Thursday, February 26, 2009

Quick Indonesian Rawon and Baked Perkedel


Did I just click "Publish" before typing anything? Sorry guys, accidents happen. Oooops. (This is not the first time, and probably ain't gonna be the last time :p).

I have a situation.
- There is a Rawon event, hosted by my blogger friends
- I love Rawon (Indonesian Black Beef Soup)
- I want Rawon
- now I really really want Rawon
but
- I have no time to make Rawon from scratch
- I don't have the ingredients to make Rawon from scratch
- I am lazy to make Rawon from scratch
- Heck, I don't know how to make Rawon from scratch

What to do?
Thank God for Indofood Rawon Instant Seasoning Mix!
Background music: Handel's Hallelujah Chorus

...what else can I do to make
Indonesian Beef Rawon
more of a weekday quick dish?
- Change the beef chunks with Sukiyaki style beef for record-breakingly quick cooking time
- Remove most of the frills which aren't readily available in my pantry (beansprouts, salted eggs, prawn crackers)
- Change the chilli sauce to just freshly chopped chilli
- Try to modify the fried perkedel (potato cake) side dish to the baked version, and fail miserably


Recipes
Quick Beef Rawon
- 1 lb sukiyaki style sliced beef (if possible with nice marbling)
- 1 cm ginger, crushed
- 1-2 packs of rawon instant seasoning mix (depends on how intense you want the flavor to be)
- 200-400ml hot water (depends how soupy you want it to be)
- olive oil
- lemon
- red chilli
- fresh corriander
Saute ginger in hot oil, add beef, when the color turns (it happens really quickly), add hot water, rawon instant seasoning mix, bring to boil. Turn the heat off, squeeze some lemon juice, garnish with fresh corriander, serve with steamed rice and additional lemon slices and red chilli on the side.

Baked Perkedel (Indonesian Potato Cakes)
- 2 large potatoes
- 1/2 small clove of garlic, finely chopped/grated
- salt, pepper, sugar, nutmeg
- 1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 220C. Wash potatoes, peel skin off, dice to about 2x2 cm cubes, pat dry, microwave until soft (I did on high, for about 7 minutes), mash, add finely chopped garlic, season with salt, pepper, sugar and nutmeg, form into small shapes (they are originally in a slightly flattened disk shape, but I also did small balls and ovals, just for fun). Line baking sheet with foil, brush with olive oil, lay the perkedels, brush with egg wash, bake until golden brown (mine was about 20 minutes), remove from oven to let cool, serve.

Mine turned out much lighter and fluffier than the normally firm perkedels. They taste alright, but they are a gadzillion miles away from the authentic perkedel T_T.

My friend, Lily, suggested boiling the potatoes until soft (with skin), drain, pat dry, peel skin off, mash with a bit of milk, roll into shape, dip in egg white, roll in breadcrumbs, pan fry quickly and pop in the oven to crisp. I am sooo gonna try this method next time.

You can also add minced meat/spam/ham/bacon/shrimps/fish or just the classic fried shallot and chopped spring onion in the mashed potatoes before rolling.

Gosh. My perkedels rants kinda stole the limelight from the Rawon, didn't they? Opppps (again).

This post is for the folks at Masak Bareng (Cooking Together) Event (February 2009 Edition): my apologies for being such a lazy ass and using instant seasoning mix. Opppps (I realised that saying "oppps" too many times did not make me any cuter or more forgiven hihi)

22 comments:

J said...

eh perkedel panggang'e kayake oke juga tuh.. boleh dicoba :)

haha, aku bikin rawon from scratch karena pengen tau gimana carane tok sih. lagian masih libur. ntik kalo wes masuk kuliah lagi (which is next week), kayaknya gak bakal masak apa2 from scratch :p

Anonymous said...

I was gonna ask 'What the heck is Rawon?' and 'What the heck is Perkedel' but i think you answered my questions in this post. You're so helpful Rita! :-)
Looks really tasty! Yom!!

Anonymous said...

Rita, rawonnya bikin ngiler...yang saya engga dark buangett soupnya, kayanya kurang bumbunya...huhuhu...abis cuma punya satu tuch...bagi donkkk bumbunya..:)

daphne said...

I recently discovered that brand as well! I didnt know of rawon!!

I have been using some spices for stir frying though LOL.

Sharon said...

Your indo treats are my favorite whether you use Indo Food mix or not! :) Baked Perkedel...sounds like something I would do though its hard to beat the fried stuff! Looks tasty nonetheless.

Elsye said...

weess jan, aku ngilerrrr......rawone keliatan nendang abiss...Rit, aku ra ikut event ini dulu..ga sempet masaknya

dewi ayin said...

waaawww... cute pot, yummy looking rawon... but what happened to the perkedel? looks like potato cookie, hihihihi
no need to add breadcrumbs to original 'mbak iyem' recipe, just glaze it with egg, deep fry... tho i won't mind breadcrumb-ing perkedel, i guess it will taste like bitterballen

A.G said...

Baked Perkedel ? hehe... potato coockies :D kirain tadi ndog asen.

Bumbu indofood emang mantep tenan tp emang kudu 2 ben mantep

Udah ikutan voting blm ?

Jagungmanis said...

aku datang............
wah, perkedelmu kok menggoda iman yo...
koyoke inuk je

Rurie said...

Aw Rit, gak tahan aku lek moco ceritamu, pengen ketawa terus hehe :) potone apik Rit, lalu kui what the heck you were thinking baked perkedel hehehe kidding...good idea kok tapi emang kadang ga ada yg bisa ngalahin aslinya :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Your beef Rawon soup looks really rich and good. I have not heard of baked perkedel before, interesting.

Cherie said...

You made me very, very hungry!

Anonymous said...

aku pesen rawon semangkok Mbak, perkedelnya dua yak :))

Anonymous said...

Your creations always look so good!! Hungry hungry, I really want to try Rawson and Perkedel noow!

Lidia Sianturi said...

nek perkedel versiku ga pernah takcelupin telur Rit, tp telurnya sekalian aku campur di adonan kentange..lebih keset dan enak sih menurutku...jadi luarnya mulus, engga mbrindil2 endog...
Yg di bake blum pernah nyoba...boros oven kowe yo?
ini sih rawon superkilat ala Rita tenan!
bumbu aku kok lebih suka Munik ya? secara aku lebih suka asin....jd nek pake Indofood kurang nendang...

Tuty said...

I am with you 100% on the use of seasoning packets. Ngulek2 is not my favorite past time... not to mention the fact that my downstairs neighbor is going to bitch about the sound of the pounding.
My fave brand for rawon is BAMBOE... I've tried Indofood (2nd place) and Munik (too sweet for my taste). Jazz it up with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Voila!!!

anan said...

Boleh nih dicoba perkedelnya....:)

Anonymous said...

I love this..it's so beautiful Rita!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what cool and simple recipes, I've never heard of Rawon or seen anything like this. These are a must try!

Anonymous said...

besok mau bikin perkedel, bimbang nih mau digoreng atau dipanggang? :) kalo dipanggang lebih sehat :)

CECIL said...

Huh, I have always fried my perkedel and wondered if it can be baked. Now I know it works and will absolutely bake it next time. Paling males goreng2..ewwrkk...in apartment.

faza said...

nice.... jd laper nich....