Food blogs - Indonesian cooking

LSthlm

Hi All, I'm seeking your best tips for food blogs explaining Indonesian food - and providing all the great recipes. I.e. how to immerse oneself into Indonesian food. Any and all tips will be greatly appreciated.

Balifrog

Great Indonesian recipes ? LOL.....

Foamcrest

It’s just all the same no wherever you go. The fish is tough and chewy, rice is rice no matter how they try and jazz it up, don’t even think about meat unless it’s chicken and that’s usually a quest to spot the piece chicken. We have just returned from Vietnam and Cambodia which of course is foodies wonderland. Ah well Agus makes the best Omelettes in Bali so I’ll stick with that.

Balifrog

The only times I enter a local warung it's to buy fried fish and rice for my cats. When I see the rice.... Worst thing is seeing some bule eating the stuff in the window, and in order to show that they are "integrated" they eat with their hands ... I have lived in South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, HKG...the food is great there. Lucky the supermarkets here carry all the stuff necessary to cook "real food" !

Markit

They have exactly the same fresh ingredients as many superlative dining meccas - Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka but manage to feck it up completely. And when you mention to locals they could actually spice their grub differently than every other cook in the country they are completely mystified as to your meaning. Don't get me started on the "Left Overs" Muslim warungs where that stuff has been sitting in the window until even the flys don't want it.

Markit

Shadrach wrote Good on ya Mate! My friend had never tried Tomato juice. While I was making a Bloody Mary, he asked for a taste. He was blown away, and said he liked it. I will try your approach of offering a spoonful to see their reaction. Once My friend in Padang Bai saw me using some capers. I gave him one to try, and he almost died! He couldn't believe, I could like something fermented! Oh well, I thought it was funny to see his reaction!

that's cause there's nothing sour in their cuisine - no pickles, sauer kraut, lemonade, vinegar on salad, nothing.

Markit

Indonesian "cooking" is as disappointing as Thai cooking is exciting, sadly. I gave up eating out a long time ago here because the food is so unimaginative and poorly spiced. I don't mean bland, but badly spiced - their use of garlic, bay leaves, galungal, rancid coconut oil, ginger and masses of chilis to season is revolting and I can't even stand the smell anymore. Their signature meal that they fought for naming rights too Rendang is just a way to keep bad beef from getting worse and killing any taste it might have retained after sitting in the hot sun for a week or two. Bon appetite, you can have my share of nasi goreng too - just a way to use leftover old rice - hell, even the rice is awful here - all broken bits and gummy as cow shit. To make it even worse they don't ever add salt so bleh!

Shadrach

I find it humorous, that everything here is cook to the point of no return! I don't ever ask for a fried egg, because it will come cooked so hard, it could be used as building material. For my safety, I have narrowed it down to, soft boiled eggs, toast, oatmeal, mixed fruit, and chicken soup! Anything they bring me as local food is cooked to death. Where are the vegetables? And what is this horrible sticky goo, called Kecap Manis? I asked a cook, if she had ever heard of Kecap Asin, ( soy sauce) and she had not! A sauce for spaghetti is ketchup, with chilis! If something is fried, it is fried in an Ocean of palm oil, where when you get the food, it is swimming in a pool of oil! So, I say sadly, why didn't the delicious cooking from the North, and India come here on the Spice Trade?

Shadrach

Markit wrote They have exactly the same fresh ingredients as many superlative dining meccas - Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka but manage to feck it up completely. And when you mention to locals they could actually spice their grub differently than every other cook in the country they are completely mystified as to your meaning. Don't get me started on the "Left Overs" Muslim warungs where that stuff has been sitting in the window until even the flys don't want it.

I agree %100. I am always baffled at the one mind mentality of living with people that all think, cook, act, pollute, all the same! Often I ask if they like something new to them like, real cheese, green tea, palm sugar, olive oil, seaweed, olives, soy sauce, etc. and they tell me they don't like it! Then I ask, have they tried it and they no, so I say, if you haven't tried it, how do you know you don't like it. I get that blank look also!

Markit

Up front, I love to cook and I love eating even more. I cooked for the fam back in Europe and the US so it aint a stretch to carry on doing it here, which I do with passion and hunger - when I can find the ingredients. My staff (had for 15 years) started off saying "no, thanks" to my offers to try Bule grub and when asked they "didn't like xxxxxx (whatever it was)" as mentioned above. So I started out with small tastes from a spoon and just like small children (that we all are really) they got more and more interested in a culinary world outside their own. Now when I'm cooking I get those meaningful side-long glances and comments like "smells good" and "what you cooking". Fact is they now eat everything and even bring my grub home to share with their fam at home.

Shadrach

Markit wrote that's cause there's nothing sour in their cuisine - no pickles, sauer kraut, lemonade, vinegar on salad, nothing.

That's too bad. Because Kimchi, and Sauerkraut are delicious and good for your stomach! And cabbage is easy to grow, and abundant. Plus they don't need refrigeration. Also I love good cheese, yoghurt, keifer, but the only cheese here, is the horrible yellow goo that comes in a squeeze tube! And the only milk, or cream comes in a can with so much sugar, it is like glue. I wish they would use more coconut milk and cream, like Thailand, with their delicious curries!

Markit

For all you mozzarella friends I would heartily recommend you look at how soooo easy it is to make it yourself. Go to Fb market place and search for susu. You will see it's advertised all over but the easiest is Valenta. It's frozen ltrs. of Malang whole, raw milk. It's actually very good. Go online and look up recipes how easy Moz is to make and get stuck in. Took my an hour to turn a gallone/4ltrs of good milk into about a half a kg of excellent mozzarella cheese. And the best thing is the raw milk costs about 14k/ltr and they deliver all over dps.

LSthlm

LSthlm wrote Hi All, I'm seeking your best tips for food blogs explaining Indonesian food - and providing all the great recipes. I.e. how to immerse oneself into Indonesian food. Any and all tips will be greatly appreciated.

Hmm... lot's of opinions... but no cooking blogs :D

Markit

LSthlm wrote Hmm... lot's of opinions... but no cooking blogs :D

start one?

Shadrach

Markit wrote Up front, I love to cook and I love eating even more. I cooked for the fam back in Europe and the US so it aint a stretch to carry on doing it here, which I do with passion and hunger - when I can find the ingredients. My staff (had for 15 years) started off saying "no, thanks" to my offers to try Bule grub and when asked they "didn't like xxxxxx (whatever it was)" as mentioned above. So I started out with small tastes from a spoon and just like small children (that we all are really) they got more and more interested in a culinary world outside their own. Now when I'm cooking I get those meaningful side-long glances and comments like "smells good" and "what you cooking". Fact is they now eat everything and even bring my grub home to share with their fam at home.

Good on ya Mate! My friend had never tried Tomato juice. While I was making a Bloody Mary, he asked for a taste. He was blown away, and said he liked it. I will try your approach of offering a spoonful to see their reaction. Once My friend in Padang Bai saw me using some capers. I gave him one to try, and he almost died! He couldn't believe, I could like something fermented! Oh well, I thought it was funny to see his reaction!

harryopal1

Shadrach wrote That's too bad. Because Kimchi, and Sauerkraut are delicious and good for your stomach! And cabbage is easy to grow, and abundant. Plus they don't need refrigeration. Also I love good cheese, yoghurt, keifer, but the only cheese here, is the horrible yellow goo that comes in a squeeze tube! And the only milk, or cream comes in a can with so much sugar, it is like glue. I wish they would use more coconut milk and cream, like Thailand, with their delicious curries!

Any of the large supermarkets like Grand Lucky or large Pepito sell a good variety of cheeses. Expensive but the Green Valley mozarella is about 230,000Rph for 2 kilos.

Shadrach

harryopal1 wrote Any of the large supermarkets like Grand Lucky or large Pepito sell a good variety of cheeses. Expensive but the Green Valley mozarella is about 230,000Rph for 2 kilos.

Thanks Harry. I went the Grand Lucky, 2 weeks ago. I was blown away how much inventory they had. I stocked up on lots of supplies for a long while. I saw the delicious looking steaks, and cheeses, but was amazed how expensive they were! I can't afford to spend 1,000,000RP, on one steak, or a piece of nice cheese. Someone is making a fortune asking these insane prices. Australia is not that far away in these modern times. I did buy some nice steak and cheese, but more to my budget. Two days ago I went to the Bintang supermarket in Ubud, and bought a lot of goods there. They have a good variety of foods also. The traffic was unbelievably horrible. Way too many online taxis, and Grab, and Gojek drivers too. It took 1 hour to go down main street. I saw this coming 30 years ago, but didn't think of so many SUV's. Back then, it was just Bemo's and Jimny's. But as it seems everyone had 2or 3 kids, that are now grown up, and they all have motorbikes or cars. Now they are going to have the same amount of kids, and the cycle continues. Most of the tourists there were walking. It's hard to recognize the Ubud of Old. But as you said, due to the influx of tourists, the supermarkets have improved their inventory greatly. The driver's now are getting more and more expensive, so that limits how many times I can go shopping. 2 kilo's of cheese is far to much for me.

harryopal1

Shadrach wrote T Thanks Harry. I went the Grand Lucky, 2 weeks ago. I was blown away how much inventory they had. I stocked up on lots of supplies for a long while. I saw the delicious looking steaks, and cheeses, but was amazed how expensive they were! I can't afford to spend 1,000,000RP, on one steak, or a piece of nice cheese. Someone is making a fortune asking these insane prices. Australia is not that far away in these modern times. I did buy some nice steak and cheese, but more to my budget. Two days ago I went to the Bintang supermarket in Ubud, and bought a lot of goods there. They have a good variety of foods also. The traffic was unbelievably horrible. Way too many online taxis, and Grab, and Gojek drivers too. It took 1 hour to go down main street. I saw this coming 30 years ago, but didn't think of so many SUV's. Back then, it was just Bemo's and Jimny's. But as it seems everyone had 2or 3 kids, that are now grown up, and they all have motorbikes or cars. Now they are going to have the same amount of kids, and the cycle continues. Most of the tourists there were walking. It's hard to recognize the Ubud of Old. But as you said, due to the influx of tourists, the supermarkets have improved their inventory greatly. The driver's now are getting more and more expensive, so that limits how many times I can go shopping. 2 kilo's of cheese is far to much for me.

If you have a fridge the mozarella keeps well. The important thing is not to put your hands on the main block as this will soon result in bacteria and mould. I cut the top of the plastic around the cheese and peel back enough to be able to cut off an inch or so across the block and then put this in a separate small plastic bag for day to day use. And again being careful to hold the cheese with the plastic bag and not touch it with my fingers. The main block completely covered will store in a fridge for quite a long time. Two kilos of Green Valley Mozarella for Rph 230,000 is economical. But then if the shop has a special cheese area you can get them to cut 100 or 200 grams and you are not paying extra. I used to buy the smaller packets and then watched as the shop attendant carefully put on a plastic glove. He used the gloved hand to cut with the knife and the bare hand to handle the naked cheese. [ATTACH type="full" alt="1721475651255.png"]4126[/ATTACH]