Biji Salak & Bubur SumSum (Sweet Potato Ball in Palm Sugar and Rice Flour Pudding)

These desserts are made from sweet potato, palm sugar (brown sugar) and coconut milk. These are very popular in Indonesia. Many people in Indonesia eat these desserts as their breakfast. For me and family, we like to enjoy this sweet things in afternoon time.

You can eat the rice flour pudding just with the palm/brown sugar syrup or you can add with the sweet potato ball.
For the Sweet potato ball you also can simply add coconut milk and it is also come delicious with the rice pudding flour. It is just up to you !

These desserts are very easy to make, but actually in my home town city - Jakarta, you can get this popular desserts from the street vendor, but it is always good the home made one !

Making this brings my childhood memories. In my primary school I used to make this dessert for our cooking competition, and our group was won ! I will share these recipe and hope you all will attempt to make this very easy desserts for yourself, friends and family.. Enjoy!!

Ingredients :

Biji Salak (Sweet Potato Ball)
500 gram sweet potatoes
1/2 cup tapioca flour

Palm/Brown Sugar Syrup :
500 gram Palm sugar or brown sugar
200 gram Sugar
800 ml water
1 teaspoon salt
3 pandan (screwpine) leaf *additional


Directions :
1. Clean and peel the skin of the sweet potatoes.
2. Steamed sweet potatoes until done. Remove from heat and mashed.
2. Take mashed sweet potatoes in mixing bowl, mix with tapioca flour, knead until smooth.
Form the dough into small balls, about 1 cm in diameter, set aside.
3. Bring water to a boil, and drop in the sweet potato balls, cook until they float. Drain and set aside.

Syrup
Directions :
- Put the water, brown sugar, sugar, salt and pandan leaf in a stockpot and bring to boil.
- Strain and put back into stock pot.
- Put all the sweet potato balls that already cooked into this syrup.

* You can enjoy this sweet potato ball just with coconut milk or with Bubur Sumsum (Rice Flour Pudding)


Bubur Sumsum (Rice Flour Pudding)
Ingredients :

100 gram rice flour
600 ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt

Directions :

- Mix rice flour with 300 ml coconut milk . Set aside.
- Put into saucepan the rest of coconut milk (300 ml) and salt. Stirring on low medium heat and bring to boil.
- Add the rice flour liquid slowly into it and keep stirring until the rice flour thicken.
- Set aside when done.


**To Serve :
1. Scoop 2 or 3 tablespoon of Bubur Sumsum (the rice flour pudding) into serving bowl.
2. Pour the Biji Salak (Sweet Potato Ball in Palm Sugar) into the bowl.
3. Serve warm or at room temperatur.

Bolu Kukus (Steam Cake)

I categorized this cake as an old fashion cake. I knew this cake since I was a little and I like it so much. Memory of good foods always last for a long long time as my sister said. Yes, for sure !! This one is in memory in my motherboard brain. ;-D

The texture is soft, and it comes with many flavors. The basic is only vanilla flavor, but you can combine with chocolate (everybody favorite), mocha, and sometimes people use red color, yellow, green to make this cake come beautiful.

The first time I made this cake the mixture is to thick, my husband like it. He said it is real "kue kampung" which means village cake. But my families said it's not perfect yet, they want more softer. Ok then, I tried the second time with my nieces --when in one afternoon time they said they were hungry--, but the results it was not good at all.. ha-ha-ha ! Maybe because we had too much fun in our kitchen..

Today-- for the third time, after promise to my husband to make this cake again, I success to made this cake. He likes this cake so much since for the very first time. He like the green tea flavour that I made, likes to smell of the green tea and this cake is "kue kampung" like he said.. Anyway, I won his heart for made this cake !

Ingredients :

4 Pcs Egg
500 gram Sugar
4 cups Water
3 Tbs Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
600 gram All Purpose Flour (Shifted)
1 Tbs *TBM
1/2 tsp * VX -- made from composition of : sodium bicarbonate, Acid Pyrosphosphate and corn starch.

* - available in baking section at your grocery store.

Directions :

* Mix water with condensed milk and vanilla, set aside.
* Beat Eggs with high speed in mix bowl.
* Add sugar into mixture and continue to beat until well dissolved.
* Add milk into the mixture slowly.
* Add TBM and VX.
* Turn the mixer to slow speed, and add the flours to mix bowl.
* When all well combined, turn off the mixer

* Prepare the steamer , boil the water.
* Line the steam cups with baking or "Pao" paper.

* you can mix the batter into another bowl with chocolate, mocha, etc. I tried green tea and it comes really good.
* Scoop batter into steam cups about 2/3's full.
* Steam the cakes with steamer in the boiling water for 15 minutes.
(Do not open the lid until ready)

Cap Cay ( Indonesian Chinese Style - Stir Fry Vegetable)

In Chinese cuisine , vegetables are mostly stir fried or blanched. In Indonesia, you almost can find "CAP CAY" - an Indonesian Chinese style stir fry vegetable, as a common cuisine in everywhere. This food is originally come from Chinese Indonesian people.
It is very easy to make. You can cook this food with whatever vegetable you like , and whatever meat you prefer, that's why CAP CAY is become favorite in Indonesia.
It is healthy and of course it's tasty. !

I will share how to make this simple cuisine, but remember you can modify this food with the veggie and meat you like. Mine only for the example.

Ingredients :

2/3 cloves Garlic ( minced about 2 tsp)
2 Tbs Cooking oil

1 medium Carrots ( peel and thinly slice )
1/2 cup Cauliflower ( cut into 3/4 inch small )
1/2 cup Cabbage ( clean, trim and cut into 1 inch square )
1/2 cup Peas / String Bean ( cut into 1 inch length )
1 cup Bak Choy ( cut into 1 1/2 inch length )

1 Parsley ( Cut into 1 inch length )
1 Cup - Hot water or chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Choices of Meat :
- Chicken breast (Cut into thin slice )
- Lean Pork (Cut into thin slice )
- Beef or Fish Meat Ball (buy in Asian grocery)
- Prawns (small or medium) - peel

Directions
- Heat cooking oil in a large skillet or wok over medium - high heat.
- Add chopped garlic. Stirring continuously, until aromatic and the color of garlic yellowish.
- Turn into high heat.
- Add meat, and or prawn , stirring until almost cook.
- Add vegetable, start with the hardest and the leaves is the last.
- Stirring continuously and add hot water or chicken broth.
- Salt and Pepper to taste.
- Lets simmer (just for a while) until the vegetables are cook but still crunchy.
- Add Parsley for the last.
- Transfer to a serving bowl or plate and serve immediately.

Home Made Pao

It's been a long time, my mum not make a Pao. Today she asked if I want to make Pao with her. Of course I did ! It is nice to have home made Pao for snacks.

A Pao or bao/baozi (chinese dialect) is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread -like (i.e. made with yeast) item in various Chinese cuisine, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations. In its bun-like aspect it is very similar to the traditional Chinese mantou. People in some part of China, like to eat Pao then rice to company with their food.
Pao can be filled with meat or vegetarian fillings like peanut, lotus seed, mung bean, taro, etc. It can be eaten at any time in Chinese culture, and is often eaten for breakfast - when you go for dimsum in Chinese restaurant you always can find Pao.

I like the texture of Pao, it is soft and not sweet taste. For our Pao today, the fillings are peanuts, mungbean paste and sweet saute pork.




Ingredients for Pao Skin:
500 gram Low Protein Flour or Pao Flour (buy in Asian Grocery Store)
50 gram Shortening / White butter
100 gram Confectioners' Sugar
6 gram Instant Dry Yeast
1/4 tsp Salt
300 ml Warm water

Directions:
- In a large bowl, with dry clean hand, combine low protein flour with confectioners' sugar and salt.
- Add shortening and mix well.
- Add Instant dry yeast, continue to mix until well combined.
- Slowly pour in warm water and start to have fun with the dough. :-D
- Play with the dough, like you do exercise :-D
- Knead the dough, until come into a smooth and pliable, not sticky in your hands.
- Keep the dough in a warm place for a while.
( you can cover the bowl with clean cloth/ textile and place it under sunshine) or
you can put it into *warm oven - leave the dough aside to prove till double its size.
*remember no turn on the oven to hot.. - just nicely warm.

- If the dough is ready, divide the dough into a small dough (about 40-50 gram), form into ball, flatten, put the fillings inside and pinch to form Pao shape.
- Put aside to prove again before steaming

- Prepare the steamer, and boil the water.
- Wrap the lid of the steamer with cloth so the water not drop into the Pao.
- Steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove and nice to serve warm.

Fillings :

1. Peanuts
- ground peanuts and add fine sugar, mix until well combine. Shape into ball.

2. Mung Bean.
Soak mung bean into water a night before. Boil water and mung bean, add sugar, coconut milk, and a bit of rice powder. Stir until become paste.

3. Meat : Chicken or Pork
Slice meat into small cube size. Heat cooking oil, put chooped shallots and minced garlic, stir meat into it. (If you like, you can add finely chooped water chestnut).
Add sweet soy sauce (or brown sugar with warm water), oyster sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until meat is cook.

Lemon Grass Ice Tea

If you feel want something exotic with your regular ice tea, here the secret.
Simply immersed 2 or 3 pcs lemongrass to the boiling water, keep boiled the water with a small fume, until the smell of lemongrass blend in to the water.
Add sugar and your favorite tea bag or tea leaves to the water.
Enjoy this exotic tea when they warm or also very good when it is cool.