Cooking and Baking Laboratory

November 15, 2008

Steamed Rainbow Sponge Cake (Bolu Kukus Pelangi)

This cake is very famous kind of steamed sponge cake in Indonesia. People usually call it Bolu Kukus Pelangi. Pelangi or rainbow is presented by its colorful batter. I’ve seen people add various food coloring such as red, green, yellow, and blue. But, I choose to make it not so colorful and add some raisins.

Ingredients:

3 low cholesterol organic eggs
⅓ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cake emulsifier
½ cup wheat flour (medium protein/all purposes flour)
100 ml low fat milk
A drop of cocopandan pasta for red color as much as necessary
A drop of pandan pasta for green color as much as necessary
2 tablespoons raisin

Instructions:

Set the cake pan. Cover with thin layer of margarine. Set aside.
Set the steamer. Assure the steamer has enough steam before put the cake in.
Beat eggs and sugar until the sugar well dissolve and the color turn pale/white. Add cake emulsifier.
Add baking powder. Mix it until well improved or become smooth.
Set the mixer in low speed.
Add flour and milk little by little alternately. Mix it only for a while just to make sure the batter is mixed homogenously.
Separate the batter into 3 parts. Give part 1 the red color, part 2 the green color, and part 3 give it no color (I try to reduce using food coloring/additive).
Pour the part 1 into cake pan. Steam it for about 5 minutes in medium heat.
Pour the part 3 into it. Spread the raisin. Steam it for about 5 minutes.
Pour the last part, that green batter. Steam it again for about 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat. Take it out. Cool it in room temperature then unmold it
Slice it and ready to serve.

(fit for 8-10 slices)

Caution:
If you can’t use glass steamer cover, you need to wrap the cover with a clean napkin to prevent water flecks drop onto your cake surface. The flecks will cause your cake surface become billowy.

November 12, 2008

Urap (Boiled Vegetables with Chili Spiced Grated Coconut)

This is very simple veggie food in Indonesia. Simple, if you have the ready cooked spiced grated coconut in your storage. I do not know where it originally comes from. I find this kind of salad in West Java, Central Java, Jogjakarta and East Java. I also find urap in Bali Island, but with different chili spiced. In Bali, people use spiced coconut milk. People use the similar spiced grated coconut in Java Island, however the taste and the appearance definitely differs from each other.

This urap below is my mother recipe. Maybe this is urap from East Java, but I don’t know exactly. If someone know its story, please tell me..okay :)

Ingredients:

150 grams spinach
75 grams long pea (kind of legume), diced
50 grams cabbage, sliced
75 grams bean sprout
(You can also use finely sliced carrot)
750 ml Water
A pinch of Salt

Instructions:

Boil the water. Pour some water into bean sprout. Soak for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove the bean sprouts and drain it.

Keep the heat in medium. Add long pea to the boiled water, add a pinch of salt, stir. Wait until gentle enough or about 5 minutes.

Add spinach, for about 3 minutes then add cabbage. Then take them out of the water and drain.

You can also boil the vegetables separately, one by one with different boiled water. That will take some extra time, of course.

I choose to mix them because at the end they will be mixed too, just for practical purposes.

Spiced Grated Coconut:

½ coconut, grated
4 Chilies
3 Cloves onion
5 Shallots
1 inch Kencur (greater galingale, Kaempferia galanga)
2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon palm sugar
Jeruk purut leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
Banana leaves

Intructions:

Boil water in steamer.
Grind all spices with stone mortar or processor. I prefer to use stone mortar.
Mix with grated coconut.
Wrap in banana leaves.
Steam it for about 30 minutes.

Serve urap by mix boiled vegetables with spiced grated coconut.

(for 2-3 peoples)

November 6, 2008

Fried Rice with Lemongrass, Fast Food Homemade

One day, the rain was falling so hard and I found my food storage box (the refrigerator) was empty. Not really empty actually. There were a tomato, frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, sweet corns, green beans), and a wrapped frozen minced beef. I was confused thinking what I have to serve for dinner. I just couldn’t go out and do some shopping in that hard rainy day. Call delivery order for food, no..no..I just couldn’t feel appetizing when thinking of some fast food or traditional food I could order at that time.

I just got stuck in the kitchen and didn’t know what to do until my hands did it :D

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice
2 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
3 chilies, diced
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, set in room temperature
½ cup minced beef
2 lemongrasses, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of sugar
2 teaspoons sweet soy sauce
A tomato, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil

Instructions:

In high heat, sauté chopped garlic, crushed lemongrasses and diced chilies with a tablespoon olive oil until fragrant.
Add minced beef. Add a tablespoon olive oil. Stir until the red beef turn into brown color.
Add mixed vegetables. Stir it.
Add cooked rice. Stir well.
Add salt, sugar, soy sauce, and ... a little bit fish sauce to enhance the taste.
Stir well.
Turn the heat off. Finish.
Serve with sliced tomato.

(for 2 peoples)

Hmm, and about the picture, I’m not satisfied with this, lack of light and blur. I’ve tried my best to get good picture, yeah..but unfortunately this only I’ve got in that night.