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Nothing I love more than a get together than involves...ehm, food.
Especially some food that has a special sentimental value to us.
Oh, my hormones are making me extra sappy and romantic these days~
That's right. Blame it all on the hormones.
So, last Friday, after having been craving this dish for a while...my friend Ieie and I decided to brave the lack of instant seasoning pack and make the dish we went through our college days with...from scratch. Gasp!
Making anything from scratch might be nothing special for most people. But for Ieie and I, instant seasoning princesses, it calls for a celebration.
Soto Betawi
Recipe
adapted from here
Beef stock
- 1 lb beef (I used brisket, you can use other parts of beef with some offals)
- 1 galangal, crushed
- 1 stalk lemongrass, crushed
- 3 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves)
- water
Boil beef with galangal, lemongrass and salam leaves until tender. I used a pressure cooker, so this only took 30 minutes, if you are not using pressure cooker, bring to boil and simmer for at least 1.5 hours. Since I wanted to get rid of the fat from the brisket, I prepared this one night ahead, cool it down and keep it in the fridge. The next day, the fat has hardened and I could take it out easily. If you are using leaner meat, you can skip the fat removing process.
If you don't eat beef, replace it with other kinds of meat. Next time, I will add some bone-in chicken pieces too, to give the soup some glorious golden tinge.
Spices
- 5 shallot
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 cm ginger
- 1 tbsp ground corriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- white pepper, salt, olive oil
I threw everything into my food processor and pulsed until it forms a fine paste. In Indonesia, we normally use mortar and pestle.
Soup
- 400ml coconut milk
To finish the soup, bring beef and stock to boil, add spices, and add coconut milk. Adjust seasonings and spices according to your taste. The soup is done.
Other Ingredients
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 8-12 sections each
- 2 tomatoes, sliced into 8-12 sections each
I pan fried the potato slices on a non stick pan with minimal amount of olive oil (only about 1 tbsp), pan fry slowly on medium heat until softened, crank up the heat afterwards to brown the surface. Alternatively, you can soften the potatoes by baking or microwaving them.
The tomatoes do not need to be cooked.
Garnish
- spring onion, thinly sliced
- crispy shallot
- red chillies, sliced thinly
- Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- emping (belinjo crackers) or prawn crackers (optional)
- lime (quartered)
To serve, place potatoes and tomatoes in a bowl, scoop some beef, pour soup over it, sprinkle some crackers, crispy shallot and spring onion. Serve with kecap manis, chilli and lime slices on the side as condiments.
Yummy with steamed rice ^_^
I am crap at food styling. But although the above pictures were crappily styled, the way we devoured it was even worse...
We devoured the soto with a mountain of Indonesian crackers.
It did send us back to our young, cute, but far-from-innocent college days :D
Ah, nostalgia~
OMG!
Remember my #1 guilty pleasure, Indomie Goreng?
Finally. Nongshim made a dry version of their kimchi instant noodles, which is my #1 favorite instant noodle soup.
PS. In case you're wondering, nobody's holding me at gun point or paying me to write this. I am really just a truly Indomie Goreng and Nongshim noodles fanatic :D
If you love Nongshim noodles and you saw this package...
...grab it.
Actually, I didn't get to try this noodle, due to my current extreme aversion to strong flavors, such as garlic. SC gave it a try, and while he was inhaling the bowl, I could smell all the things I didn't wanna smell (one of them = garlic), from a meter away.
I strongly suggest NOT to eat this before or during dates.
Unless you plan to always stand at least 3m away from your date (restraining order?), or your date has a chronic sinusitis/fully blocked nose.
I added a couple of pork dumplings and freshly chopped corriander because...when it comes to noodles, I don't do plain.
Take a look at this chewy, springy, tasty goodness...
...I can't wait to give it a go.
Meanwhile, you'd have to trust SC on this one.
His verdict?
The empty bowl says it all.
He even said that this could be a strong competition to my favorite Indomie Goreng.
Whatttt???!!! The little nationalist girl inside me screamed "Nooooo...."
Another reason why I love Hong Kong.
I don't live in the city, city. I live in the new territories.
New territories of Hong Kong?
Well, in my hood, don't expect a cow to cross the road any time soon. Do expect super speedy internet connection and people playing with their ultra modern gadgets everywhere :D
New territories and all, there's really no reason for me to worry about getting hungry/being out of toilet paper or toothpaste or shampoo/craving ice cream/wanting to get drunk/needing disposable underwear/suddenly wanting to get a mini induction cooker or hair curler/feeling an uncontrollable urge to own hello kitty related products in the middle of the night.
Thank God for convenience stores.
So, one midnight, when SC and I were feeling naughty...we went down to 7-11 to get some...
snacks :D
I love to start anything naughty with something savoury...
This bowl of microwaveable fish siu mai was a perfect start for the night. Not as yummy as the steamed ones, but good enough for hungry tummies.
Still within the yellow food group...
A few seconds in the microwave...
...and you get this pretty little thing.
It looked pretty, but it's way way way too sweet for my taste, with a super strong (probably chemically made?) milk scent.
Moving on to a different color zone...
...we could barely contain our excitement!
Did it taste as good as it sounds?
We love it. For something that's out of a microwave, in a plastic packaging, less than HK$20, in the middle of the night...it's lovely. We fought for most of the sweet chocolatey liquid in the middle.
Of course I won.
These days, I'm the queen of the house, baby.
Smiling fish canned fried mackarels in chilli sauce.
They remind me of my young college days...when we stayed in a all (hot) girls dorm (cough cough), and we're only allowed very minimum cooking, this was one of our staples along with endless supply of instant noodles.
The fish chunks taste amaaaazing simply heated and eaten with steamed rice...taste especially yummier when we were hungry and budget was extremely limited (one too many trips to the mall, which led to too many cute outfits, no more money for food and it's the end of the month).
My canned food and I, we're good friends.
I wonder if it would work for a quick and easy Asian inspired pasta dinner.
Recipe
(for two)
- pasta of your choice (I like fusili)
- 2 cans of fried mackarels in chilli sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 cloves of shallot, sliced thinly
- 1 cm ginger, crushed
- a bit of lemon juice
- freshly chopped corriander
- light soy sauce, fish sauce, olive oil
Cook pasta according to instructions on the packet. Open the cans of mackarels, break down the fish meat into bite sized chunks (I removed the soft larger bones from the middle of the fish), reserve the chilli sauce. Saute garlic, shallot and ginger in a bit of olive oil until fragrant, add fish chunks, add the chilli sauce (please add bit by bit as you taste as it might be too hot) from the can, heat through, add light soy and fish sauce to balance the sweetness of the chilli sauce. Drain pasta and add to the fish, mix well, taste and adjust flavors if necessary, squeeze some lemon juice and garnish with freshly chopped corriander.
Hot, spicy, sweet, sour, savory, satisfying...and reminds me of my young golden days ;p
Sharing this with the folks at Presto Pasta Nights (oh gosh, it's been a while), created by Ruth, hosted this week by Daphne of More Than Words.
I did something crazy last weekend.
How crazy, exactly?
I went to Hong Kong International Airport.
How is that crazy? Going to the airport is pretty...normal.
Yes, if you're going for a trip.
Yes, if you're sending someone away.
Yes, if you're picking someone up.
I wasn't gonna do any of the above.
I went through the long train ride (mind you, more than 30 minutes on the train = long by Hong Kong standard) plus another bus ride to the airport, glaring at people with luggages going for their holidays, turning green with envy...
...just to have lunch at Popeye's Fried Chicken.
:S
SC couldn't believe I was doing this when he found out.
Sometimes it is good that he didn't pay attention to what I say most of the time :D
Lalala~
What did I have?
The fried chicken. Super crispy skin with tender and juicy meat.
SC and I still love KFC's chicken better, but I was there for the "accessories".
The batter fried shrimps with tartar sauce. Crispy batter, succulent shrimp meat.
I was there mainly for these Cajun Fries. Tasty, tasty, tasty! Perfect with lots of ketchup and sweet chilli sauce.
...and I was there for this flaky and super buttery buttermilk biscuit, topped with honey.
YUM!
Finally, I had one of my cravings satisfied ^_^
If you happen to be in Hong Kong International Airport, or if you're as crazy as me...go for it.
If you have Popeye's Chicken in town, I am jealous >.<
Popeye's Chicken
Hong Kong International Airport
Passenger Terminal One - Departure
(there's one outlet before immigration and another after immigration)
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