Indonesian

Seafood Fried Rice

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Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

“Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fried rice is a popular component of East, Southeast and certain South Asian cuisines. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with ingredients left over from other dishes, leading to countless variations. Being an economical hodgepodge, the same approach is often taken with fried noodles or pyttipanna as well. Fried rice first developed during the Sui Dynasty in China and as such all fried rice dishes can trace their origins to Chinese fried rice.

Many popular varieties of fried rice have their own specific list of ingredients. In Greater China, the most famous varieties include Yangzhou fried rice and Hokkien fried rice. Japanese chāhan is considered a Japanese Chinese dish, having derived from Chinese fried rice dishes. Korean bokkeum-bap in general is not, although there is a Korean Chinese variety of bokkeum-bap. In Southeast Asia, similarly constructed Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean nasi goreng and Thai khao phat are popular dishes. In the West, most restaurants catering to vegetarians have invented their own varieties of fried rice, including egg fried rice. Fried rice is also seen on the menus of American restaurants offering cuisines with no native tradition of the dish. Additionally, there are variations of fried rice in Middle and South Americas. Some of these variations include Ecuadorian chaulafan, Peruvian arroz chaufa, Cuban arroz frito, and Puerto Rican arroz mamposteao.

Fried rice is a popular street food in Asia. In some Asian countries, small restaurants, street vendors and traveling hawkers specialize in serving fried rice. In Indonesian cities it is common to find fried rice street hawkers moving through the streets with their food cart and stationing it in busy streets or residential areas. Many Southeast Asian street food stands offer fried rice with a selection of optional garnishes and side dishes”.

P.S.
If you ever wonder why fried rice in some chinese restaurants is so beautifully golden in color, here is the answer: Add a pinch of turmeric 🙂
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Seafood Fried Rice

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: 4 cups day-old rice, 6 ea large shrimp. 20 ea cooked mussels, 12 oz large cubes of firm fish fillet, 8 oz scallops, 4 stalks of scallion, 10 oz white cabbage

: season 4 large whole eggs with kosher salt and chili paste to taste, whisk

: heat 2 sblsp peanut oil

: cook the eggs until just set, remove

: season the seafood (without the mussels) with kosher salt and cayenne pepper to taste, stir fry until cooked halfway through, remove

: keep warm

: stir fry 1 ea large, finely diced onion 1/2 tsp grated ginger and 1 tblsp garlic pasete in 2 tblsp peanut oil until translucent

: add the diced cabbage, stir fry 1 minute

: add the rice, stir fry until the rice sterts to “pop”

: add 1 tblsp chili paste, 2 tblsp soy sauce, 1 tblsp toasted sesame oil, 1 pinch of sugar, 1 pinch turmeric, kosher salt to taste

: stir fry another minute

: add the seafood, scallions and the eggs, stir fry another minute

: check / adjust the seasoning, add the mussels, mix carefully one more time

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

: Seafood Fried Rice

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Goan Chicken Curry

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This is the very best chicken curry – at least for me and my own, personal taste.
While it is neither typical Indian, nor Indonesian or Malay, it is a bit in the style of Goa. Goan food is much influenced by the Portuguese, so the ingredients and seasoning often differ a bit from the usual Indian suspects. In the 70’s I spend a few months in Goa, living in cheap housing right on the beach. If one was able to forgo typical western luxuries such as A/C, running water and fork and knife, living on $ 3.00 a day was possible most of the time.
Those were the days of free love, cheap booze and even cheaper “tobacco”, so life was a constant,carefree blast. And to top it all off, the food, even as it was dirt-cheap, was always great, tasty, in abundance and available around the clock. (Important because of the “tobacco”) 🙂
Although I don’t have any recipes from that time and place of food I actually ate then and there, I am always reminded of my time in Goa when I prep and eat the curry featured here.
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Goan Chicken Curry

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: Saute julienne of 1 large onion in 2 tblsp ghee

: add 3 bay ea leaves, 1 tblsp tomato paste, 3 tblsp curry pwd, 1 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp crushed mustard seeds, saute until fragrant

: add 1 tsp garlic paste, saute another minute

: add 8 pc boneless chicken thighs, 1 tblsp flour (optional)

: mix all ingredients well, saute another minute

: add 1 qt chicken stock, season with kosher salt to taste

: slowly simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes

: almost……

: add 8 ea small cooked potatoes and 8 oz cooked garbanzos

: add 8 oz coconut milk

: simmer for another 10 minutes, add 4 oz grape tomatoes, check/adjust seasoning; serve with steamed rice or naan; serves 4

: to serve, sprinkle with toasted almonds (optional), chopped cilantro and top with a dollop of yogurt

: Goan Chicken Curry

: Goan Chicken Curry

: Goan Chicken Curry

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Beef And Glass Noodles In Coconut Soup

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Coconut milk is a common ingredient in many tropical cuisines, such as Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese, Peranakan and southern Chinese, as well as Brazilian, Caribbean, Polynesian, and Pacific islands cuisines. Even in non-tropical cuisines around the world, thanks to canning, dehydrating and freezing, coconut milk has become a widely used ingredient in a myriad of dishes, both sweet and savory. I use coconut milk mostly for curries and soups, as well as the occasional dessert. When using it for soups, I usually prepare a Thai or Thai-inspired soup. Today however, I did not make my usual tom-kha-gai (Thai chicken/coconut soup), but rather a simple, tasty beef/coconut soup. No fancy herbs, seasoning or other hard-to find ingredients, just simple items which you’ll regularly find in my cupboard and chiller.
Nevertheless, the strong beef flavor combined beautifully with the coconut milk and made for a great lunch 🙂
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P.S.
Although I usually don’t find it necessary to strain soups through a fine paper or cheese cloth when cooking for one-self at home, I recommend it in this case. If you don’t, the coagulated impurities from the broth show up clearly as dark spots in the light-colored soup once you have added the coconut milk.
While not a flavor or textural problem, it just looks better when strained 🙂
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Beef And Glass Noodles In Coconut Soup

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Preparation :
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: simmer cubed beef brisket with kosher salt, cayenne pepper, grated ginger and garlic paste until meat is tender, about one hour, remove beef, set aside