Bun Bo (Vietnamese Noodle Salad)

Bun bo is our family favorite from Vietnamese Restaurant. I like the taste of the sauce (nuoc cham) and also the crunchiness of the raw vegetables, especially bean sprout that comes with this salad. In the restaurant, the meat normally has the smoky flavor which I love so much. Unfortunately my homemade bun bo still lacked of that smoky flavor, but still I'm very satisfied with the result. I got this recipe from William Sonoma cook book.

Ingredients:
375 gr rice noodles, soaked in warm water until soft
1 lb beef(chuck or flank), thinly sliced
3 stalks lemon grass, middle white part only, finely minced
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
pepper to taste

for the salad:
4 cup lettuce (green leaf/romaine), chopped
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and julienned
2 cup beansprout, tails removed.
1 carrot, peeled, julienned
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup mints

3 tbs vegetable oil
1 Spanish onion, thinly slice
1/2 cup toasted peanuts (unsalted), coarsely chopped
fried shallot

sauce (nuoc cham):
1 big clove garlic
1 red chili seeded
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
5 tbs fish sauce
3 tbs sugar
6 tbs water
2 tbs julienned carrot



Directions:


1. Boil water in a big pot, put the noodle in and boil for about 2 minutes. Drain noodle and run under the cold water to arrest the cooking process. Drain noodle and put aside.

2. In a bowl, mix the sliced beef, lemon grass, 1/2 of the garlic, fish sauce, sugar & pepper, and leave them to marinate for about 1/2 - 1 hour.

3. In a big bowl, mix the lettuce, beansprouts, carrots, basil & mint. Divide the salad into 4 individual bowls. Put some noodle in each bowl, set aside.

4. Heat frying pan in a medium heat. Add 3 tbs vegetable oil. Toss is the remaining of the garlic, stir until garlic starts to change color. Toss onion to the frying pan and stir for another 30 seconds. Push onion garlic mixture to one side of the pan. Add the remaining vegetable oil, put in the beef into the frying pan, arrange them in one layer. Let the beef sear without stirring. After 1 minute, turn over the beef, and cook for another 1 minutes.

5. Immediately put the beef into the serving bowls.

5. Sprinkle chopped nuts and fried shallot over the beef

6. Serve the salad immediately with nuoc cham sauce.

Gado-Gado Pengantin (Indonesian Wedding Salad)

Gado-gado (mixed vegetables salad with peanut sauce dressing) always make a good, refreshing, not to mention easy, summer meal. This wedding salad, though look almost alike like regular gado-gado, it tastes slightly different. As regular gado-gado, this one use peanut based dressing too. The different is this one contains dried shrimp and vinegar that gives a nice tangy taste to the sauce.
I have no idea as how this salad is called wedding salad, probably because it's often served at the wedding.

Ingredients:

200 gr potato, boiled
200 gr cabbage
200 gr cucumber
200 gr green leaf lettuce
100 gr bean sprout, tails removed
3 hard boiled eggs
2 pcs firm tofu, deep fried
1 fried shallot
emping (melinjo crackers)

Sauce:
1 cup peanut butter (I use chunky pb)
50 gr dried shrimp, soaked in boiling water for about 15 minutes, drained
1 tbs sambal oelek
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
300 ml water
1-2 tbs vinegar
3 tbs sweet soy sauce

Directions:
1. Slice boiled potatoes, cabbage, cucumber and deep fried tofu. thorn lettuce leaf.
Scald beansprout for about 10 seconds in boiling water, drain immediately

2. for the sauce:
With medium head, dry fry dried shrimp in a small wok, stir often, for about 10 minutes. Remove wok from the heat, cool the dried shrimp and put it in blender and process until it resembles fine meals.

3. Mix dried shrimp with peanut butter, sambal oelek, salt, sugar, water, vinegar and sweet soy sauce.

3. Arrange potatoes, cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, bean sprout, tofu and boiled eggs on a plate. Pour over the peanut sauce. Sprinkle with fried shallot and emping.

Gulai Pakis/Paku (Fiddlehead Ferns Curry)

The fiddlehead curry served with cubed rice cake, reminds me of my childhood. I often ate this thing as mid morning breakfast, bought from a stall in the marketplace.
I haven't had the fiddlehead ferns for over 20 years, though the memories linger, I can't really recall the exact taste.
Since we moved to New England last year, I've been looking forward to find this curly ferns, as they say, fiddlehead ferns is a delicacy of New England.
I've been searching the internet for sometimes to find some information on where to get them. I even thought of hiking on the wooded area across the street of our house to find them. The idea that my husband thinks as a dangerous one, because I could end up picking up some poisonous ferns.



Yesterday morning, to my delight, I found them in my local grocery. I almost jumped with joy to find this treasures. The fiddlehead fern that I'm familiar with, is slightly different from this one. Back home in Indonesia they are more leafy, and sold in bunches. But here, they only sell the curly tips of the fern. Anyway, for $3.99 a pound I think it's a bargain.

My husband never tried fiddlehead fern before, but when he tried that, he said, I need to buy more of this stuff (he's not a big vegetable eater, but he likes it).
For those who never tried this, the taste just like a very tender asparagus tips. Try it...if you like asparagus, you will definitely love this. Other than curry, you can cook them just like you cook asparagus.




the following is my version of fiddlehead fern curry (I don't have rice cubes, don't feel like making them today, but serve it with rice for an equally delicious dinner)

Ingredients:
1 lb fiddlehead ferns
1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned, leave the tails intact
1 can coconut milk (400ml)
1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
5 pieces kaffir lime leaves
4 pcs kokum (asam kandis)
1-2 tbs sambal oelek (depending on the heat tolerance)
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp galangal powder
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp sugar
3 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbs vegetable oil for stir frying

grind to paste:
1 small onion
4 garlic

Method:
1. Heat 1 tbs of cooking oil, toss it onion & garlic paste, stir fry for 1 minute.
2. Bring in shrimp paste, sambal oelek, all the powder ingredients, lime leaves, lemongrass stalk & kokum. Stir fry for another minute.
3. Pour the coconut milk & chicken broth to the pot.
4. Bring in fiddlehead fern & shrimp.
6. Season with salt, pepper & sugar.
5. Let them simmer until fiddlehead fern become soft.

Gulai Kapau

Aku paling doyan makan sayur nangka, diapain juga doyan. Sayangnya dirumah ga ada satu orangpun yang doyan, jadi jaraaang banget deh masak nangka. Kali ini kepengen makan nangka, jadi cari aja resep nangka yg cepet, soalnya kalo bikin gudeg masaknya lama banget. Pilihan akhirnya jatuh ke gulai kapau...mmm..sedap deh makan sama nasi anget sebakul, mana yg lain pada ga doyan lagi jadi aku bisa pesta pora makan sepuasnya sendiri...hayooo..siapa yg mau nemenin makan disini..

Bahan:

1 kaleng nangka muda, potong2

10 batang kacang panjang, potong2

6 lembar kol, potong2

1 kaleng santan (400 ml)

500 ml kaldu ayam

1 lembar daun kunyit

1 batang serai, memarkan

5 lembar daun jeruk

2-3 potong asam kandis

garam secukupnya

bumbu halus:

2 sdm sambal ulek (sesuai selera kepedesan)

3 siung bawang putih

7 bh bawang merah

1/2 sdt bubuk jahe

1 sdt bubuk kunyit

1 sdt ketumbar

sepotong lengkuas

2 btr kemiri

Cara membuatnya:

1. Didihkan santan, kaldu, bumbu halus, serai, daun kunyit, daun jeruk dan asam kandis, garam.

2. Masukkan nangka, masak hingga nangka agak empuk

3. Masukkan kacang panjang, dan kol.

4. Angkat dan sajikan.

kangkung Pedes

Mumpung masih ada yg jual kangkung, mesti dipuas-puasin dulu deh makan kangkung. Soalnya sebentar lagi musim kangkung selesai, mesti nunggu summer depan buat makan lagi. Resep ini aku dapat dari buku masakan Malaysia, tentunya udah dimodifikasi sesuai dg persediaan yg ada.

Bahan:

1 ikat kangkung, potong2
1 buah tomat merah ukuran kecil belah 8
garam dan gula secukupnya
2 sdm minyak goreng

bumbu halus:
6 biji cabe merah
1 bawang bombay
3 siung bawang putih
1 tomat merah ukuran kecil
1 sdm udang kering, seduh air panas
1 sdt terasi

Cara membuatnya:
Panaskan minyak goreng diwajan, tumis bumbu halus dan tomat merah sampe wangi. Masukkan kangkung, garam dan gula, aduk cepat dan angkat

Corn Souffle

Resep ini aku dapat dari temanku yg sangat baik hati Yeni Yulinda..(thanks ya Yen atas dorongannya). Perpaduan antara jagung dan keju bener2 sedap, apalagi dimakan selagi masih hangat dengan sambel botol. Cocok juga sebagai makanan pendamping untuk barbecue.

Bahan:

50 gr mentega

1 bawang bombay cincang halus

100 gr tepung terigu

300 ml susu cair

1 cup jagung pipilan

1/2 sdt garam

1/4 sdt merica

4 kuning telur kocok lepas

100 gr keju parut

4 putih telur + 1/2 sdt garam + 1/2 sdt cream of tartar, kocok sampai kaku

Cara membuatnya:

Panaskan oven 360 F.

Lelehkan mentega, tumis bawang bombay sampai layu, masukkan tepung terigu, aduk rata.

Tuangkan susu sedikit demi sedikit sambil terus diaduk sampai adonan licin. Masukkan jagung, garam dan merica, aduk rata. Tuang kuning telur, aduk rata. Masukkan keju parut, ratakan. Masukkan putih telur kocok sedikit demi sediki sampai habis, ratakan.

Tuang adonan ke dalam pinggan tahan panas, panggang selama 40 menit.

Sajikan hangat dengan sambal botolan