Tag Archives: kecap manis

Nasi Goreng, Testing Steenbergs Spice Blend – (Awesome)

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WP_20150606_17_56_50_ProAs you will notice I tend not to use spice blends or ready made sauces in my cooking, there are a few exceptions such as رأس الحانوت (Ras el Hanout), which is a North African version of Garam Masala as used in Indian cuisine, and the recent use of the award winning Mums Masala Sauce which was very good and well worth the venture.

Before my recent break abroad, I received a parcel in the post from the lovely people at Steenbergs. I have had the pleasure of meeting Sophie and Axel the owners, and toured their premises as part of a review a while back, so some sample testers with the opportunity to provide feedback was an offer I could not resist. My first ‘test’ is a Spice blend for Nasi Goreng, a mix of 8 spices which were nestling in the jar below (obviously the picture is after the cooking!!).

WP_20150607_11_29_09_ProYou may recall a Delia Smith series when she ‘cheated’ making some typical dishes but using some shortcuts to reduce the time in the kitchen, well this is my version of ‘Cheats’ Nasi Goreng, otherwise known as Indonesian Fried Rice.

The shortcuts make use of pre-prepared rice (I used Basmati), some Fried Onions I had picked up at my oriental supermarket earlier in the week, (they were an epiphany and I think I will be using them more often), and the Nasi Goreng Spice mix.

Having done some research on Nasi Goreng there were some other ingredients I would need to use in order to add some authenticity, (I am not saying the spice blend was not authentic, far from it), but traditional Nasi Goreng contains at least one more key ingredient, Kecap Manis (Indonesian Soy Sauce).

WP_20150607_10_52_32_ProKecap Manis has the addition of Palm Sugar, and has been featured before on my blog, in dishes such as Babi Kecap. It is thick and gloopy and was the only other ingredient that would be cooked with the Rice and Spices, well expect for some spring onions, cut at an angle!!

So for this dish, for two hungry people you will need.

  • 2 Packets Pre-prepared Rice
  • 1 Large Chicken Breast (or any other protein you fancy) cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 Lemon Grass Stalk
  • 2 Inches Galangal
  • 2 Cloves garlic
  • 10 grms Steenbergs Nasi Goreng Spice Blend
  • 6 Birds Eye Chilli’s (seeds removed and chopped very finely)
  • 1 Bunch Coriander (Chopped Finely)
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 small cup (approx.) Crispy Fried Onions
  • 3 Spring Onions, cut at an angle
  • 1 Lime (used as a condiment in the finished dish)
  • 2 Tbls (approx.) Kecap Manis
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

WP_20150606_19_31_59_ProThe Chicken needs marinading in the Galangal, Garlic and 1/2 the Birds Eye Chilli (3), and the Lemongrass, chop everything as small as you can and add along with 1/4 of the Kecap manis, stir and put aside whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

WP_20150606_19_42_35_ProNasi Goreng usually (always), has an Egg component. Rick Stein added a Fried Egg to his version of the dish, I was going to adopt a different approach and make a ‘Coriander’ Omelette, with some Birds Eye Chilli’s to add some spice.

Take your 2 Eggs and whisk, adding a really good hand full (check the picture above, you want lots), of chopped Coriander, add Salt to Season and the remainder of finely chopped birds eye Chilli’s (3). So the result was not too greasy, I put some oil in to a frying pan, and then wiped it with kitchen paper just to leave a thin layer. Use a medium heat as you don’t want to overcook the Omelette, flip and then cut into small squares about 1 c.m. as you can see in the picture above, next to the Spring Onions with the Nasi Goreng mix looking impatient!!

WP_20150606_19_53_13_ProIn order to ‘taste test’ the Steenbergs spice blend I needed to separate the cooking stages, the marinated Chicken cooked in one pan, whilst the impatient Spice Blend got added to the Basmati Rice, with the Spring Onion (another texture component), the Chicken should be cooked in 2 – 3 minutes, whilst the Rice is getting its treat in the other pan.

WP_20150606_19_54_22_ProAdd the remaining Kecap Manis to the Rice and mix well, remember we want to preserve as best we can, the different flavours elements to get the most out of this dish.

Halfway through cooking the Chicken I used an Egg Slice to half the Chicken pieces, giving them a final 30 seconds to 1 minute to finish. You don’t want to overdo this stage, the Chicken should be soft and moist, not dry and chewy.

There are some further garnishes you can add to the finished dish, Sliced Cucumber, and the same of Tomato. I had some speciality ‘Kumato‘ variety from the Isle Of Wight, and some Organic from Riverford, use the best you can get as it adds even more interest to this flavourful medley.

WP_20150606_19_57_05_ProAlmost done now, this dish is actually very quick to put together.

The cooked Chicken is added to the Rice at the last minute, the Coriander Omelette added, and everything ‘gently’ combined, you don’t want to mix the flavours together, the Chicken will have some spice and pungency, the Rice, flavoured with the spice blend and Kecap Manis will have its own flavour profile. The Omelette adding its own to the dish, with more hits of Chilli and the fragrant Coriander.

WP_20150606_20_02_50_ProWhen plating up, you can arrange the Cucumber Overlaying the Tomato (or Vice Versa!), the Kumato variety are the darker slices, then sprinkle the fried crispy Onion over the top and add a wedge of Lime to season as you like.

So, my verdict on the Nasi Goreng spice blend provided by Steenbergs, absolutely amazing. As with their Ras el Hanout which I use lots of, each component is blended separately so not only do you get taste and flavour, you get texture as well.

As I said from the outset, I am not a fan of spice blends but this one WILL be added to my next Steenbergs order. The speed at which the Nasi Goreng was produced, along with the really lovely flavour which resulted is well worth the investment.

If you want to try some and have a go at the recipe above then look HERE

Thanks to Sophie and Axel for the sample, now onto the Organic Lemon Oil.

Until next time…………………L8ers

Malay Meets China, Assam Heh & Nasi Lemak

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WP_20150201_17_07_35_ProThe urge for something tasty, I ended up driving to our local Oriental Supermarket and sought out some appropriate ingredients, such as Pandan Leaves (also known as screwpine), Thai Birds Eye Chilli’s, and some massive Prawns, the dish is called Assam Heh, or Nyonya Prawns!

This tasty number gets it roots from a mix of two cultures, China and Malay who merged through the 15-17th Centuries.  The cuisine is often referred too using the term Nyonya, which apparently means ‘women’.

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The Prawns need marinading in a mixture as follows;

  1. 3 Tbsp Tamarind Concentrate
  2. 1 Tbsp Kecap Manis
  3. 1 Tsp Palm Sugar
  4. 1 Tsp Sea Salt
  5. 1 Tsp Muntok White Pepper

I had removed the shell of the Prawns but left the head on, removing the long tentacles and legs to neaten them up. Marinade for a least 1 1/2 hours in the fridge to let the Prawns soak up the flavours.

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After marinading, the Prawns just need to be fried on both sides, on a really high heat with a good glug of the marinade to cover them and make them sticky and yummy!

The accompaniment for this treat is Nasi Lemak, a Rice dish cooked in Coconut Milk and Pandan Leaves, which is served with a Boiled Egg per person, some Cucumber, some roasted Peanuts and a couple of Sambal’s or relishes, to add more intense heat and flavour.

WP_20150201_19_13_44_ProI had some Jasmine Rice in the cupboard, and just followed the instructions on the packet, substituting Coconut Milk for Water, and adding 3 Pandan Leaves to the pot, you can see them above nestling away!

WP_20150201_20_02_50_ProThe other elements were in part, a cheat. I had some Sambal Oelek (you CAN find it in supermarkets) and bought some Sambal Ikan Bilis (which has anchovies in it), boiled a couple of Eggs, roasted some Peanuts, and scooped out the centre of 1/2 a cucumber after running a peeler along the outside 4 times leaving a gap between each to create a light and dark green pattern, you can see it in the finished dish.

The only critical thing to watch is timing, making sure the cooking of the rice is timed to the cooking of the Prawns. The dish is quite straightforward but absolutely delicious to eat, if you don’t have the confidence to try some of the more challenging dishes on my blog, this one is easy, you can google the Sambal names and  find recipes to make your own if you have the time.

WP_20150201_20_04_31_ProThe finished dish presents very well, I finely chopped a Thai Birds Eye Chilli and scattered on top of the Rice, which was moulded in a small round souffle dish before turning onto the plate

That’s it for this time, next is a quick Breton sweet dish that is really delicious to eat and a couple of restaurant reviews.

Till next time……………L8ers………..

Celebrating 25 Years, Pain D’Épice, Babi kecap & Foie Gras

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WP_20140824_13_22_45_Pro25 Years ago today I got married to a wonderful lady, 25 years later I am proud to say we are still together and everything is fantastic. We had planned a few days on the south coast, but cancelled at the last minute when we saw the weather forecast!! Instead, we have booked a trip to Tunisia in October, where I celebrated by 21st birthday MANY years ago!

My better half has recently had an operation and is still suffering with back pains so when I offered to book a nice place to eat, the answer I got was ‘please can YOU cook me something nice, I would prefer it’! Its a double celebration this week as it’s her birthday so I sat surrounded with cookbooks and my trusty Mac, and scoured for something nice to prepare.

WP_20140824_15_55_31_ProDavid Lebovitz is well known in the food blogging world, an accomplished Chef and writer, I recently got hold of his latest book, My Paris Kitchen. Its a brilliant piece of work and contains some really good recipes, two of which caught my eye.

As previously blogged, I spent a week in Gascony earlier this year and learned some new skills and recipes. One was preparing Foie Gras using something called Pain D’Épice, a spicy bread like cake and very tasty. The one we used was purchased, I had found a recipe to make it myself  In David’s book, you can see the end result above.

The reason I picked this was that it is also a component of Carbonnade Flamande, a delicious Beef dish from Belgium which I am cooking on our anniversary today, I will be posting the results later this week. You may wonder why I picked a dish that does not seem s0 special, a beef stew! Well our son Justin was conceived in Brussels on my 40th Birthday, and so the trip holds MANY fond memories for both of us including trying my first Carbonnade Flamande.

The big Red bag of Spice above is something quite special, Piment d’Espelette. It has AOC status, the origins of AOC date to the year 1411, when Roquefort was regulated by a parliamentary decree. In practise this means its production, marketing and sales are tightly controlled. You CAN get it mail order from ‘The Spicery”, I ordered it Friday last week and it arrived Saturday!!!!

Piment d’Espelette is a component of preparing a particular style of Foie Gras, hence my purchase. i also plan to experiment with some Basque cooking, I have just ordered a new cookery book which focusses on this particular cuisine, more on that later.

WP_20140824_17_55_48_ProSo for the Birthday treat I turned to Rick Steins Far Eastern Odyssey and Babi Kecap, you can see the ingredients above, along with those for Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad), which I have described before. Both were to be served with Coconut Rice to balance and join the flavours and textures.

WP_20140824_13_48_46_ProTo Start Babi kecap you need an ‘Asian Chicken Broth’, essentially a spiced Chicken Stock. Mine was made with a whole Organic Chicken, the flavour enhancers included Star Anise, Spring Onions, loads of Garlic and Galangal and Red Kampot Pepper from Cambodia, (I had recently re-stocked my spice cupboard using Steenbergs mail order and added this to the list as something new to try). You can find the recipe at the back for Rick Steins book, its needs bringing to the boil, skimming to remove the sludge and gently simmering for 1 1/2 hours, job done!

The next stage is to fry loads of shallots until golden brown, then add more Garlic and Ginger, some pork shoulder and colour. Then add the stock and all the other ingredients including the Kecap Manis, a sweet Soy Sauce from Indonesia. After 1 1/2 hours I removed the meat to a warm covered dish, sieved the remaining sauce and hard reduced until shiny, sticky and unctuous!

WP_20140824_20_25_57_ProServed with the Som Tum salad and Coconut Rice it was absolutely stunning, well worth the effort in finding the Sweet Soy Sauce which is available mail order, (just google the name) or, from Asian Supermarkets. I got mine from See Woo in Reading who seem to have all the unusual and difficult to get ingredients including Fresh Turmeric and Green Papaya.

The missus had a great birthday, some food cooked with love, and very tasty too. Watch out for the followup later this week as I have more cooking to do.

Until next time…. L8ers……