Potato Fritters ~ Indonesian Style

I’m pretty sure that every culture has its own version of some sort mashed potatoes and fritters. Perkedel kentang is Indonesian potato fritter, found everywhere from street hawkers  to high-end restaurants. It is a very popular Indonesian side dish that is great to be eaten alone as snacks or served as a condiment to a special coconut chicken-based soups (such as soto ayam and opor ayam) and nasi uduk.

The word ‘perkedel’ is actually a derivative of the Dutch word ‘frikandel’, which is a deep-fried sausage that doesn’t have a casing and is often sliced down the middle and stuffed with toppings.  Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch, so there is a lot of Dutch influence in the archipelago culinary.

Perkedel carries a lot of variations, but most contain potatoes and ground meat. Another varieties of perkedel kentang are perkedel tahu (tofu fritters) and perkedel jagung (corn fritters). Potato fritters are our answer to mashed potatoes. It is mixed with spices, shaped into patties, and then deep-fried. Potatoes have always been deep-fried until golden before it was mashed. Not that healthy? Well, trust me, deep frying potatoes twice gives the fritters extra kick.

Potato Fritters – Indonesian style

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

·         500g potatoes, cut into smaller pieces

·         200g ground beef or corned beef

·         2 eggs, lightly whisked

·         2 tablespoons deep fried shallot (from 4 shallots)

·         1 tablespoon deep fried garlic (from 2 cloves garlic)

·         1 stalk celery, finely chopped

·         1 stalk scallion, finely chopped

·         ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         ½  teaspoon sugar

·         ½ teaspoon ground pepper

·         Oil for frying

Directions:

1.       Deep fry potato pieces in hot oil until golden. Remove from heat and let cool on paper towel.

2.       Mash potatoes till fine using a mortar and pestle or food processor.

3.       Combine mashed potatoes, fried shallots and garlic, celery, scallion, corned beef, nutmeg, and pepper. Mix everything well together. Add salt and sugar to taste.

4.       Shape mashed spiced potatoes into round and flat patties.

5.       Coat patties with egg and deep-fry in hot oil until golden, about 2 minutes each side.

6.       Serve warm.

Bahasa indonesia

Bahan:

·         500 gr kentang, iris tipis dan goreng sampai matang

·         200 gr daging sapi cincang atau kornet

·         2 butir telur ayam, kocok lepas

·         2 sdm bawang merah goreng

·         2 sdm bawang putih goreng

·         1 batang daun seledri, iris halus

·         1 batang daun bawang, iris halus

·         ¼ sdt bubuk pala

·         ½ sdt merica

·         1 sdt garam

·         1 sdt gula pasir

·         Minyak untuk menggoreng

Cara:

1.       Goreng irisan kentang sampai matang, tiriskan dengan tissue makan.

2.       Tumbuk kentang sampai halus.

3.       Campur kentang halus dengan bawang merah dan bawang putih goreng, irisan daun selederi dan daun bawang, kornet, bubuk pala, dan merica. Tambahkan garam dan gula.

4.       Ambil adonan kentang, bentuk menjadi bulat pipih (atau sesuai selera).

5.       Celupkan dalam kocokan telur dan goreng dalam minyak banyak dan panas hingga matang. Sajikan selagi hangat.