INDONESIAN FRIED RICE (CHINESE RESTAURANT VERSION) & WITH CHILI PICKLES (ACAR MENTAH)

For this particular fried rice, I am going to share the recipe as I guess - perhaps - not many know the way of cooking fried rice à la Chinese Restaurant in Indonesia. I got this little knowledge from a chef who worked for my mother in her Chinese Food Restaurant back in the mid 80's in Jakarta. Some of the ingredients might be a little 'new' - feel free to ask so I can share the pic of the bottles/container for you to search.

Ingredients:

Indonesia Fried Rice Ingredients:

- 3 cups of steamed rice

- 6 to 7 Tiger Shrimp, no shell and no head - deveined and wash, cut into 3 each.

- Fish meatball and Shrimp meatball, sliced into 4 each

- Chicken breast, slice thinly or diced (the smaller the nicer)

- 2 Green onion, chopped

- ¼ Onion, chopped

- 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

- 2 eggs, beat well

- 2 tablespoon cooking oil (or pork oil if you prefer)

- 1 Teaspoon white pepper

- ½ Teaspoon oyster sauce

- 1 Teaspoon vinegar garlic sauce “Kecap Inggris” (some people replace this with Worchester Sauce - but I insist on using the original ingredients I'm familiar with in Indonesia)

- 1 Teaspoon Red Wine Vinegar (angciu)

- ½ Teaspoon Fish sauce

- 2 Teaspoon sesame oilSweet soy sauce “Kecap Bango”

- 2 tablespoon thick soy sauce (salted soy sauce)

Directions:

- Heat the cooking oil on medium high then add eggs (as you make scrambled eggs).

- When eggs is golden-ish, add chopped garlic and onion.

- Sautee until smells nice and golden brown.

- Add the meat, fish meatballs and shrimps into the wok, adding sesame oil, Fish Sauce, Red Wine Vinegar and vinegar garlic “Kecap Inggris“.

- Then add oyster sauce.

- Lower the heat into medium low and continue cook the fish/meat until well cooked (water usually comes out of the meat, cook until water is almost evaporated).

- Then add the green onion to the wok, followed with the rice.

- Spread white pepper and thick soy sauce into the rice then sweet soy sauce until the rice color turns into dark brown (because of the sweet soy sauce), stir well.

- Remove from the heat and serve with Fresh pickle (Acar Mentah).

For the pickle, it's even easy; just cut into very small cubes (about ½ inch) of 1 mediums size cucumber, 2-3 slices of medium size pineapple, 6 to 8 medium size red pearl onions (taste closest to "bawang merah"), 1 medium size carrot. Add a tablespoon sugar to ½ tablespoon white vinegar (cuka), a little salt (to taste) and 4 ounces water. Taste the dilution and you decide if it needs more sugar or water or a bit more vinegar. To finish it add some Thai chili (or bird-eye chili) as many as you like. Put in a sterilized, sealed jar and it will last for about 3 weeks.

NASI UDUK & AYAM GORENG BERBUMBU (JAKARTA STEAMED RICE with SPICED FRIED CHICKEN)

Imagine you're sitting on the food vendor on the side of Jakarta's crowded streets. It's a hot humid and busy night with lots of other kind of food sellers' tents/vendors around you. Your order is right in front of you with a cup of hot tea to company... I can't even remember when was the last time I ate this; as when we went to Jakarta last December 2007-January 2008 we didn't even buy this! I had stomach problem and were too worry about stomach so we couldn't buy. But the last couple of days I was so craving of Pecel Ayam and Nasi Uduk, so we went shopping last night. Got Basil Lemon Leaves (Daun Kemangi), fresh lemon grass, fresh galangal, fresh Thai egg plant (terong bundar hijau) and bird-eye chilis then I'm all set to cook. To accompany the rice, I prepared famous street-vendor fried-chicken which we commonly know as "Ayam goreng Berbumbu". Oh... it was heaven!! Even hubby ate what I ate. No complain except the hot chili. We didn't do "Sambal Terasi" as I can't stand the smell of toasted "Terasi" (shrimp/fish paste) that stays inside of the house, even after you air out the house for an hour!I guess the basic for the "Betawi Steamed Rice" (Nasi Uduk) is well-known by many people. But just in case here I share my recipe, which yields for 4-6 people;

Ingredients:
RICE:
- Rice and sticky rice
- ratio is 2 (rice) :1 (sticky rice)
- Galangal, lemon grass and 2 Indian bay-leaves (daun salam)
- Coconut milk (medium thickness) and salt to taste

SPICED FRIED CHICKEN (Ayam Berbumbu):
- 4 to 6 pieces chicken
- 6 pearl onions (or shallots) and 3 garlic
- 4 candlenut (kemiri)
- 1 finger digit (that's how mostly Indonesians measure the amount of ginger or turmeric to use) of turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon tamarind
- Lemon grass, galangal (jerked) and Indian Bay leaves.
- Palm sugar and salt to taste
- 300 ml medium -thickness coconut milk with water enough to soak the chicken in.

Directions:
RICE:
- Bring coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and Indian bay leaves to boil, add rice. Continue cooking until liquid is dry, occasionaly stir to keep rice from lumping. Take off from the heat and put aside.
- Prepare the steamer, when the water is boiling put the rice and steam until the rice is well -cooked. Like when you prepare regular rice.

SPICED FRIED CHICKEN (Ayam Berbumbu):
- Put all the ingredients into the pot with the chicken, cook until the juice is boiling, done enough to marinade the chicken and chicken look half-cooked. Take out of the heat, put aside.
- Heat Cooking Oil in frying pan for deep frying. Fry chicken until all the skin looks golden-brownish. Serve with Rice, Lalap (fresh leaves) and sambal and krupuk (fried fish crackers).