Cilok - Indonesian Chewy Balls in Peanut Sauce

Cilok is a traditional snack (I might say that it’s considered as finger food) from Indonesia, originated from Bandung, West Java – mostly sold by street vendors.  It is actually ball-shaped steamed tapioca starch, presented with spicy peanut sauce or sweet sour chili sauce.   Formerly, the snack is consumed only by the lower to middle class society.  As you can see from the ingredients list, there is no denying that cilok is lacking in the nutrition (since it is nothing but cooked spiced dough), but it sure is pretty tasty.  And nowadays, it is very favored by all people and becomes a part of our rich culinary heritage.  How does this snack get its name?  Cilok stands for aCI dicoLOK.  Aci means tapioca while dicolok means to be plugged (with skewer).

To be honest, cilok is a part of my childhood snack. Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, or a meat lover, this snack is easy to be adapted.   Some people like to modify it by filling in meat floss, fish, beef marrow, shrimp, cheese, minced chicken, or ground meat, but I like it plain and simply used only tapioca and all-purpose flour for the dough.

I adapted this recipe from Anita Jacobson (thanks to her for this easy recipe) with a little modified by me. They are two choices of sauce to eat cilok with, peanut sauce or a mix of hot chili sauce, tomato ketchup, and sweet soy sauce. My favorite sauce is always peanut sauce with more chili paste.  

For recipe in Indonesian click HERE

Ingredients:

Cilok

·         1 cup all purpose flour

·         1 cup tapioca flour

·         2 scallions or Chinese chives, thinly sliced

·         2 tbsp dried shrimp, toasted and ground

·         2 tsp garlic powder

·         1 tsp salt (or to taste)

·         1 tsp sugar (or to taste)

·         ½-1 tsp ground white pepper

·         150-200 ml hot water

Peanut sauce

·         200 gr deep fried peanuts

·         1 clove garlic

·         3-5 red chilies (you can omit it if you don’t like it hot)

·         Salt to taste

·         25 gr dark palm sugar (or castor sugar to taste)

·         1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

·         1 tsp lime juice (or white vinegar)

·         200 ml hot water

 You may need: bamboo skewers and toothpicks

Directions:

Cilok

1.       Combine all-purpose flour, tapioca flour, scallions, dried shrimps, salt, sugar, and ground white pepper in a mixing bowl.

2.       Pour hot water in batches and work into the dough until no longer sticky, you may not need to use all the water.  If you end up with a runny dough, you can add more equal amounts of all-purpose and tapioca flour.  Shape into 1 inch balls and set aside.

3.       Bring a pot of water to boil.  Gently drop the balls into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface.  Leave it simmer  and arrange on steaming plate.  Steam for approximately 15 minutes on high heat.

4.       Remove with a slotted spoon.  It is traditional to skewer about 3-4 balls per bamboo skewer.  Serve immediately with peanut sauce.

Peanut sauce

1.       Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and sauté garlic and chilies until fragrant and cooked, about 3 minutes.

2.       In a food processor, grind together peanut, garlic, and chilies into a fine paste.  Transfer into a bowl.

3.       Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together to make the peanut sauce.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

Cilok

·         1 cup tepung terigu serbaguna

·         1 cup tepung tapioka

·         2 ikat daun bawang, iris halus

·         2 sdm ebi, haluskan

·         2 sdt bubuk bawang putih

·         1 sdt garam (atau sesuai selera)

·         1 sdt gula (atau sesuai selera)

·         ½-1 sdt merica bubuk

·         200 ml air panas

Sambal kacang

·         200 gr kacang tanah sangrai

·         1 siung bawang putih

·         3-5 cabe rawit (jika suka pedas)

·         Garam sesuai selera

·         25 gr gula jawa (atau gula pasir sesuai selera)

·         1 sdm kecap manis

·         1 sdt perasan air jeruk  (atau cuka)

·         200 ml air panas

 Anda mungkin memerlukan: tusuk sate dan tusuk gigi

Cara:

Cilok

1.       Dalam wadah, campur tepung terigu, tepung tapioca, daun bawang, ebi, garam, gula, dan merica.

2.       Tuang air panas sedikit demi sedikit sambuil diuleni dengan sendok kayu sampai adonan kalis dan bisa dipulung.  Hentikan penambahan air.  Jika adonan terlalu lembek, tambahkan lagi terigu dan tapioca dalam jumlah yang sama.  Bulatkan sebesar 1 inc, sisihkan.

3.       Didihkan air dalam panci.  Perlahan masukan bola-bola cilok ke dalam air yang mendidih dan masak sampai cilok mengapung.  Tiriskan lalu kukus selama 15 menit.

4.       Tusukkan sebanyak 3-4 cilok dengan tusuk sate atau sajikan di atas mangkuk kecil.  Tuang sambal kacang, sajikan segera.

Sambal kacang

1.       Panaskan 1 sdm minyak goring, tumis bawang putih dan cabe rawit sampi wangi selama sekitar 3 menit.

2.       Dengan menggunakan food processor, haluskan kacang, bawang putih, dan cabe rawit. Tuang ke dalam mangkuk.

3.       Tambahkan smua bahan yang lain, aduk hingga bercampur.