Trip to Cirebon, West Java (2)

Visiting a new place also means trying new food.
In Cirebon we were not only enjoying the city, seeing the heritage buildings, and learning their culture, but also enjoying their culinary and capturing the glory of past time dining.

I have a list of traditional food that we must try. And...surprise-surprise, my children love the food, so do I. This culinary journey ends up with beautiful memory of delicious North Java Coast cuisine. Just one day after we got back from Cirebon, my children kept asking me to cook some of the food.

Empal Gentong
To be honest, that was our very first time trying this famous food. We have heard the name many times before, but never had a change to try it. Finally, on our first day in Cirebon we had a delicious lunch eating this food, and surprisingly, our children who normally hesitate to try traditional food, this time they loved this food so much.
Empal Gentong is made of beef (and innards) soup with the flavor slightly like gulai, that is cooked using unique traditional way (i.e: using big clay pot and fire wood). This delicious soup is served with chopped chives and ground chilli. To accompany them, we can choose rice or lontong (rice cake) and acar (pickled cucumber).
This hot soup gave us a very good impression about this city. Delicious food and hospitality of the seller.


Nasi Jamblang.
Nasi Jamblang or Jamblang Rice is rice wrapped in teak leaves, and served with some delicious side dishes. All the food are served on a long table/buffet style. Since the size of the rice inside the leaves is quite small, the waitress will ask how many packed of rice we want to order, then we can choose the side dishes to accompany the rice. My favorite is including fried tempe, spicy tuna, potato fritter, pepes tahu (~tofu) and kerupuk. Other than that, there are lots of choices of side dishes such as semur daging (beef in soy sauce gravy), fried tofu, potato satay with dry coconut, fried sambal (chili), salted fish, jamblang eggs, black squid, and many more. These are simple everyday menu for most of Indonesians, but for unspeakable reason, this food is so delicious and quite cheap. All the side dishes are cooked and treated with good way, it's so delicious. Great culinary experience we got!
If you are curious where the name of 'Jamblang' came from, actually it's the name of an area in the west side of Cirebon, where most of the Nasi Jamblang sellers come from. Long time ago, this food actually were served for forced labors during colonial era. They chose to use teak leaves instead of banana leaves, because teak leaves can keep the rice fresh longer compared if they're wrapped with banana leaves.

Nasi Lengko
Some people call it Sega Lengko. This is a vegetarian dish.
I tried this food after finishing our shopping at the famous batik Trusmi. In this humble dish all the food is served in one plate.
It's warm rice, fried tofu and tempe (cut into small pieces) and steamed bean sprout laid down beautifully on the plate and covered by peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce, then sprinkled with chopped chives and fried onion. Very humble dish that rich of flavor and texture.

Other than all those food, there is another must-try dish.
Tahu Gejrot.
Tahu Gejrot is one of Cirebon's culinary icon. This dish is not only famous in Cirebon, but also known in other places in Indonesia. Not sold in a fixed place, the tahu gejrot sellers will walk around and carrying their merchant. In big cities, some sellers ride their bicycle to sell this food.
Tahu Gejrot is crisp-fried tofu bathed in a thin, dark sauce flavored with green chili and shallots. We can ask the seller, how many chilli we want to put in the bowl. For me, one chilli is enough.
As a bonus... we could find lots of other traditional desserts around the city. One of them that stay in my heart is the traditional delicacy that we found in front of Warung Nasi Jamblang Mang Dul. An old lady just sat down on the pedestrian floor and sold her homemade traditional snacks. There were about 5 or 6 different type of snacks that using rice flour as the main ingredient. It's good for my dessert after enjoying nasi jamblang.
Those are the food that made us happy staying in Cirebon that I can share this time. The food that we enjoyed in the city.

What better way to end a trip than bringing home some traditional delicacies and some local products. It's not hard to find 'toko oleh-oleh' (souvenir shop) around the city. On our last day in Cirebon, we stop by in one shop, and brought home a big box of local products.

Visiting Cirebon is not completed without stopping by in the famous batik village 'Trusmi'. Located in Plered area, about 5 km from downtown Cirebon, it's easy to get there. Several batik shops can be found along Trusmi Kulon Street. And again, we brought home a big shopping bag. Just to let you know, the famous batik motif from Cirebon is called 'Mega Mendung' means 'Huge Cloud'. It's easy to recognize this pattern, it's just like cloud (see the brown backpack used by my son below).
At the end... we arrived home after 3 days of wonderful trip in Cirebon. In one quite afternoon, we enjoyed the food we brought home. What a sweet ending.
In the picture above including : Simping keju-udang (rice flour chips with cheese & shrimp flavor), wafel wijen (sesame waffel cookies), manisan mangga (candied mango), bangket jahe (ginger cookies). The table clothes bought in Batik Trusmi, and the tea set was made in Plered.

Have a great Wednesday Night.

Trip to Cirebon, West Java (1)

Visiting Cirebon was my old dream.
I couldn't remember, when exactly I began to dream visiting Cirebon with my family. After reading some magazines, I had a picture in my mind that Cirebon is a city/town that is rich of culture, has lots of beautiful old buildings, has delicious traditional food and is located not too far from Jakarta.
It must be very interesting and unique place!
Finally, my dream came true... Yes, we made it! Last month, on the first day of our children school holiday, we travelled by train to Cirebon. We started our journey from Gambir Train Station in Central Jakarta, and it took 3 hours only to arrive in Cirebon Station. For our children, this was their first experience of traveling by intercity train.
The majestic mount of Ceremai & flat rice fields were welcoming us just before we entered the Cirebon Station.
Cirebon (formerly referred to as Cheribon in English) is a port city on the north coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is located in the province of West Java near the provincial border with Central Java, approximately 297 km east of Jakarta.
The seat of a former Sultanate, the city's West and Central Java border location have seen its history influenced by both Sundanese and Javanese culture and also Chinese.
source : wikipedia
Kota Udang (~Shrimp City) is the Cirebon's nickname, but shrimp is not the only thing this second largest city in West Java has to over.
So... lets enjoy Cirebon!
where to go? what to visit? what is special about this city?
Those are some common questions for most of people when visiting a new place. And to be honest, we only got little information about this town from the internet. So we booked the hotel a couple of weeks before and off we go. With a help from a free map given by the hotel, we enjoyed this town.
First thing that we tought we should see was Keraton/Palace. It'll be good to show the children the traditional Indonesian Palace. They might not be too interested, but it's good for them to have an experience visiting some of them.
Keraton Kanoman
Keraton Kanoman is one of four palaces in Cirebon. It was founded by Sultan Anom I in 1677. In the outer area of the palace, the siti inggil, are masonry versions of the classic Javanese pendopo form, as opposed to the more conventional timber structures.
source: wikipedia

The other Keraton that we visited was Keraton Kasepuhan, the biggest and the oldest keraton in Cirebon. Keraton Kasepuhan
It is the residence of the Sultan of Kasepuhan. It was built in 1527 and its architecture and interior are a blend of Sundanese, Javanese, Islamic, Chinese and Dutch styles.
After going around the keraton complex... this was the most interesting part for my son; the Cannon, made of cast iron.


Next, we visited some old buildings... not as old as the keraton, but they're quite old and of course...beautiful. All of them were built during Dutch occupation period.
It was a beautiful late afternoon after our children enjoying their swimming time, when we decided to walk together and see those beautiful heritage buildings. We visited about 7 buildings that located close each other.

I will not explain one by one of those buildings, sorry.
This beautiful blog, The Aroengbinang Travelog may give you lots of information about those buildings.
One of the places that always on our 'must visit list' is Traditional Market. It's a must! Like every city have their own uniqueness, I believe that every market have their own specialties.Kanoman Market
Located in the front area of Keraton Kanoman, this biggest market in Cirebon is always busy from morning to late afternoon.
From the outside, it's like other market... crowded, hustle bustle. Love it!

If we look around what they sell, we'll realize... seafood is all around.
As a port city and known as Kota Udang (~Shrimp City), it's not surprising if fresh seafood is available at anytime.

Lots of little attraction entertained us in the market...
The most favorite one for us was watching a lady with her capability of shredding chillies rapidly. Awesome!


I'll write more about the food in my next posting.
next : Trip to Cirebon, West Java (2), what to buy, what to eat.

Bye June, Hi July ...

No posting on the 'busy' June... and now we're in the middle of July, in the middle of the year of 2011. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Jakarta. The children school holiday is almost finish, and next week, they'll be back to school. Happy!

Last month, we were so busy. But we're happy, we're enjoying our dynamic life, up and down... and full of celebrations. Last month we celebrated my husband's birthday, our 13th wedding anniversary, and the end of the school year! ...the holiday scent was blowing around us. We travelled, did camping, had reunions, met family and friends, and of course... trying lots of new food. Oh, one more thing, finally...my son's two front teeth were taken out. We were waiting for that because he's already 8.5 years old!

I'll write more about our trip in the next posting. Now, I just want to share the picture of our joyfull, enjoying the beautiful of local strawberries, brought by my husband from Ciwidey, West Java.

Have a nice weekend, My Friends. See you in my next posting.

Next : Trip to Cirebon, West Java (1) *where to go?

Crazy of Giant Cookies!

These were the most favorite snacks in our home during the month of May; GIANT cookies.
Cookies are the children's favorite. My children always remind me to bake cookies for them. I realize that cookies invoke nostalgic memories of childhood filled with love, laughter and treats. I'll try as much as I can to give that good memories for my children.

To be honest, making cookies is not hard, not at all. It just takes time, since we have to start with mixing the ingredients to make the dough, and 'shape' them. The 'shaping' stage that normally takes time. For this reason, I chose the most easy and simple method; 'dropping', and to make it even more simple, I make them big size... double or even triple than normal cookies drop size. It'll not take too long to drop all the dough to the baking sheets. At the end, the warm and sweet of a home baked delight brings an instant sense of calm and contentment. Yeah, everybody is happy! Very happy.

Jumbo Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies
Big, thick and heavy... since it uses 2.5 cups of oatmeal. Beautiful combination of peanut butter, palm sugar (I substituted brown sugar with palm sugar with same amount), and oatmeal. Delicious.

These cookies were my elder sister's favorite. 'I feel good to know that the cookies contain lots of oatmeal. It makes me not feel quilty to eat lots of them', that she said. For me, I can't finish one cookies in one go. It's just too big.

The original recipe suggests to put 2-4 scoops chocolate and vanilla ice cream in between two cookies to make cookie sandwich. It's up to you.

Source : BHG 'grill it' August 2009
original recipe : Jumbo Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Sandwiches
Ingredients:
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups regular rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins and/or semisweet chocolate pieces

Direction :
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease large cookie sheets; set aside.

2. In large a mixing bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat on medium speed until mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla, beat well. On low speed, beat in the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the rolled oats and the raisins/chocolate pieces.

3. Using 1/4 cup dough for each cookie, drop the dough 3 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets. Press the dough into 4-inch circles.

4. Bake in the preheated oven about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden. Let the cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.


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Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies
For me personally, these cookies are too sweet. I think I need to reduce the amount of sugar. I like the texture; it is crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Just like 'cookie brownies'.

Since I don't have 2 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, so I used my 1 1/2 inch one. For one cookie I dropped one scoop (using 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop) plus one (normal) tablespoon of dough.

Bake this cookies will fill your house with the sweet and heavy aroma as the cookies bake and take shape in the oven. Let's put your kettle on and indulgence yourself.

source : Martha Stewart 'Cookies' recipes book.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup good-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, substitute 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions :
1.Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2.Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in shortening (or additional butter). Add egg and vanilla; mix until creamy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

3.Using a 2 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 4 inches apart. Bake until edges are firm, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 days.


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Giant Chocolate Chips Cookies
This was my very first time trying Nigella Lawson's recipe. I got the recipe from 'Delicious' Magazine (March 2010 edition), where she wrote a good article 'Perfect Beat' and accompaned the article with 3 recipes.

Originally, this recipe title is 'my favorite cookies'. Mmm, so I really wanted to know how her favorite cookie was. I substituted the salted peanut with chopped cashews and the light brown sugar with palm sugar. And the result... less than 24 hours all the cookies were gone. Our children love it. I know that my children will love all type of cookies that have lots of chocolate chips.

They are delicious cookies, perfect sweetness, but nothing special with the taste. I love its chewy texture.


Source : Delicious Magazine, March 2010
Ingredients:
160 gr unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
1 frimly packed cupe (220gr) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (110 gr) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups (225 gr) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (~baking soda)
1 cup (175 gr) chopped milk chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
1 cup (150 gr) salted peanuts, chopped ( I used chopped cashew)

Direction :
1. Using an electric mixer or by hand, beat together the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar in a large bowl for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the vanilla extract, followed by the eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, chopped chocolate and peanuts, mixing well. Chill the cookies dough fo 30 minutes until firm.

3. Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

4. Using clean hands, shape the chilled dough into about 20 fat discs, using slighly less than 3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie.

5. Place 5-6 cookies on each baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between, then press gently to flatten until about 6 cm across and 1 cm thick.

6. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until golden brown around the edges and crecked and chewy in the centre, switching the position of the baking sheets halfway.

7. Remove the cookies from the oven while they are still soft in the centre or they will lose their chewiness as they cool. Allow the cookies to rest on baking sheets for abou 3 minutes before transferring them to wire rack to cool.

8. Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough. Once completely cool, you can store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Tuna Balls for My Daughter's Birthday

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating;
there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.
~John Ruskin.

We were at the last week of May...
Sun and rain became our daily friends. I felt so blessed that we still could enjoy our daily routine, managing our time to do our 'busy' activities and staying active. Meeting family and friends, enjoying the delicious tropical fruits and vegetables everyday, exercising regularly under the beautiful morning sunshine, ...ahhh I'm so grateful for His bless.

On the first week of May, we celebrated our daughter 11th birthday. Yeah, she has turned to a teenager girl, and for me, now she is more like a friend than a daughter. We're so happy that she's growing healthy, and enjoying lots of sport activities. She is a very good swimmer (she can do all the 4 swimming styles perfectly!), she is a fast runner, a badminton player and now, she is planning to learn taekwondo. Don't be surprised if you meet her, for the last a couple of months she grows tall faster than before and now she is (only) less than 10 cm shorter than me.
A couple of days ago, I had a chit-chat with her and I realised how happy she is with her school, her study, and I want to make sure she understands that we always support her study especially for her preparation for Ujian Nasional (National Exam) next year. It'll need hard working, since her 'Bahasa Indonesia' ability still needs to be improved.

My daughter is the one who makes me pushing myself to be a creative homecook. She always brings homemade food for her lunch since she started school. I learn a lot about her appetite, her favorite food, and also healthy food for all of us. I make sure her lunch that I prepare since morning will be delicious, healthy and good looking while she eats it.
Not like other kids, she claims herself as a 'not related with cake' person. But she likes brownies, muffins, and pudding. Strange huh? Many times she refuses a plate of cake during a birthday party. So I know, she does not really enjoy to eat the 'sweet' birthday cake.
While we planned to make a birthday cake for her, I was thinking to make something that she really likes & it'll be good to put some candles on it. Then finally we found an idea to make her favorite 'tuna balls'. She likes this food since she was much smaller.

I remember when we brought this kind of 'birthday cake' to my parents house, where we celebrated her birthday, my father asked me,"So where is the birthday cake ?" while at the same time we were busy lighting the candles :D.

So this was her 'birthday tuna balls'. I was so happy that this time, she was the one who ate the most the balls, and she just spared one ball for my eldest sister who came late.

Grow and shine, Pat ! We hope you face every new day of opportunity and joy with enthusiasm.
Tuna Balls
I posted this recipe (in Bahasa Indonesia) a couple years ago, check this posting.
Ingredients:
400 grams canned tuna
100 gr onions
75 g margarine (for sauteing)
100 gr flour
300 ml of milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 / 2 teaspoon pepper
1 tsp sugar
150 gr bread crumbs
2-3 eggs (lightly beaten)
cooking oil (for frying)
Direction :
1. Drain the canned tuna, then put the fish in a bowl, set aside. Chop the onion.
2. Heat the butter, saute onion until fragrant. Add the flour, stirring quickly. Pour milk slowly while stiring the dough.
3. Add the fish, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir, set a side, wait until cool.
4. Shape dough like a small balls, diameter 2 1/2 cm, roll into bread crumbs, dip in beaten eggs. Roll back into the bread crumbs.
5. Heat oil in a skillet distinguished lot, use medium heat. Fried the tuna balls until brown, remove and drain.