Today's menu:

[Wisnu]

Covid is over!, so we regularly invite colleagues and neighbors for an Indonesian dinner, Saturday night at home, So far it has been quite successful with the classic menu of rendang, mutton curry, chicken satay, gado-gado, fried tofu/tempe, krupuk and cendol (better with Baileys irish cream )
The first round is almost over, we will invite the same group again, but we want to serve another Indonesian menu; which isn't too weird, not too spicy, and can be easily accepted by non-Indonesians. I like gudeg, but this dish is a bit difficult for bule appetite - most of our guests are Dutch, Brit and Scandinavians.
Any feedback and suggestions are appreciated; including whether it is necessary to remove shrimp paste from dishes that require shrimp paste.
Of course, any contributors, you are welcome to join the dinner - Indonesian dishes with good selection of wines and beers. Shit coffee is available by default.

 

[jstar]

I like gudeg, but this dish is a bit difficult for bule appetite - most of our guests are Dutch, Brit and Scandinavians.

Yeah gudeg can be somewhat extreme, esp. if it has the smoky flavor, can be somewhat too strong.

If you want to do something with nangka anyway, perhaps gulai nangka would not be a bad idea? Bit of an Indonesian vegetarian curry. I will always take it in a Padang resto. But many cheat with a lot of cabbage.

Dendeng sapi is also nice and not too spicy. Rather unknown in the Indo diaspora so the Dutch probably won’t know that.

Talking about unknown and not appreciated; something I personally like a lot, is woku, esp. with tuna but you could use dori. But don’t use the fish head for the ‘soup’ since that will make an extreme fishy flavor that many people dislike.

And you have opor ayam or sayur lodeh or buncis of course, very popular in the Dutch rijsttafel.

Last but not least; bakwan jagung. Everybody likes that as appetizer.

 

[flavus]

Covid is over!, so we regularly invite colleagues and neighbors for an Indonesian dinner, Saturday night at home, So far it has been quite successful with the classic menu of rendang, mutton curry, chicken satay, gado-gado, fried tofu/tempe, krupuk and cendol (better with Baileys irish cream )
The first round is almost over, we will invite the same group again, but we want to serve another Indonesian menu; which isn't too weird, not too spicy, and can be easily accepted by non-Indonesians. I like gudeg, but this dish is a bit difficult for bule appetite - most of our guests are Dutch, Brit and Scandinavians.
Any feedback and suggestions are appreciated; including whether it is necessary to remove shrimp paste from dishes that require shrimp paste.
Of course, any contributors, you are welcome to join the dinner - Indonesian dishes with good selection of wines and beers. Shit coffee is available by default.

View attachment 3166

Oh man, mutton curry! Sadly I am the only one in the house that enjoys lamb or goat meat so I only get to have that when dining out on travels

(My wife would eat grilled lamb but only from one place that we no longer live near, somehow they managed to get rid of the distinctive lamb 'smell')

 

[Wisnu]

Yeah gudeg can be somewhat extreme, esp. if it has the smoky flavor, can be somewhat too strong.

If you want to do something with nangka anyway, perhaps gulai nangka would not be a bad idea? Bit of an Indonesian vegetarian curry. I will always take it in a Padang resto. But many cheat with a lot of cabbage.

Dendeng sapi is also nice and not too spicy. Rather unknown in the Indo diaspora so the Dutch probably won’t know that.

Talking about unknown and not appreciated; something I personally like a lot, is woku, esp. with tuna but you could use dori. But don’t use the fish head for the ‘soup’ since that will make an extreme fishy flavor that many people dislike.

And you have opor ayam or sayur lodeh or buncis of course, very popular in the Dutch rijsttafel.

Last but not least; bakwan jagung. Everybody likes that as appetizer.

View attachment 3167

Thanks, good suggestion for gulai nangka, opor ayam and bakwan jagung. Not difficult to get jackfruit here. Jagung is of course everywhere, even we have in our garden.
Fresh fish is not good here. No Tuna except canned tuna. I dont like fish, so i will not enjoy to cook it.

 

[Wisnu]

Oh man, mutton curry! Sadly I am the only one in the house that enjoys lamb or goat meat so I only get to have that when dining out on travels

(My wife would eat grilled lamb but only from one place that we no longer live near, somehow they managed to get rid of the distinctive lamb 'smell')

we dont use local lamb; which indeed smell "prengus". Instead, we use imported Italian mutton, not cheap though

 

[flavus]

we dont use local lamb; which indeed smell "prengus". Instead, we use imported Italian mutton, not cheap though

We're in the US, so the lamb is quite good - doesn't matter to my wife

 

[jstar]

When you expect lamb (domba) here since you got that promised in the menu, you will almost always get goat (kambing). The males are practically always smelly (since they’re not castrated).

 

[Wisnu]

When you expect lamb (domba) here since you got that promised in the menu, you will almost always get goat (kambing). The males are practically always smelly (since they’re not castrated).

Yes, that's what we will get if we buy from the local supermarket here. The worst thing here, they sell goat meat with skin.
Instead we bought them from the little shop in the compound of French oil company. All meat and bread are imported directly from Italy and France.

 

[flavus]

Yes, that's what we will get if we buy from the local supermarket here. The worst thing here, they sell goat meat with skin.
Instead we bought them from the little shop in the compound of French oil company. All meat and bread are imported directly from Italy and France.

Wait, Wisnu you're talking about the Netherlands right?

In Indonesia I do expect kambing to be mistranslated as lamb.

In the US I actually get excited if I can find goat meat, some South Asian restaurants sometimes have it.

 

[ilovered]

@Wisnu , Speaking of nangka, i recently made some jackfruit and tempe rendang for my Dutch relatives who are vegetarian. We have to reduce the amount of chillies we use though. It might be an option. Have you taken a look at the standard rijsttafel menu? I dont know if you have any restrictions for pork but babi panggang is always a crowd pleaser for those who are allowed to enjoy it.
As for the dessert, you can try faux es kopyor. It's very easy to make. Or es kuwud with cucumber shaving and lemon and lime syrup or just simple syrup with plenty of lime juice mixed into it.

 

[Wisnu]

@Wisnu , Speaking of nangka, i recently made some jackfruit and tempe rendang for my Dutch relatives who are vegetarian. We have to reduce the amount of chillies we use though. It might be an option. Have you taken a look at the standard rijsttafel menu? I dont know if you have any restrictions for pork but babi panggang is always a crowd pleaser for those who are allowed to enjoy it.
As for the dessert, you can try faux es kopyor. It's very easy to make. Or es kuwud with cucumber shaving and lemon and lime syrup or just simple syrup with plenty of lime juice mixed into it.

Thank you, yes rendang nangka and rendang ayam will be in the menu for tonight.

We'll have 8 guests tonight, 4 are Indians, 2 of them are vegetarian, the other 2 are Hindus, no beef.
We don't eat pork, so chicken and jackfruit rendang is good solution. I cooked the same gravy and split into two. Other menu are:
Tofu balado
Tempe green curry with basil
Urap for starter
Klepon + kembang tahu with Baileys Irish cream for dessert.
We don't reduce the amount of chillies but remove the seeds.

Yes, es kopyor-2an will be in the next menu.

 

[john madden]

Krupuk melinjo?

 

[Wisnu]

Wait, Wisnu you're talking about the Netherlands right?

In Indonesia I do expect kambing to be mistranslated as lamb.

In the US I actually get excited if I can find goat meat, some South Asian restaurants sometimes have it.

We live in Nigeria. Similar with indonesia, only goat meat are available in the local market. I don't like it, smelly, not meaty.
Luckily, we can get imported boneless mutton from a small shop in our neighbors compound.

 

[ilovered]

@Wisnu can you get tamarind there?

 

[Wisnu]

@Wisnu can you get tamarind there?

Yes, but not very good, local tamarind has big seeds. Indian tamarind is also available. We bring tamarind and asam kandis from Indonesia.
Fresh from our garden : ginger, red ginger, tumeric, galangal, aromatic ginger (kencur), lemon grass, basils (Thai, Italian, and Indonesian), Chilli peppers, curry leave, pandan, morning glory (kangkung), cassava, yam, long beans, star gooseberry, butterfly pea, and bitter melon.

 

[ilovered]

Yes, but not very good, local tamarind has big seeds. Indian tamarind is also available. We bring tamarind and asam kandis from Indonesia.
Fresh from our garden : ginger, red ginger, tumeric, galangal, aromatic ginger (kencur), lemon grass, basils (Thai, Italian, and Indonesian), Chilli peppers, curry leave, pandan, morning glory (kangkung), cassava, yam, long beans, star gooseberry, butterfly pea, and bitter melon.

If you can get tamarind, you can make gado gado for next time. Although the palm sugar (coconut sugar) might be difficult to get.

an idea: lontong cap go meh. You can find recipes to make the rice cake without banana leaves and this can easily be turned into completely vegetarian menu option as the opor can be made with tofu instead of chicken, sambel goreng kentang instead ati (beef liver), and you can simply omit the telur pindang. One important item though: powdered soybean (kedelai bubuk) that might be tricky to get. but if you can get tofu or tempe, you can easily get the whole soy bean and process it yourself.

 

[Wisnu]

If you can get tamarind, you can make gado gado for next time. Although the palm sugar (coconut sugar) might be difficult to get.

an idea: lontong cap go meh. You can find recipes to make the rice cake without banana leaves and this can easily be turned into completely vegetarian menu option as the opor can be made with tofu instead of chicken, sambel goreng kentang instead ati (beef liver), and you can simply omit the telur pindang. One important item though: powdered soybean (kedelai bubuk) that might be tricky to get. but if you can get tofu or tempe, you can easily get the whole soy bean and process it yourself.

No wahala with Tamarind and other ingredients. My wife more frequently travels to Indonesia and bring along lot of stuff including indomie although Nigeria is the second largest Indomie producer in the world.
Powdered soybean, mung bean, black grass jelly and palm sugar are always in stock at least for few months. Krupuk udang Ny. Siok too.
We planting various types of spices and plants commonly needed for Indonesian cuisine. Banana leaves and cassava leaves are available all the time from our garden. We make tempeh, tofu and bean sprout ourselves; always fresh from our kitchen.
Gado-gado and urap is typical starter in our menus.
Thanks for suggestion - Lontong cap Go Meh would be in our next Saturday menus.

 

[flavus]

lthough Nigeria is the second largest Indomie producer in the world

Now I'm curious where the other producers are! The ones we get in the US are sometimes from the Malaysian factory, if I recall

 

[serious_fun]

Fresh from our garden : ginger, red ginger, tumeric, galangal, aromatic ginger (kencur), lemon grass, basils (Thai, Italian, and Indonesian), Chilli peppers, curry leave, pandan, morning glory (kangkung), cassava, yam, long beans, star gooseberry, butterfly pea, and bitter melon.

Your garden sounds wonderful!

 

[jstar]

Now I'm curious where the other producers are! The ones we get in the US are sometimes from the Malaysian factory, if I recall

Quite many, Indofood has 16 of these factories. E.g. in Saudi Arabia (3), Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Serbia.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they also make Sarimi and Supermi there, since they belong to the same group.