Indonesian food will warm you up, but be ready for lots of chopping
My kitchen is a sanctuary of stir-fries and rice dishes, exotic spices and strange bottles as I contemplate the winter blues. The wok is fighting with the casserole, and my crusted earthenware pots have morphed from holding Anglo-Irish-Franco rib-stickers to holding the likes of beef rendang, a rich, slow-cooked dish, and fish bali, a refreshingly sour take on fish stew. The room is full of the delicious aromas of chopped coriander, lemon grass and ginger. I am roasting coriander and cumin seeds to a rounded sweetness before grinding them to a dark, eat-me paste.
This is, broadly speaking, Indonesian food, a cuisine that lies between Thai and Chinese. Chillies play a role, but the excitement comes from spices and aromatics: lime leaves for sharpness, bay leaves for rounded warmth and tamarind for sourness.
This style of eating involves making more than one dish, served with rice or noodles. It also involves time and a great deal of chopping. Salad, too, plays an important role, eaten with a peanut sauce or a dressing made with dried prawns, lime juice and sugar.
Key to this style of eating are the relishes, such as sambal. The idea is to create something strong tasting, so only a little is eaten to accompany the main dishes.
Recipes serve four if prepared together
BEEF RENDANG
3 tbsp finely chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
1kg stewing beef, cut into chunks
3 lemon-grass stalks, tough outer leaves removed, tender internal parts finely chopped
1 bay leaf
400g tin coconut milk
200ml chicken or beef stock
Grind the first six ingredients together in a mortar and pestle (you may need to add a spoon of water), then toss the meat in them. Leave the mixture overnight if you can. Otherwise combine it with the lemon grass, bay leaf, coconut milk and stock in a pan. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for an hour, or until the oil separates and comes to the surface, above your reduced mass of vegetable, meat and coconut milk. The next part is crucial. Now the stock has gone, carefully fry the meat and spices in their own oil until they become dark, dry and aromatic but not burnt. Remove from the heat when the spices become rounded and sweet smelling.
MACKEREL BALI
500g mackerel fillets
juice and zest of 3 limes
vegetable oil
2 red chillies, or to taste, finely chopped
2cm ginger, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp light brown sugar
Cut the fish into five-centimetre chunks and toss it with the lime juice and a seasoning of salt. Heat a two- centimetre depth of oil in a pan. Fry the fish in batches, turning once, for two minutes each side, or until it is just cooked. Drain on kitchen paper.
Grind the chillies, ginger, cloves and shallots to a paste. Heat a tablespoon of oil and fry the spice mixture over a low heat until it begins to smell sweet (about two minutes). Add a cup of water, the soy sauce, sugar and zest and allow it to bubble up. Check the seasoning and return the fish to the pan. Allow it to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thick. Turn the fish occasionally, to coat with the sauce.
FRESH PICKLED VEGETABLES
½ cucumber, sliced
2 carrots, very thinly sliced
1 handful bean sprouts
1 handful white cabbage, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp raw unsalted peanuts
1 tsp light brown sugar
2 red chillies, thinly sliced
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Wash the vegetables in iced water. Drain and dry them, then transfer them to a bowl. Dry-fry the peanuts, with a sprinkling of salt, until they are nicely coloured. Combine the sugar and two tablespoons of water in a small saucepan. Boil until the sugar dissolves. Add the chilli and vinegar, then set aside to cool. Toss the vegetables in the dressing, season with salt and scatter with the peanuts.
SAMBAL
6 red chillies, roughly chopped
6 blanched almonds, roughly chopped
dash of fish sauce
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
vegetable oil
1 tsp light brown sugar
juice and zest of 1 lime
Combine the first five ingredients and grind to a paste. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil and saute the paste lightly, until it is just coloured. Add the sugar, lime juice and zest and a couple of tablespoons of water. Allow to simmer gently for five to 10 minutes. The oil will separate, but continue cooking until the mixture turns brown and starts to dry out.