A Kick in the Mouth

When I got the idea for the title of this post ‘A Kick in the Mouth’ I was not aware at all that that it was the title of the eight single by Surrey-based-rock-band Reuben released in June 2005.


As a researcher, I have the habit of conducting ‘little research’ on whatever topic comes to my mind. When I googled ‘A kick in the mouth’, I found out about Reuben. But this post has nothing to do with Reuben whatsoever.

I am still very much consistent with the theme of my blog on cooking, recipes and foods. The title of this post is simply refecting the dish I am writing about.

Through this post I would like to invite all my readers whereever you are to ‘visit my dangerously beautiful country’ Indonesia and try one of the dangerously delicious dishes’.

When you travel around the Indonesian archipelago which consist of more than 17,000 islands, each island, or in some cases towns, have their own special dish that sets them aside from the others.

One of the many interesting islands in Indonesia is Lombok island. Proximity to Bali is Lombok’s blessing, and its curse. While only 25 miles separate the two islands, they are in fact worlds apart.

Indeed, overzealous tourism officials notwithstanding, Lombok is not “an unspoiled Bali,” or “Bali’s sister island.” Lombok is not Bali at all, and that is precisely its charm. Lombok means “chili,” and the cuisine definitely had a kick.

Lombok’s people are 85% Sasak, culturally and linguistically closely related to the Balinese, but unlike Bali’s Hindu they are Muslims. A notable non-orthodox Islamic group found only on Lombok are the Wektu Telu (“Three Prayers”), who as the name suggests pray only three times daily, instead of the five times required in the Quran.

The most-developed center of tourism is Senggigi spread in a 30-kilometer strip along the coastal road north of Mataram, while backpackers congregate in the Gili islands off the west coast.

Other popular tourist destinations include Kuta (distinctly different from Kuta, Bali) where surfing is considered some of the best in the world by leading surfing magazines. The Kuta area is also famous for its beautiful, untouched beaches.

A tour to Lombok, will not be complete without tasting the local Taliwang Chicken or Ayam Taliwang — to explore the mystery of its flavor. This typical Lombok dish is a favorite among both locals and visitors to the island. In Mataram, the provincial capital, it can be found at various eateries from sidewalk food stalls to restaurants in star-rated hotels.

At first glance, Taliwang Chicken looks almost like the common grilled or fried chicken, simply covered with a spicy relish. Only after tasting it can we discern the difference.

The meat is well done and very soft in texture. Both hot and spicy, it has the aroma of terasi (shrimp paste), which prompts us to savor every mouthful. It tastes hot and deeply piquant – it really gives you ‘A Kick in the Mouth’

The name Taliwang Chicken is derived from Karang Taliwang, a subdistrict in Mataram where the recipe for this regional specialty has its roots. The late H. Abdul Hamid is recognized for creating the Ayam Taliwang recipe in 1970. The ingredients for this chicken are only chili, garlic and terasi, but the method of preparation and the proportions of these condiments are different.

As to the mystery of Taliwang Chicken’s delectable flavor, this concerned the choice of meat as well as the cooking process. One restaurant only uses three-month-old free-range chickens, because the meat becomes tough if the chicken is older and “breaks” if it is younger. After the fowl is cleaned and grilled until it is half done, the meat is tenderized with a pestle and dipped into hot cooking oil for several seconds. It is immersed into the spicy sauce before it is grilled or fried until well done.

Ayam Taliwang carries the unique flavor of Lombok, so people from other regions come here to try Lombok’s specialty. They will also get an impression of the place.

Taliwang Chicken is even more appetizing when accompanied with local side dishes such as plecing kangkung (water spinach with tomato-chili relish, bean sprout, shreded coconut and fried peanut). Priced at Rp 15,000-25,000 (around US $ 1.5 -2.5) for a full portion. Ayam Taliwang can be found in nearly all eateries in Mataram.

This is the recipe of Ayam Taliwang I found from one of tourism websites:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, butterflied and flattened
• 100 ml vegetables oil
• 1 lime, squeeze to get the juice
• Finely pestle the following ingredients into a spice-paste:
• 14 dried red chili
• 12 shallots
• 8 clove garlic
• 100 gr tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons fried shrimp paste
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 25 gram palm sugar
• 5 cm Kencur (lesser galangal)

How to:

• Heat oil and sauté the spice paste until fragrant. Remove from pan
• Add lime juice to spices paste, mix well
• Baste the chicken with the spice paste until whole chicken covered
• Bring to 180 degree Celcius oven for 1 hour.
• Turn over and baste again with the spice paste once. Remove from oven.
• Grill chicken slowly on charcoal until half dry

Serve with Rice and Plecing Kangkung.

My Version of Ayam Taliwang

When I cook chicken, I prefer to cook the boneless skinless chicken breast. The recipe I use was an adaptation from a recipe I found in one of popular cooking magazines in Indonesia named Sedap. And here is my version of Ayam Taliwang:

• 300 gram boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 lime, squeeze to get around 1-2 teaspoons juice
• 150 ml coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon shaved palm sugar
• vegetable oil
• pinch of salt

Finely pestle the following ingredients into spice-paste

• 6 red chilies, roasted
• 6 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 candle nuts, fried without oil
• 1 teaspoon of roasted shrimp paste

How to:

• Rub the chicken breast with lime juice and salt, grill on charcoal or electrical or gas grill until half-cook
• Heat oil in a pan and sauté the spice paste until fragrant
• Pour in the coconut milk, salt and palm sugar, cook and stir until boiled
• Add the chicken breast
• Cook on low heat until the liquid is thickened and becomes gravy sauce
• Remove the chicken from pan, baste with the gravy sauce
• Grill slowly on charcoal or electrical or gas grill, turn around several times
• Serve warm with rice and it surely will give you ‘A Kick in the Mouth’

References:

 WhyGoIndonesia

 Wikipedia

 Indonesiaforyou.com

 Sedap magazine

Cooking Without a Recipe

I love cooking on Saturday morning. Saturday is usually the one day of the week I can do whatever I want, so they’re pretty laid back and slow.


One Saturday, I didn’t want to go out and I didn’t feel like cooking anything in particular so I wandered into the kitchen and took stock of my resources. As I have the habit of shopping either on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, so by Saturday morning, my resources for the week are usually at the minimum level.

So I put on my adventuring mode and try off-road with what I have in my kitchen. Improvising is really the most natural way to cook. That’s how I develop my skill in cooking without a recipe or to cook from what I have, rather than get what I need to cook.

Cooking without a recipe gives me a chance to experiment with new spices, flavors, aromas, and really make my cooking unique and original.

‘Things from my Kitchen’ Dishes

These dishes were cooked with whatever I have left in my kitchen on one Saturday morning!

What did I find?

In my fridge I found a small bunch of choysum, white cabbage, green onion, carrots and bird-eye chilies; a small bowl of left-over beef rendang (Indonesian beef stew), around 300 grams of cold cooked rice ; 5 slices of bacon; some eggs and a bottle of oyster sauce.

Then I checked my kitchen cabinet and found 1 pack of dry noodles (300 grams), all purpose flour, some cloves of garlic, onions, standard cooking stuffs like salt, pepper, brown sugar, beef powder, chicken powder, cooking oil and a jar of ready-made fried shallots.

I even found a jar of Thai dry-chili-shrimp-paste which I got from my Thai friend (this is one of my magic ingredients for cooking fried rice).

One common thing in my family is all of us love chili. Half of the family members are noodle lovers and the other half are rice lovers. That’s why as long as I have stock of noodles, rice and chili in my kitchen, I think we can survive.

Now, what should I cook for our breakfast on one Saturday morning with all these ingredients?

First of all, what should I do with the noodles. The easiest way to cook noodles is fried noodle. OK, let’s make fried noodles.

My free style Fried Noodles

The ingredients are dry noodles, finely chopped garlic, finely sliced green onion, finely cut bird eye chilies, choysum cut into 2 cm length, finely sliced white cabbage, sliced button mushroom, finely chopped bacon, meat balls, 1 egg, 2 – 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce and cooking oil.

This is the process of making the fried noodles:

• Cook the noodles in boiling water for a few minutes until soft but still firm (in cooking pasta it is called al dente)

• Remove from the water and pour a little bit of cooking oil.
• Stir fry the garlic in a wok on high heat until fragrant
• Quickly add the chilies, white cabbage, mushroom and meat ball
• Add the egg, stir until the egg is well cooked and dry
• Add the noodle, then the choysum. Pour in the oyster sauce
• Continue to stir fry for a few minutes until all the ingredients mix well with the noodles
• Add the green onion and further stir fry for 30 seconds
• Remove from heat. Serve it warm.
  
  

The look of the fried noodle may not be that appealing but the taste was yummy and that’s all the matter.

One dish is done but I still have one little problem. Since the ingredients for fried noodle like the bacon, meat ball and the veggies were only available in small amount, I could not fried all the 300 gram noodles so I still have around 100 gram of cooked noodles left.

What should I do with these cooked noodles?

Hey, I got an idea.

How about Free Style Noodle Fritters?

The ingredients are 100 grams cooked noodles, coarsely grated carrot, finely sliced white cabbage, finely chopped bacon, chicken powder, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour, salt and pepper, cooking oil.

This is the process of making the Noodle Fritters

• Put the flour into a bowl. Add beaten eggs, beat the mix until smooth.
• Add the noodles, carrot, white cabbage, green onion and a little bit of sliced bacon
• Add chicken powder, salt and pepper, stir to combine
• Deep fry tablespoons of the mixtures in hot oil
• Turn fritters and cook on the other side
• Remove from heat and place on paper towel to absorb the excess oil
• Serve warm as appetizer or snack
  
  

Now, for the rice lovers in my family, the easiest way is to cook them fried rice. But I did not have any meat or chicken or bacon left, even no more chilies. How should I cook the fried rice?

Well, I still have the left over beef rendang (spicy beef stew) and Thai dry-chili-shrimp-paste, onion, garlic and ready-made fried shallots.

Here comes My Free Style Fried Rice

The ingredients are the cold rice, left over beef rendang (spicy beef stew), cut up the meat into small pieces, 2 table-spoons of Thai dry-chili-shrimp-paste, 1 onion, chopped, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of ready-made fried shallots, cooking oil.

This is the process of making Free Style Fried Rice:

• In a wok, stir fry the onion and garlic until fragrant
• Add the Thai dry-chili-shrimp-paste
• Add the beef rendang
• Add the egg, stir until well cooked and dry
• Add the rice, keep on stirring until mix well
• Add salt and continue to fry for 10 minutes or so
• Remove the fried rice from the wok and place in a bowl
• Garnish with fried shallots