Tongseng Sapi (Sweet-and-Spicy Beef Stew)

Indonesia is replete with exotic recipes to tempt foreign and local tastes.  Along busy thoroughfares, makeshift food stands pepper the breeze with hunger-inducing smells from dishes like satay, gulai, and a distinctively sweet-and-spicy stew called tongseng.  Originated from Surakarta—a province in Central Jawa which is also the birthplace of President Jokowi—tongseng  made from lamb or beef, and the stew’s most defining characteristic is the sweet soy sauce that attempts to coat the undeniably distracting spiciness.

As with any meat soup, the key component of tongseng is the mutton or beef as well as the stock that is rendered from its juices.  Most chefs will dice the meat into small pieces, followed by lightly pounding it out with a butcher’s hammer or it can be boiled first then diced (like what I did) before added to the spice paste which has already been sautéed.  The soup can be made by combining the meat with water and coconut milk in a pot, along with sweet soy sauce.  A similar Indonesian stew, gulai (or gule), forgoes the soy and uses cow or lamb entrails instead of prime cuts of meat.

After the soup is brought to a boil, crating the beginnings of a flavorful beef stock, the heat is reduced to a simmer.  Other vegetables like chopped cabbage, wedged tomato, and diced chilies then added. Diced chilies will give the dish its characteristic bite.  Once the tongseng has simmered for at least 10 minutes, sprinkle with fried shallots and it is ready to be served.  The stew is traditionally served with hot steamed rice.

Tongseng Sapi (Sweet-and-Spicy Beef Stew)

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

·         500 gram beef

·         1 cm galangal, bruised

·         2 lemongrass, bruised

·         2 lndonesian bay leaves

·         150 gram cabbage, cut into 2 cm width

·         1 tomato, quartered

·         5 small red or green chilies, diced (adjust to your preference)

·         6 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (adjust to your preference)

·         4 shallot, thinly sliced

·         2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying

·         1 teaspoon ground pepper

·         4 teaspoons salt (adjust to your preference)

·         1 tablespoon sugar

·         1.500 ml water

·         500 ml thick coconut milk.

Spice Paste:

·         8 shallots

·         6 cloves garlic

·         5 candlenuts, burned

·         2 cm ginger

·         2 cm turmeric, burned

·         1 teaspoon coriander

Condiment:

·         Sliced and deep fried shallots

·         Scallion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1.       Boil beef until tender, cut into cubes. Set aside the beef stock.

2.       Put all ingredients for the seasoning paste in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth (add a little bit of oil to help the blending process if necessary).

3.       Heat oil in a sauce pan, stir-fry shallot, spice paste, bay leaves, galangal, and lemongrass until fragrant.

4.       Pour the beef stock.  Add salt, ground pepper, sugar, sweet soy sauce, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer.

5.       Add beef cubes, red chilies, cabbage, tomato, and scallion. Adjust the seasoning, add more salt and sweet soy sauce if needed.

6.       Sprinkle fried shallots, serve with warm steamed rice.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         500 gram daging sapi sengkel

·         1 cm lengkuas, memarkan

·         2 batang serai, memarkan

·         2 lembar daun salam

·         150 gram kol, iris tipis

·         1 buah tomat, iris menjadi 4 bagian

·         5 buah cabai rawit, iris tipis (sesuai selera)

·         6 sdm kecap manis (sesuai selera)

·         4 butir bawang merah, iris tipis

·         2 sdm minyak untuk menumis

·         1 sdt merica bubuk

·         4 sdt garam (sesuai selera)

·         1 sdm gula pasir

·         1.500 ml air

·         500 ml santan kental

Bumbu halus:

·         8 butir bawang merah

·         6 siung bawang putih

·         5 buah kemiri, disangrai

·         2 cm jahe

·         2 cm kunyit, dibakar

·         1 sdt ketumbar, disangrai

Bahan Pelengkap:

·         Bawang merah goreng

·         Daun bawang, iris

·         Tomat merah, potong-potong

Cara:

1.       Rebus daging hingga empuk. Angkat dan potong kotak-kotak.

2.       Blender semua bahan untuk bumbu halus

3.       Tumis bawang merah, bumbu halus, daun salam, lengkuas, dan serai sampai harum.

4.       Tuang air rebusan daging.  Tambahkan garam, merica,  gula, kecap manis, dan santan. Didihkan sambil sesekali diaduk agar santan tidak pecah. Kecilkan api.

5.       Masukkan daging, cabe rawit, kol, tomat, dan daun bawang.

6.       Taburi  dengan bawang goreng.  Sajikan bersama nasi putih hangat.

Cream Puffs

I love making and eating cream puffs.  Cream puffs, choux a la crème, or profiteroles—it doesn’t matter what you call them, I love them, and to be honest, I could eat the entire batch myself.  There is something about these filled choux pastry that always put a smile on my face.

Cream puffs are easy and quick to make. I mean, seriously easy, and I wouldn’t lie to you about that. So quick and easy that you’ll wonder why you haven’t made them before.  It takes about 10 minutes to whip up the dough and get it shaped and into the oven.

 It is simply a matter of bringing water and butter to a boil, then dumping in flour and stirring it until a mass forms. Let the steaming dough cool for a moment then beat in eggs. Then depending on how big you make your cream puffs, they take about 30-40 minutes to bake, and they are ready to eat.  That’s it.

The choux dough is so versatile that you can make the puffs sweet or savory.  I filled the puffs with whipped cream filling with 4 flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and green tea.  All are incredibly delicious.  Perfect desserts for parties, entertaining, or pot lucks.

Cream Puffs

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry

·         120g all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon granulated sugar

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         120g unsalted butter, cut into pieces

·         1 cup water

·         4 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         1 egg for glazing

Whipped Cream Filling

·         2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream (or double cream) 35-40% butterfat

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·         65g granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Garnish

Powdered sugar (confectioners or icing)

Directions:

Choux Pastry

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter or spray the pan with a nonstick vegetable spray.

2.       In a bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

3.       Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and with the wooden spoon, add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir until combined.  Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 1-2 minutes).

4.       Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or use your wooden spatula, and beat on low speed to release the steam from the dough.  Once the dough is lukewarm, start adding the lightly beaten eggs and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste.

5.       Put the dough into piping bag with a nozzle star and pipe the dough onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.  With a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the dough with a lightly beaten egg.

6.       Bake for  20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).  Continue to bake for a further 30 to 35 minutes or until shell are a nice amber color and when split, are almost dry inside. Turn the oven off, poke a couple of holes in each puff, and—with the oven door slightly ajar—let the shells completely cool and dry out.

Whipped Cream Filling

1.       Put you whisk and bowl in the freeze for at least 15 minutes.

2.       In a large mixing bowl. Place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. Stir to combine.  Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

3.       When chilled, whip the cream just until peaks form.

4.       Divide into 4 bowls with the same amount.  Add the flavor and mix well. I added chocolate powder, matcha, powder, and strawberry paste. The last bowl is vanilla flavor.  Pour each flavor into piping bag and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

To Assemble

1.       Split the pastry shell in half (or half-split) and pipe with whipped cream and place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream.

2.       Dust with powdered sugar.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

Kulit Soes

·         120g tepung terigu serbaguna

·         1 sdt gula pasir

·         ½ sdt garam

·         120g mentega tawar, iris dadu

·         1 cup air

·         4 butir telur, kocok lepas

·         1 butir telur untuk olesan, kocok lepas

Whipped Cream Filling

·         2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream (or double cream) 35-40% butterfat

·         1 sdt ekstrak vanila

·         65g gula pasir (atau sesuai selera)

Hiasan

Gula halus

Cara:

Kulit Soes

1.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 400 derajat F (200 derajat C) dan letakkan Loyang di tengah oven.  Alasi dengan kertas parchment atau oles dengan mentega.

2.       Aduk terigu, gula, dan garam.

3.       Masak mentega dan air sampai mendidih. Usahakan mentega mencair sebelum air mendidih.  Angkat, tambahkan terpung terigu dan aduk sampai bercampur.  Kembalikan ke atas kompor dan aduk terus sampai adonan membentuk bola yang kental (sekitar 1-2 menit)

4.       Pindahkan ke dalam mangkuk mikser, atau bisa juga dengan menggunakan spatula kayu, aduk dengan kecepatan rendah untuk menghilangkan uap panas.  Ketika adonan sudah hangat, masukkan telur  dan kocok hingga membentuk adonan yang kental dan halus.

5.       Masukkan adonan ke dalam kantung semprot dengan spuit bintang. Spuitkan di atas loyang dan beri jarak sekitar 2 inches (5 cm).  Olesi permukaan dengan telur yang telah dikocok.

6.       Panggang selama 20 menit lalu turunkan suhu oven ke 350 derajat F (180 drajat C).  Lanjutkan memanggang selama 30 to 35 menit atau sampai kulit soes berwarna kuning kecoklatan dan ketika dibelah, bagian dalamnya hampir kering. Matikan oven, buat irisan pada kulit soes, dan—dengan pintu oven sedikit terbuka—biarkan kulit soes dingin dan mongering bagian dalamnya.

Whipped Cream Filling

1.       Dalam mankuk besar, tuang whipping cream, ekstrak vanilla, dan gula pasir.  Aduk hingga bercampur.  Tutup dengan plastic wrap dan dinginkan mangkuk bersama kocokan mikser di dalam lemari pendingin selama sedikitnya 15 menit.

2.       Ketika sudah dingin, kocok hingga kaku.

3.       Bagi sama banyak ke dalam 4 mangkuk.  Tambahkan bubuk coklat, bubuk matcha, dan perisa stroberi. Biarkan mangkuk terakhir untuk rasa vanilla.  Tuang ke dalam kantung semprot dan dinginkan di dalam lemari pendingin sedikitnya selama 15 menit.

Menyusun Soes

1.       Belah dua kulit soes (atau belah separuh saja tidak sampai putus), dan semprotkan whipped cream. Tutup dengan kulit soes. 

2.       Beri taburan gula halus.