Savory Traditional Indonesian Recipes using Coconut
Coconut is used frequently in both sweet and savory dishes in Indonesia. As coconuts are easily accessible, it is highly used in many traditional recipes.
Soto Ayam
Soto ayam is a yellow spicy chicken soup with lontong or nasi empit or ketupat (all compressed rice that is then cut into small cakes) and/or vermicelli or noodles. There are different variations of this soup according to the different regions of Indonesia.
Ingredients:
-1/2 chicken breast cut into cubes or stripped from the bone
-1 stalk of lemongrass cut into three pieces
-1 can of coconut milk
-1 can of chicken broth (you can also make this at home by boiling chicken along with vegetables and salt)
-1 glass of water
Spice paste:
-1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
-1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
-4 shallots (chopped)
-3 cloves of garlic
-2 pieces of turmeric (peeled and chopped) or 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
-2inch piece of galangal (peeled and chopped)
-2inch piece of ginger (peeled and sliced)
-1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
Additional ingredients:
-2 cups of sliced cabbages
-2 cups of bean sprouts
-1/2 of vermicelli or 1 small packet of glass noodles
-2 limes (cut into wedges)
-2 hard boiled eggs (cut into wedges)
-1 stalk of spring onion (chopped)
Method:
Blend the spice paste in a food processor. Add some water if needed. Pour some oil in a pot and add in the spice paste. Stir the spice paste and wait for it to turn light brown. Add in chicken broth, coconut milk, lemon grass strips, and water. Once the broth starts boiling, add in chicken breast cubes. Cover the pot and lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Blanch beansprouts, pre-soaked vermicelli / glass noddles, cabbages in another pot of boiling water and transfer them into a bowl once they are cooked. Add in toppings of hard-boiled eggs, chopped spring onions and pour the hot chicken broth into the bowl. Serve hot with lime wedges.
Gudeg Jogja- Yogjakarta Jackfruit Stew
Gudeg is a traditional Javanese cuisine from Jogjakarta and Central Java, it is made from young unripe jackfruit boiled for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk. It is traditionally served with white steamed rice, chicken either as ayam uduk (chicken in coconut milk) or ayam goreng (fried chicken), telur pindang, opor telur, or just hard boiled egg, tofu and/or tempeh, and sambal goreng krechek (a stew made of crisp beef skins).
Serves 8
Ingredients:
-6 bay leaves (Indonesian: daun salam)
-3 kaffir lime leaves (Indonesian: daun jeruk)
-1 inch galangal (bruised) (Indonesian: lengkuas)
-2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh)
-1 tea bag of black tea (optional)
-75 grams palm sugar (Indonesian: gula jawa)
-1 ½ teaspoon salt
-500 grams of young jack fruit (cut into bite sized pieces) (Indonesian: nanka muda)
-1 liter coconut milk
-4 hard boiled eggs (optional)
Gudeg is a traditional Javanese cuisine from Jogjakarta and Central Java, it is made from young unripe jackfruit boiled for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk. It is traditionally served with white steamed rice, chicken either as ayam uduk (chicken in coconut milk) or ayam goreng (fried chicken), telur pindang, opor telur, or just hard boiled egg, tofu and/or tempeh, and sambal goreng krechek (a stew made of crisp beef skins).
Spice paste:
-50 grams shallots (Indonesian: bawang merah)
-4 cloves of garlic (Indonesian: bawang putih)
-8 candlenuts (Indonesian: kemiri)
-1 teaspoon coriander seeds (Indonesian: biji ketumbar)
Method:
Place bay leaves, lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, tea bag, salt, palm sugar, and spice paste into a soup pot. If you have a claypot big enough to cook this, it will be even better.
Add jackfruit into the pot. Pour coconut milk into the pot, making sure that everything is submerged, bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, add hard boiled eggs (if using), and simmer on the lowest heat setting possible until all liquid is fully absorbed by the jackfruit and eggs. Stir every 30 minutes or so. This process should take about 4 to 5 hours.
Turn off heat, adjust seasoning as needed, some people really like their gudeg to be on the sweet side. Remove all the leaves. Transfer to a serving plate and serve warm or at room temperature.
Method:
Opor Ayam
Opor ayam is a chicken dish cooked in coconut milk from Indonesia, especially from Central Java. It is a popular dish for lebaran also known as Eid ul-Fitri (major national holiday), usually eaten with ketupat and sambal goreng ati (beef liver in sambal). It's similar to curry, though it has a light taste yet still delicious and aromatic.
Ingredients:
-1 whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces)
- 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 salam leaf
- 500ml thick coconut milk
- 500ml water/chicken broth
-1 tablespoon tamarind juice (lime/lemon juice can be used as a substitute)
- 2 teaspoons salt (add more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Spice paste:
- 7 shallots
- 4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 4 candlenuts (roasted)
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon shredded fresh galangal
- ½ teaspoon shredded fresh ginger
Method:
Marinate chicken with 1 tablespoon of tamarind juice and 1 tablespoon salt. Leave it for 15 minutes.
Grind or blend the ingridients of spice paste.
Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil saute the spice paste together with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salam leaf over a medium-high heat until fragrant. Then add the chicken and stir a bit with the spice and then pour the water. Add salt and sugar. Cook until it’s boiling.
When the chicken is half-done, add the coconut milk. Continue cooking over a medium heat until it’s cooked.
Note : You can add boiled egg or tofu as well to the recipe.
