A big post today, yaaay! Today, I'll share three recipes from the book Indonesian Cooking by Dina Yuen, and my technique to make tamarind concentrate from semi-dried tamarind (it's MY technique, but if you know the real way to do this, please let me know in the comments or on Facebook!). In that order, there's Tamarind Shrimps, How to make Tamarind Concentrate, Deep-Fried Eggs in Chilli Sauce and Shrimp Paste and Chilli Sambal. As usual, I adapted and simplified the recipe for your convenience. I wrote intros for each recipe under each picture so it's clearer which recipe is which... Enjoy!
About tamarind... Well, my boyfriend's mom use to date an Indian guy and she would always have candied tamarind. My boyfriend hates it. I tried it and hated it. We both thought we hated tamarind, but turns out if you use it like lime juice, it works with a lot of dishes, and instead of being citrusy like limes, it lends a really fruity aroma. Please, love tamarind. We loved tamarind in Indian dishes, we both LOVED these really simple delicious Indonesian-style shrimps!
(serves 4 as a side with rice and veggies or soup)
Marinate (for 2 hours to overnight) 16 tiger prawns or 32 smaller shrimps like the ones I used, with:
-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
-1/2cup tamarind concentrate (I use semi-dried tamarind instead, instructions follow if you don't know how to)
-3tbsp soy sauce
-1 1/2tbsp sugar
-some melted butter to bake
To bake, you can skewer the shrimps like I did (it's more convenient) or spread them loose on a baking sheet. Cover the baking tray with aluminum foil to reduce cleaning, with a paintbrush spread some melted butter on the baking tray, then lay the shrimps on it and paint them with butter too. Broil in the oven or even a toaster-oven for 2-4 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your shrimps. Voilà!
This is the tamarind I use. The first time I needed tamarind was to cook Indian food, so I went to this tiny tiny Indian market on Jean-Talon (I call this area on Jean-Talon "Indiatown") and asked for tamarind concentrate like the recipe called for. The super nice shop owner (the same one that went to buy me spices he didn't have from a nearby shop, if you follow my posts!) had tamarind concentrate, but he said not to buy that, to buy the semi-dried one which apparently tastes much better (but I never bought the ready concentrate so I can't really say). He said to dilute it in water... So I don't really know how Indian/Asian people use this form of tamarind, but this is the technique I developed which works quite good for me. You need:
-a small bowl
-a small strainer that fits in the bowl
-a small whisk (if you don't have one, feel free to use whatever utensil you have, but it's really easier with a tiny whisk, I bought them at the dollar store 2 for a buck -thanks to my man who told me how to spell utensil in English haha)
-water and semi-dried tamarind
Put some tamarind in the strainer in the bowl, and add some warm water. Use the whisk to mash and rub against the strainer. At the end you can straight up whisk roughly in the strainer. Add water if needed, but don't put too much: the tamarind concentrate should have a thick consistency like the picture of the prepared store-bought one. You can always add more tamarind if it's too liquid! Discard skins and seeds.
Replace lime juice with tamarind concentrate in recipes, experiment with it. I didn't know about it a year or two ago, it's really "da shit"!
Last weekend, we invited a couple friends over for our friend Mark's and my birthday. Everyone brought drinks, snacks, dessert, and I made tasty maki sushi, oyaki (which are delicious and easy, I should post about it soon) and these deep-fried eggs you see on the picture up here. People loved them, even our difficult friend who said he didn't really like eggs. This sauce is also really tasty!
(for 4 eggs)
Combine to make the sauce:
-1/8tsp salt
-2tbsp sweet soy sauce/kecap manis
-1tbsp sambal oelek
-4 hard-boiled eggs
-fried shallots for topping, optional (I forgot to put some on the picture, but when I made it for my birthday, I used them and it really adds something!)
Deep-fry the eggs until brown and a little crispy. Drain on paper towels, then mix with the sauce and slice in two. I pour the leftover sauce on top, it doesn't look as good as in the book but that sauce is super addictive!
(the book says this recipe makes 1 1/2cup, haha it only makes that super small amount you see in the picture, which is enough because the dip is REALLY spicy and pungent and it doesn't keep well overnight)
Grind together in a food processor or mortar:
-1/2tbsp dried shrimp paste, roasted*
-4 garlic cloves
-1/4tsp salt
-1/2tsp sugar
-8 red bird's eye chillies, without their hats
You can serve this like any sambal, as a condiment, or as a dip for lalapan, plate of raw and blanched veggies. Really intense crazy Indonesian flavours!
*I'm never sure what kind of shrimp paste, dried shrimp paste, etc, to use when cooking Asian. I use the shrimp paste in oil that sells in tiny glass jar, enclose the amount needed in a small piece of parchment paper and bake it for 5 minutes at 400F/200C. Maybe an Indonesian person could tell I'm not using the right shrimp paste, maybe I am using the right one. It's so pungent, it's always used in really small quantities, so I don't think it makes that much of a difference...
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