlic and peppers for 5 min. Add remaining ingredients and fry for a further 5 minutes.
Spread mixture over fish and cover with remaining cabbage leaves.Ikan Pedis
Place the fish in your steaming basket and fit closely over a wok or saucepan with boiling water, making sure no steam can escape on the side of the basket. Check the level of your water regulary. Steam for 30 minutes.
Alternatively cook the fish in an ovendish covered with tin foil and placed in centre of oven. Cook for about 30 minutes at 180 C .

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Hati Ajam

Tasty Chicken livers in a Peanut and Coconut sauce. Ideal side dish with the rijsttafel.
Ingredients:

250 gr. Chicken livers.
2½ cm. Fresh Ginger.
1 Large Onion.
1 Clove Garlic.
½ teaspoon Dark Sugar.
1 teaspoon Sambal Ulek.
1 teaspoon Shrimp Paste.
30 gr. Ground peanuts or 1 tablespoon Peanutbutter.
200 ml. Chickenstock.
100 ml. Thick Coconut Milk
Pepper & salt.
1 tablespoon chopped Coriander.
Preparation:

Clean Chicken livers under running water and dry. Heat oil in wok.
Dice Onions and Garlic. soften in wok and add grated Ginger, Sugar, Sambal and Shrimp paste and stir well. Add Peanuts or Peanutbutter. Add Pepper and salt to taste. Add Chicken livers and fry for 3 Minutes, stirring constantly. Add Chicken-stock and simmer for a further 3 minutes then add Coconut milk to slightly thicken up the sauce.
Serve hot, decorated with the chopped coriander.

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Ayam jahe Mangga

A quick dish of stir fried chicken with ginger and mango. Best served with white rice and a ginger sauce. Try my sauce for Babi Panggang.
Ingredients:


4 Chicken breast
3 cm. Fresh Ginger root
2 Spring onions
1 tablespoon Kecap manis
1 tablespoon Sesame oil
Pepper & Salt
2 ripe mango's or
1 tin (400 gr) Mango
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Preparation:

Clean chicken breast and cut in half,then slice into fingerthick strips and put in bowl. Peel and grate ginger and thinly slice spring onions and add to chicken. Add Sesame oil, Kecap manis and pepper & salt. Leave to marinate for at least ½ an hour.
Peel mango and remove flesh from stone or open tin and slice into strips the same size as chicken. Set aside.
Heat wok and add peanut oil. Quickly stir-fry chicken (5 min.).
Heat Mango in microwave and mix with chicken.
Serve hot with Babi Panggang sauce.
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Ayam Boemboe Roedjak

Mild chicken dish in Coconut milk
Ingredients:

2 red Chilli peppers
3 cloves Garlic
10 Kemirie nuts
3 Tbl Oil
1 strand Lemon grass
2 Lime leaves
2 Curry leaves
1 Kg. Chicken drumsticks
200 cl Coconut milk
Salt
Preparation:

Remove seeds from the peppers. Make the peppers, garlic and nuts into a smooth
paste using a pestle and mortar or food processor.
Heat oil in wok and fry the paste dry in about 10 min. Add bruised lemon grass and lime & curry leaves and fry for a further minute.
Transfer to a sauce pan, add chicken and coconutmilk and boil covered for about 30 min. Remove lid and boil for a further 15 min. until chicken is done and sauce thickens. Add salt to taste.
Serve hot.

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Soto Ayam Madoera

A spicy Indonesian chicken soup. Ideal as a lunch dish or served with boiled rice.
Ingredients:

1 Chicken
1 Large Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
3 cm Ginger root
2 red chilli pepper
1 tsp Turmeric
1 bunch parsley
2 strands Lemon grass
2 tsp Kecap Manis
3 Eggs
3 Potatoes
oil
pepper & Salt
Preparation:

Clean and skin the chicken. Slowly boil in 1½ Ltr water until well done. Take meat from bone and return the bones to the water to make a stock. Shred meat and set aside. Clear stock by passing through a muslin cloth. Boil Potatoes in water and mash with 1 egg and pepper & salt. Roll into small croquettes ( 2 cm thick 4 cm long ). Deep fry in hot oil. Hard boil remaining eggs and slice.
Put Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Chilli and Turmiric in a pestle and mortar or food processor and make into paste. Put 1 tbl oil in hot wok and fry paste for 3 minutes. Chop the parsley and bruise Lemon grass. Add Stock, Chicken, Ketjap manis, Parsley and Lemon grass to pastemix and heat through. Add pepper and salt to taste.
Put Potato croquettes and sliced egg in bowl and laddle the soep over this.
Serve with Sambal ulek and Kecap Manis.

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Ayam Kalio

Hot and Tasty chicken in coconut sauce.
Ingredients:

1 Chicken
16 Shallots
4 Cloves of Garlic
12 Red Peppers
4 cm Turmeric root
2 cm Ginger root
3 cm Galingale root
4 tsp Coriander
1 Coconut
2 Turmeric leaves
4 Kaffir Lime leaves
2 strands Lemon grass
salt to taste
Preparation:

Divide chicken into 8 pieces and set aside.
Grate the Coconut flesh and add to 1 ltr. of hot water and puree in your blender.
Chop Shallots, Garlic, Peppers, Turmeric, Ginger and Galingale and puree in blender.
Add this mix to the coconut milk and bring slowly to boil. Add the Chicken, Turmeric, Lime leaves and bruised Lemon grass and simmer for about 1 hour. Lift the lid from your pan for the last 15 min. of boiling. Remove the leaves and Lemon grass before serving.

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Ayam Bali

Balinese Fried Chicken
Ingredients:

4 Chicken portions
1 Onion
2 Garlic cloves
4 Kemiri nuts
2½ cm fresh Ginger
250 ml Coconut milk
1 tbs Kecap Manis
2 tsp Sambal Ulek
1 tsp soft brown sugar
Preparation:

Puree the Onions, Garlic, Ginger, Kemiri and Sambal Ulek in a blender or pestle.
Heat some oil in a large, deep frying pan and brown the chicken on all sides for about 10 mins. Remove chicken and set aside.
Stir-fry the puree for 5 min. in the same frying pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Add the chicken and simmer for 30 min. until tender. Serve hot.
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Boeboer Ayam

This dish is best described as a savoury "rice-pudding". It makes a tasty lunchtime dish, or, if you're one of the converted, a nice breakfast dish to see you through the rest of the day.
Ingredients:

1 Chicken (approx. 800 gr.)
1½ Ltr. water.
400 gr. Rice.
2 Tbs. Chinese light Soy.
2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
salt & pepper to taste
Garnish:
Chopped Parsley or Coriander leaf.
Omelet strips (made from 2 eggs)
Bawang goreng. (deef fried Onions)
Preparation:

Quarter chicken and put with water on low flame for 1 hour to make stock. Remove
chicken. Put the crushed shells from the eggs used for the omelet in the stock and
stir well,on low flame, for a minute. Pass stock through a muslin cloth to clarify.
Wash the rice and boil in the stock for ½ hour until done. (must be sticky and thick). Add the soy, garlic, salt, pepper and shredded chicken and simmer for a further 15 Minutes.
Decorate with omelet, onions and parsly or coriander. serve hot.

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Opor ayam

Chicken stew with a rich, aromatic coconut gravy.
Ingredients:

1 chicken (1 to 1½ kg)
8 tablespoons groundnut oil
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon trassi
200 ml water
1 dessertspoon goela Djawa
300 ml Coconut milk
pepper, salt & kecap manis

Bumbu's:

4 kemiri nuts
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon laos powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
Preparation:

Divide the chicken into 4 equal portions, wash and dry. Rub in pepper and salt.
Dice the onion and crush the garlic.
Crush or grate the kemiri nuts and mix with the coriander, cumin, laos and turmeric.

In a thick bottomed pan, heat the oil and fry the chicken on all sides to a golden colour. Reduce the heat slightly and add the onions and garlic, stir until the onion is cooked and nicely browned. Add the bumbu's and fry for a further 2 minutes then add the trassi and fry for a further minute.
Now add the water and goela Djawa to the pan. Bring to the boil and cover the pan with a lid and simmer the chicken on a low heat for a further 30 minutes until well done.
Remove lid and add the coconut milk and, leaving the lid of the pan, reduce the sauce to about half. Bring to taste with pepper, salt or kecap manis.

Serve with boiled rice and atjar.

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Babi Asam Pedis

Hot, spicy pork in a sour Tamarind sauce. Very nice side dish with a Indonesian style meal.
Ingredients:

500 gr. Lean Pork
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Tsp Sambal Ulek
2 Tsp Cornflour
1 cm. Ginger root
40 gr. Tamarind
6 Spring Onions
3 red Chillis
3 Tomatoes
3 Tbs Kecap Manis
Oil
Salt
Preparation:

Cut pork into thin slices. Prepare 200 cl. tamarind (see Ingredient Page for method on how to do this.) Mix in the crushed garlic, sambal ulek, grated ginger and cornflour. add salt and marinade pork in this mix for at least 1 hour. Stir fry the pork in a wok for 5 - 10 min. until browned. Remove from wok. Stir fry chopped spring onion and chillis for 3 min., add chopped tomatoes, pork and kecap manis, heat through and serve hot.

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Babi Ketjap

Pork in sweet soya sauce.
Ingredients:

500 gr Tender Pork.
1 large Onion.
2 Garlic cloves.
3 cm fresh Ginger.
30 gr dark sugar.
½ cup Kecap Manis.
2 cups Water.
Lemon juice.
1 stock cube.
Pepper & Salt.
Preparation:

Finely dice Onion, Garlic and Ginger. Cut Pork into strips. Add Sugar, Pepper and Salt.
Fry in small saucepan until Onion is soft and the pork is dark.
Add the Kecap Manis (sweet indonesian soya sauce) and water, Lemon juice and stock cube and leave to simmer on a low flame for about 30 min.
Serve with boiled or fried rice.

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Babi Panggang

This is a Indonesian main dish of Chinese origin. Can be eaten as a main course with plain white rice. If used as a side dish, reduce amounts accordingly.
PS. It's essential that you also prepare the special sauce with this recipe.
Ingredients:

500 gr. Fillet of Pork (Tenderlion)
Half a White Cabbage
Marinade:
2 teaspoons Djahe (Ginger)
1 teaspoon Garlicpowder
1 teaspoon Laospowder (Lengkuas or Galangal)
1 teaspoon Onion powder
2 tablespoons Kecap Manis (sweet Indonesian soya sauce)
Pepper & Salt to taste
Preparation:

Clean the fillet of pork. Mix all the marinade ingredients and spread over the fillet. Leave for min. 1 hour.
Roast fillet in oven at 220 centigrade for about 30 min. until tender.
Related Recipes:

* Babi Panggang sauce

Serving suggestion:

Cut the meat in thin slices and place on bed of finely shredded cabbage. Pour sauce over meat. Serve with plain boiled rice.

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Besengek Daging

Spicy Beef dish cooked in coconut milk.
Use a lean, whole cut of beef like "topside" or "silverside".
Ingredients:

500 gr Beef.
1 onion.
1 teaspoon trassi.
1 red chilli pepper.
½ teaspoon black pepper.
1 teaspoon coriander (ground).
½ teaspoon turmeric.
30 ml tamarind water.
250 ml beef stock.
500 ml coconut milk.
2 teaspoons sugar.
salt to taste.
oil for frying.
Preparation:

Place the beef in enough water to cover the joint and boil until tender (about 1 hour). Remove from stock and slice after cooling. Chop the onions and fry with the trassi in the oil until soft. Add chilli, pepper, coriander, turmeric, tamarind, sugar and salt. saute for a further ½ minute then add the beef and stock. Cover pan and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Uncover pan and add the coconut milk. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens.
Can be served on its own with rice or as part of a "rijsttafel".

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Rempah

Beef and Coconut patties Indonesian style.
Ingredients:

200 gr minced beef.
100 gr dessicated coconut.
1 garlic clove.
1 teaspoon coriander.
½ teaspoon cumin.
¼ teaspoon laos powder.
¼ teaspoon blanchan.
1 egg.
50 gr cornflour.
100 gr. peanut oil.
Preparation:

Moisten the coconut with about 4 tablespoons of hot water. Add all remaining ingredients except cornflour and oil. Mix until ingredients are well blended and smooth.
Make mixture into 12 to 16 small balls. Roll through cornflour, shake of any excess and fry in hot oil for about 5 min.
Serve hot.

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Fresh Coconut Milk

Everyone assumes that when a recipe calls for coconut milk gata3that we all still know how to make it from scratch. Or take it out of a can. Well, just in case there are some dummies out there who, like me, have never made fresh coconut milk or gata for myself, here are the basics. I am putting this now as I am about to post some yummy recipes that need freshly made coconut milk.

There are two types of fresh coconut milk. Thick or first pressed milk. gata1And thin or second pressed milk. To make “extra virgin coconut milk” or EVCO as I now call it, you have to buy a mature coconut (generally those that are just brown husk outside), and have the dude man at the market grate it. If your home still has one of those neat grating contraptions, then grate it yourself. For every grated coconut, add one cup of lukewarm water (not hot) and start squeezing to extract the milk. Keep going until the liquid is nice and thick. Strain through a fine sieve and if you are particular about removing all coconut bits and solids, pass through a cheesecloth. The bits and solids can alter the texture of your cooked dish. I happen to think they are fine but others might want really smooth coconut milk. This first pressing yields a nice milk that is NOWHERE near as thick and viscous as canned milk. Generally, you can thicken it further by boiling it down. The squeezing is rather cathartic, a good replacement for punching a dummy. You can squeeze the grated coconut from several nuts at the same time. Set aside the EVCO.

From the SAME grated coconut, add 1.5-2.0 cups of lukewarm water and start squeezing again until you have extracted the remaining milk. gata2This process yields a thinner milk that is typically used at the beginning of the cooking process for recipes with coconut milk or gata. The EVCO is added to the dish at a later stage. Make your coconut milk and use it soon after you squeeze it. While I almost always encourage people to use the fresh alternative, this is not possible in areas where you don’t have geriatric coconuts readily available (think Juneau, Alaska or Paris, France for example) and you must resort to canned alternatives. Some canned alternatives are pretty good, but they do tend to be thicker than fresh coconut milk and you just have to adjust your recipes. I find canned coconut milk an excellent way to shortcut a decent shrimp or chicken curry recipe. At least now you know how to do it from scratch if you have to.

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Indonesian ingredients

Below I've listed some of the more unusual ingredients as used in my recipes. I've tried to include as many spellings and different names as I could find but can not promise that this list is fully complete. Many of the more common fresh ingredients such as Ginger and Lemongrass are now available in the larger supermarkets but a very good source for fresh produce, sauces and spice mixes are your local Chinese / Asian food stores. Many of the Herbs and Spices are available in your local stores and health food shops. The rule here is to buy as little as needed, so they are always fresh. I prefer to buy spices like Cumin and Coriander as seeds and then grind them in a pestle when I need them, the extra aroma is amazing. I've also included some links and addresses on my links page to shops where you can order on-line or by catalogue.

Javanese Market

Bean sprouts, Taogé

Sprout of the mung or soya bean. Wash before use, remove as much of the seed pot as possible. Available fresh in most supermarkets. Also sold in tins but those have lost most of their crunchiness and flavour.


Coconut milk, Santen

coconutsCreamed CoconutThis is not the clear liquid found inside a whole Coconut but rather an extract from the grated flesh of a Coconut. Use one of the following methods to make your milk.
Fresh: - Grate one Coconut in a bowl and add 1 to 1½ cup of hot water. Squeeze coconut until water is turned white and the flesh is dry, set aside milk and add more water to coconut, repeat above until you have about ½ litre of milk.
Desiccated Coconut: - As above, but the yield will be less.
Creamed Coconut: - Sold as solid blocks of Coconut cream. Dissolve in hot water to get the right consistency or use straight from pack to thicken sauces etc.

Tinned Coconut milk: - use straight from can.


Coriander, Ketumbar, Cilantro, Chinese Parsley

coriander seedCoriander leavesGreen herb, resembling Parsley, with a very pleasant and distinct flavour. The chopped leaves are used to flavour and decorate dishes. The roots can be put in the dish during cooking but must be removed before serving. The seeds can be bought as a spice, whole or ground.





Cooking Oil

For cooking I use Groundnut (peanut) oil or plain vegetable oil. Both have a high burning point and don't go of as fast as some more delicate oils.

Curry leaf

Paler version of Kaffir Lime leaves. Distinct aroma,. Used in the same way as Kaffir Lime leaves.

Cumin, Jinten

Ground seeds of the Cumin plant used as flavouring in marinades and sauces.



Lemon grass, Seréh

LemongrassGrass like plant with a strong lemon flavour. Can be bought fresh, dried or powdered. Fresh: remove outer stalks and chop finely to be used in dish or pound stalks and cook with dish and remove before serving. Dried: Use for cooking, then remove before serving. Powdered: Use sparingly in cooking, will still give a wonderful flavour to dishes. As a substitute you can use zest of lemon, half a lemon or lemon juice.


Chilli's, Peppers, Lomboks, Sambal Ulek

ChilliesChilli's are available in many varieties and can range from mild to extremely hot. Which one you choose is mainly a question of taste and experience but you should not omit them from the recipes as their flavour is essential in most Indonesian dishes. The variety I use is usual the Lombok, which is moderate in heat. They are about 7 cm. (3 inch) long and usually sold as plain red or green peppers. If you want to cut down in heat, remove the seeds and inner white flesh before chopping. Don't forget to wash your utensils and hands after handling chilli's. Sambal ulek is a ready made paste made from chilli's and some salt that is perfect for cooking and as a condiment on the table.

Daun jeruk purut, Kaffir Lime leaf

Glossy dark green leaves that impart a lemon flavour. Available fresh or dried. Used whole in cooking. Remove before serving.


Ginger, Jahé

Ginger rootRoot of the Ginger plant. Uniform, light, tan colour. Sold fresh in most supermarkets. Peel root before use. Can by finely chopped, sliced or grated. Also available freeze-dried to be used in cooking. Ground Ginger or Ginger powder are no substitute, but it can be used in some marinades when indicated. Stem ginger: - Small pieces of ginger preserved in a sweet syrup. Used in my sauce for Babi Panggang.


Galingale, Galangal, Lengkuas, Laos powder

Galangale rootPreserved GalangaleRoot of the same plant family as ginger. Darker in colour then ginger with distinct rings around root. Flesh has a hint of pink. Sold fresh, dried and powdered. Slice before use and remove before serving. If using dried Galangal, soak in water for ½ hour before use. Powdered Galangal is known as Laos powder and can be used in marinades and sauces.
Kécap Manis, Soya sauce

Indonesian sweet soya sauce. Very thick and dark in colour. Delicious aromatic dark sauce to cook with and as a condiment on table. If unavailable you can use dark Chinese soy sauce to which you add 1 or 2 spoons of dark brown sugar but the result will not be nearly as good.
Palm Sugar, Gula Djawa, Jaggery

Palm SugarSugar made from the sap of various palm trees.
Palm sugar is used in sweet and savoury dishes. It is sold in blocks, cylinders or in jars in most asion shops. If unavailable use any other strong dark sugar.

Terasi, Trassie, Blachen

Shrimp paste. Extreme strong smell which disappears during cooking. Essential ingredient in most Indonesian dishes. Available in blocks, which need to be sliced thinly and then toasted after which they can be ground up and used as instructed. Also available ready ground.
Turmeric, Kunyit, Kunir

Turmeric rootsPlant root resembling ginger, but smaller. Used for it's yellow colour and pungent taste. For use, peel and grind in pestle with other spices. Hard to find fresh but as ready ground spice widely available.
Salam leaf

Much the same as Curry leaves. If unavailable can be replaced with a bay leaf.
Tamarind, Asam, Asam jawa
Preserved tamarindeTamarindFruit of the Tamarind tree. Very tardy, tangy flavour. This is sold in oriental stores as blocks of pressed pulp. To make tamarind water, break about 40 grams of pulp into a bowl, add 200 cl. hot water and soak, stirring occasionally. Sieve mixture, pressing through as much pulp as possible and use as directed in recipe.Also available in jars ready for use.
Kemirie Nuts, Candle Nuts
Kemirie nutsAn Indonesian nut that looks like a large hazelnut. Used as a thickening and flavouring. Should be ground up before use and never be eaten raw. If not available use Macadamia or Brazil nuts instead.
White Vinegar

Where vinegar is used in my recipes, I recommend Chinese White Rice vinegar, White Wine vinegar or Cider vinegar.
Rice

There seems to have grown a great mystery about cooking rice, which puts some people off cooking rice. To be honest, most of the pre-packed, easy cook rice is very simple to cook if you follow the instructions on the bag. Allow between 50 to 75 grams per person. Always wash the rice in cold water until water runs clear. An easy way to cook rice is as follows : Wash rice and put in enough water so that the depth between the rice and the surface is about the length of one finger digit. Bring rice to boil and boil under lid until the top water has disappeared and there are holes forming in the rice. Turned heat as low as possible and leave with well fitting lid for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve. For plain boiled rice I use Basmati rice, which has a lovely flavour and is slightly sticky. If the rice is needed for frying, use American long grain which gives a nice dry and firm kernel.

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