Description:
After eating mexican ceviche last year and watched Anthony Bourdain's Peru episode, I want to try to make ceviche. This is a type of Latina appetizer made from raw fish... delishioush... My attempt was quite OK, I really enjoyed my codfish ceviche. This dish is easy peasy but looks posh.

Ingredients:
300 grams fresh raw white fish fillet (snapper, cod)
1 red onion
1 bunch of coriander leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 cup lime juice from 2 or 3 limes

Directions:
Chop all of the ingredients except fish into small pieces.
Cut fish into 1cm cubes.
Toss the fish into the rest of the ingredients, mix well.
Put in the fridge for 1-2 hour to marinate the fish well.
Eat!

Description:
Ditulis di sini biar ga lupa..

Ingredients:
- Kulit lumpia vietnam (rice paper)
- Daun selada
- Daun kemangi vietnam (lemon basil)
- Daun ketumbar
- Daun bawang
- Daging udang rebus
- Daging kepiting rebus atao kepiting imitasi
- Bihun, seduh air panas mpe lunak tapi jangan kelunakan
- Toge

Bahan Saos
- 1/4 cangkir kecap ikan
- 1/4 cangkir air jeruk nipis
- 2 sdm gula pasir
- 2 siung bawang putih, geprek, cincang
- cabe rawit sesuai selera, cincang

Directions:
Lumpia
1. Siapin bahan2 di wadah2 terpisah. Siapin 1 piring legok dengan air suam2 kuku. Siapin talenan dengan dibasahi air sedikit
2. Rendam kulit lumpia selama 2-3 menit di air suam2 kuku sampe lunak, abis itu bawa ke talenan. Hati2 jangan robek
3. Taro semua bahan2 lumpia di tengan rada atas dari bunderan kulit lumpia tsb.
4. Gulung lumpia
5. Sajikan di piring saji

Saos
Campur semua bahan saos di botol tertutup, trus kocok kocok kocok mpe gula larut.

Description:
Ditulis di sini biar ga lupa. Berhubung udah banyak resep dalam bahasa inggris di internet, jadi di sini ditulis bahasa Indonesia aja. Diambil dari http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/articles/pho_SJM.htm tapi cuma setengah resepnya, dan ternyata oke punya.. Disebut Soto karena emang mirip soto

Ingredients:
Bahan Kaldu
- 500 gram tulang sapi bagian kaki yg ada sumsum dan tulang rawannya
- 300 gram daging sapi berlemak berurat (apa namanya, brisket?) potong kecil kecil
- 1 bawang bombay gede
- 5 cm jahe segar
- 4 biji star anise (bunga lawang / pekak?)
- 5 cm batang kayumanis
- 4 biji cengkeh
- 2 sdm kecap ikan atau sesuai selera
- setengah sdm garam atau sesuai selera
- satu gebok gula batu (kira2 ukuran kubus 1.5cm)

Bahan untuk saji
- 150 gram daging steak sirloin segar mentah potong tipis2 sendiri (murah), atau daging sukiyaki segar mentah (mahal)
- 350 bihun atao kwetiau putih thailand, seduh atau rebus sebentar sampe lunak, siram air dingin, sisihkan
- 1 bawang bombay kecil potong tipisss banget
- 3 batang daun bawang, cincang
- sepiring kecil daun ketumbar, cincang
- sepiring kecil daun kemangi vietnam (lemon basil) yang batangnya warna ungu
- jeruk nipis
- cabe rawit

Directions:
Koncinya ada di kaldu. Gimana bikin kaldu?
1. Bakar bawang dan jahe bareng kulitnya mpe item (misalnya, dibungkus alumunium foil trus ditaro di kompor). Trus kupas kulit item di bawang dan jahe.
2. Masukkan air dingin ke panci bareng tulang sekedar menutupi tulang. Tunggu mpe mendidih di api sedang, lantas biarkan mendidih 2-3 menit. Buang airnya, bilas tulang pake air dingin. Step ini untuk bikin kaldu yg jernih.
3. Masukin 2 liter air dingin ke panci bareng tulang. Bawa mendidih di api sedang, abis mendidih kecilin api (simmer)
4. Masukin semua bahan kaldu yg lain dan simmer minimal 2 jam, paling afdol di atas 4 jam.
5. Keluarin tulang. Kupas daging2 tersisa di tulang, keluarin sumsumnya, kupas tulang rawan dan tendonnya. Taro di piring saji
6. Keluarin daging, rendem air dingin (supaya ga jadi kering pas di piring saji) trus taro di piring saji.
7. Saring kuah

Menyajikan
- Kombinasikan bahan2 saji di mangkok plus daging dari kaldu tadi sesuai selera
- Siram dengan kuah yg masih poanas sehingga daging mentah jadi mateng di mangkok
- Sruput sampe abis

For full article, click here



I just got a chance to watch the recording of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Singapore Episode last week. As usual, Bourdain visits nondescript, hidden, non-touristy places which are frequented by the locals with the sole goal to enjoy good food. For the Singapore episode, I'm glad to know that I too had known and love some of the places he visited, such as Maxwell Food Centre and Golden Mile Baharudeen Soup Tulang. I think the local fixer (was it Seetoh from Makansutra?) did a great job because he was able to paint realistic image of the daily lives and peculiarities of Singaporeans (except for the segment in Aurum restaurant).

One segment of the show was seafood, which I love! For this one, Bourdain visited a place that we didn't know had existed: Tian Jin Hai Seafood. In the show, Bourdain and Seetoh ordered Chili Crab and Steamed Shark Head. Both seemed so much mouth-watering that I wanted to eat the TV. It was decided: I needed to try Tian Jin Hai seafood before going back to Indonesia.

Thanks to Google, I managed to found Tian Jin Hai new location ever since they moved out from Jackson Centre Kopitiam. I called Kevin Yeo, the proprietor listed in Makansutra forum, and he was very friendly in answering my questions regarding the food in the restaurant. He told me that since mid-January 2008, they have moved to Punggol Marina Country Club, a place soooo secluded that no public transfer available. One can take taxi, or hop onto the hourly shuttle bus from Punggol MRT station.

After confirming the address and made reservation to Kevin, Indi booked a car from the carsharing to go there. Joining us in the mission was the avocadolite family, having mandated to try the steamed shark by Cia, a faithful Bourdain follower.

The road to Punggol Club after leaving Punggol Central area was unique, as the road was lined with thick blanket of tropical trees. It took us about 15 minutes to drive from Punggol Central area. Tian Jin Hai restaurant is located by the marina overlooking Punggol Island. Unlike many other seaside restaurant, this one doesn't face heavy traffic of freight ships and motorboat. It is quite pristine and the sea breeze is fresh.

Kevin had prepared a table for six persons at the terrace of the restaurant, with easy access into the Marina. It was not too sunny, so it wasn't hot outside. When he asked for our order, we simply replied, "Just give us whatever Anthony Bourdain had!". He continued to share stories on the many times Bourdain had visited them, to the details of what he had ordered. Bourdain even followed the chef to Jurong Fish Market to see firsthand where the restaurant got the fresh supply. We decided to order medium sized shark head, steamed. This dish is what Bourdain had ordered and Chef Jeremy Leung had spoken highly of during the World Gourmet Summit. We also ordered pregnant crab bee hoon - crab cooked with rice vermicelli, a dish that has inspired Chef Justin Quek. Too bad the bar, which is not managed by Tian Jin Hai, has not opened yet, so we couldn't order Tiger Beer.

While waiting for our orders to come, we walked along the marina to see boats (our obsession!). Indi came across an old Catamaran and spoke to the owner, Paul. Meanwhile, Thalia posed for photos with daughter Aina.

A short while later, the pregnant crab bee hoon arrived. The first taste of the bee hoon has been quite orgasmic for Thalia, and soon I confirmed it. It seemed to be quite a simple dish. The seasonings and garnish were simple, complementing the natural flavor of the crab itself and the broth. I got the taste of the roe, and it was heavenly.



Noe couldn't seem to get enough of the beehoon and crab meat. I had to keep taking out the crab meat for Noe.



Then came the steamed shark head. Actually it was not the full head but the upper jaw area, not including the eyes. Again, it looked simple. With minimal garnishing, the real taste of the chewy shark cartilage and fat were brought out out with a hint of soy-sesame oil-garlic-ginger taste.



Thalia couldn't get enough of it and even gobbled up the hidden parts under the bone. I was curious to know if the shark eyes were included in this dish. I love to eat fish eyes, and I bet shark eyes would taste good in this dish.





We girls tried to make sure that the restaurant staff needed not to wash the dishes



Overall we are really satisfied. The food is good, the service is excellent, the atmosphere of the place is great. We would definitely come back to this place. Next time, we'll try the male chili crab, just like Bourdain had.

Tian Jin Hai Seafood (Note: the website still uses the old Jackson Centre Kopitiam address)
New Address:
Marina Country Club
No. 600 Punggol 17th Avenue
Singapore 829734
Tel/Fax: 6385-7831

Here's the coordinate of the place to put into your GPS: 1.4158262136390132, 103.89919638633728

Description:
Resepnya sih dasarnya dari Inong, tapi daging ayam diganti pake ceker... jadinya ada tulang rawan, tendon, kulit, lemak, dan daging sekaligus..

Ingredients:
Bisa diliat di http://dapurbunda.blogspot.com/2005/10/mie-ayam-bakso-jamur-special-banged.html
Tapi daging ayam diganti dengan ceker. 800-900 gram ceker bisa jadi 500 gram daging ceker.

Directions:
Arahannya sama dengan sini http://dapurbunda.blogspot.com/2005/10/mie-ayam-bakso-jamur-special-banged.html , kira2.

Ceker diolahnya begini:

Sebelum ngerebus ceker, bersihin ceker dari kulit luarnya dan potong kuku ayamnya dulu (jijik bgt tuh kuku bekas korek2 tanah). Trus hantam tulang ceker pake ulekan supaya retak dan sumsum ceker keluar pas lagi direbus.

Terus kan cekernya direbus sesuai instruksi Inong.

Abis itu mulai kerjaan yg malesin: misahin daging2 ceker dari tulangnya. Karena udah direbus memang ga susah2 amat sih misahinnya, cuman ya ngabisin waktu aja, kayak ngoperasi ayam. Pokonya yang diambil bagian kulit daging dan tulang rawannya. Tulang keras dibuang ajah.

Sisanya ikuti instruksi Inong.

Description:
Dapet impor jambal roti dari indonesia, digunakanlah untuk membuat sarapan mudah dan nikmat ini, dan juga disukai anak2

Ingredients:
1 jambal roti (ukuran 5x5), iris tipis kecil
2-3 piring nasi putih yang udah dingin
4 bawang merah, iris tipis
2 bawang putih, iris tipis
1/4 kol putih, iris tipis
2 sdm kecap ikan
1 sdt gula
minyak goreng secukupnya
merica secukupnya

Directions:
Panaskan minyak goreng. Masukin jambal roti, tumis2 sampe rada2 mateng coklat. Masukin bawang2an tumis sampe bawang mateng. Masukin kol putih tumis sampe sedikit layu. Baru masukin nasi putih, bumbui dikit dengan kecap ikan dan gula, dan goreng nasi sampe mateng. Gampang kan?

For the original entry, click here

It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got--Sheryl Crow

We've not really written much thing into our blog because we've been busy with different stuff.

Busy Reading and Other Activities

Although I have completed my thesis, and I should be relaxing by now, in reality both of us were busy reading books from library. We're trying to read less blog and read more books. Since we haven't been really reading books lately (instead we read too many blogs), we have just come to realization that book is a different animal altogether from blogs. I'm not saying that books is better than blog, it's just different. We were so used to reading short blog entry that we forgot how it felt to read thick books that contain thorough elaboration of one issue only. Also, how different it feels to be able to flip pages instead of scroll down, mark quotes by pencil instead of copy-paste to local computer, easily refer back to previous chapters with a flick of a page, and search the index pages instead of google. Of course, blog has different advantages such as that it is more recent, more updated, and more interactive. Also, after the thesis, I have also been busy with my breastfeeding volunteering activities, while Indi is busy with sailing and tennis. Indi thinks he needs to lose weight, although I don't think so (I like him chubby). Nevertheless I try to accommodate his wishes to eat less carbs.

Reviewing Needs and Wants

Second baby is coming our way, so we've focused our energy and time these past few weeks in reviewing our financial stance, ranging from reviewing insurance policies, rebalancing investments, and approximating the revised monthly budget upon the arrival of Noe's little brother. The review activity boils down to two key things that are so not new (I'm sure everybody knows about it) but often difficult to implement, and we felt we need to remind ourselves about it. First key point, live within your means - spend less than you earn (so that you save more). Second key point, separate needs and wants, and only spend for needs (and don't lie to yourself by saying that your wants is necessary, because it won't change the facts).

Reviewing Our Indulgence

The thing about needs and wants lead me to ask myself, "Have we been paying too much for our wants instead of needs?" One key thing on focusing on needs is to identify our indulgence and see what can be done about it: keep fulfilling your indulgence, or reduce it, or toss it away altogether.

Let's list my indulgence from the most important to the least:

1. Travel - backpacking, see the world
2. Food (experimental, gourmet)
3. Techie Gadgets
4. Books
5. Music and Movie
6. Self-Grooming (clothes and cosmetics)

Indi's indulgence list may be like this (I need to confirm with him):

1. Travel - backpacking, see the world
2. Sailing and Sports
3. Music and Movie
4. Art and Photography
5. Cars
6. Self-Grooming (clothes and cosmetics)

Ways to Cut Cost on Indulgence

Having listed down the indulgence items, the next step is to identify what can be done about it in order to save more or to cut cost.

I'm so happy that "shopping" is not in the list. I think this is a good indication that we have started to restrain ourselves. Moreover, it shows that the indulgence items can be replaced by means other than buying or shopping.

Non-negotiable Indulgence

I'm also so glad to see that almost all items are negotiable. Travel, for us, is the most non-negotiable one. It's almost like "absolute needs" for us because we consider traveling (backpacking) as learning experience while we're young and able, hence we consider travel to be some sort of "investment" - to be able to see the world before we're getting too old and frail to travel. Anyway, we always try to travel at the lowest budget possible, since we don't really like luxury travel. So, we can't eliminate or replace travel from our indulgence list. At the most, we can only reduce travel. Therefore we plan to keep on budgeting for travel and saving a portion of our income for this specific purpose, and to always plan ahead to fulfill this.


This is non-negotiable

Negotiable Indulgence

The rest of the indulgence items are fortunately more negotiable. This means we do not need to resort to buying the stuff to fulfill our indulgence, and there are alternative ways to achieve the goal.

For me, I need to learn to resist the temptation of buying food (sushi, cakes, cookies etc) on impulse. This is my main weakness, because food expenses are often small, but when accumulated over time, it can become significant. So I have to keep the Ramadhan spirit alive in this aspect. Moreover, I should've learned new recipe so that I can make the food I want in a cheaper way.

As for Indi, he is better than me in overcoming the impulse to fulfill his indulgence. He can patiently wait for opportunity to sail or to play tennis with friends, which is definitely cheaper options than going onto package sailing tours or to enroll in sports club membership.

For techie gadget, so far we're able to resist the temptation to keep upgrading our stuff unless absolutely necessary. As a result, we use our gadgets (cell phones, computer) until the gadgets are totally broken and useless. And we're not ashamed to say, that, to save money further, we even auctioned the useless gadget in ebay (with total honesty of the condition of the item of course). We view tech gadgets as productivity tools instead of having to keep up with latest technology all the time.

For books, music and movie, we are grateful of the library system in Singapore that has great collection of books, music, and videos. Therefore we never buy those things, we only borrow them from library and use it (read, listen, watch) until we finish them or are bored with them. Moreover, by not buying those stuffs, we make more space in our house, and less mess. In fact, currently we're donating and selling our old books, to make room for storage for the second baby. Moreover, instead of buying music or paying for concerts, our appetite is adequately satiated by playing music in our house, watching concert website, borrowing concert DVDs from library, going to free concerts (i.e. on campus), or wait for the opportunity to get paid to attend concerts and write review about it.

For art and photography, we focus on the activities rather than on the tools. As a result, we rarely buy cameras or art supplies. When we need higher-end stuff, we borrow from our good friends who have access to equipments. Also, there are many websites and forum online to get involved with art and photography activities for little or no cost.

As for Indi's passion for cars, we can easily restrain it since the cost of owning a car in Singapore is just unreasonable. So far he's able to drive around using the car-sharing scheme in Singapore that gives pay-per-use access to cars (including petrol, and no need to pay for maintenance and idle costs). Moreover, he's quite satisfied to be able to drive around in road trips when we travel.

Lastly we're grateful that we put clothes and cosmetics as the lowest indulgence priority. This means that we see clothes and priority more as needs rather than indulgence, and therefore, we only buy it after having evaluated the real need of it. As a result, we rarely have problems with impulse buying on clothes and cosmetics. Also we feel that we do not have to resort to branded clothings, and happier when we find cheaper alternatives to the branded items. I guess this is partly because I have been quite satisfied buying branded items when I was in high school and college, and realized that I didn't find happiness from owning branded goods. When people pity me because my husband never bought me branded stuff or pricey jewelry, I am actually very happy that we could put the money into something else more fruitful!

Lessons Learned in Separating Wants and Needs

In a nutshell, there are three lessons derived from identifying needs and wants.

1. Think twice, thrice, four times when buying stuff to avoid impulse buying. Is it a need? Or is it a want?
2. Think about accumulated value of small impulse purchases (such as food and eating out), and opportunity cost arising from it
3. When identifying needs and deciding to buy stuff, think on what actual goal you want to achieve after owning the stuff, and think if there are ways other than buying-owning to achieve the same goal.

So, what's your indulgence? How to stay frugal and save money without sacrificing so much of your indulgence?

Description:
This is inspired by my previous Pilaf recipe. Mainly I made this fried rice for two reasons:

1. Noe has been refusing vegetable for more than one week, but is in love with fried rice. I make this spinach fried rice so that he won't be able to avoid vegetable anymore.
2. I want to make use of leftovers in the fridge

This recipe is healthy: mix of fiber (spinach), iron (spinach), protein (chicken), carbohydrate (rice), and fat (butter). It's easy and fast to cook too.

Update: Noe loves this fried rice! Yay!

Ingredients:
1 bowl of leftover rice
3 clove of garlic, chopped
1 bunch of basil leaves, chopped
1 bunch of spinach leaves, chopped
1 tbs butter (plus if you have, some seasoned chicken fat. I have chicken fat as leftover from my Yucatan chicken recipe)
1/2 small plate of leftover roast chicken breast, chopped
Oregano, pepper, to taste
Salt or chicken stock cube, to taste

Directions:
Melt butter. Enter garlic and basil, then stir fry chicken (and chicken fat). Then put the chopped spinach, stir fry until it is cooked. Mix in rice, salt, oregano, pepper, and stir fry to desirable doneness.

Description:
We arranged a lunch to celebrate our dear friend Natasha's birthday. She's vegetarian, so we will cook something vegetarian for her. Keen in introducing the mexican food from our last trip, we modified the Mayan Grilled Chicken recipe into Grilled Tofu

Ingredients:
Grilled Tofu
2 firm tofu
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon / lime, squeeze the juice out
4 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs honey
half cup of water
mexican oregano, to taste
salt pepper, to taste

Mexican Risotto
Leftover marinade from the tofu
1 tbs butter
quarter cup milk
1/3 plate of cooked rice
parmesan cheese shredded, to taste
mexican oregano, to taste
salt pepper to taste

To serve
1 pack of flour tortilla, heated
1 jar of red salsa
1 bottle of mexican hot sauce
1 jar of guacamole (or mashed avocado mixed with guacamole mix)
1 jar of mexican pickles
1 small plate of cheese, parmesan, or feta cheese cubed

Directions:
Grilled Tofu
1. cut tofu to long strips with 1cm x 1cm dimension
2. mix garlic, lemon, soy sauce, honey, water, oregano, salt, pepper together
3. marinate the tofu strips into the seasoning mixture for at least one day, best for two days, in the fridge
4. grill the tofu strips on the pan or on flame

Mexican Risotto
1. Mix the leftover tofu marinate with butter on hot pan. Simmer until the most of the water evaporates and the liquid quantity in the pan is reduced
2. Mix in the milk and simmer for a few minutes more
3. Mix in the rice, oregano, salt and pepper
4. Mix in the parmesan cheese

Serve with the condiments and hot flour tortilla
1. Put tortilla on the plate
2. Lay down two strips of grilled tofu
3. Top it with salsa, guacamole, and risotto
4. You can also add the cheese and pickle
5. Roll up the tortilla and eat it using your hands.

For full entry, click here

The air in Singapore has been really unpleasant. When you look out the window you wouldn't be able to see really far because there is blurry fog all day long. But wait, it's not foggy at all!

Fog happens when the weather is cold, but in Singapore it's as hot as hell (almost).  It's actually smog or smoke, air pollution that came from Indonesia. The newspaper reported that the smoke level reaches its highest today. And we're like, thousands of kilometers away from the smoke source. I wonder how it feels to live in Pekanbaru or other cities in Sumatra.

No wonder I have been having sore throat and shortness of breath these past few days, and I haven't smelled fresh air either. Noe has been a bit cranky too. Because I don't use air conditioning at home, I always kept my windows wide open, and I could clearly smell soft smoggy / smoky aroma. I wish it smells like satay instead!

A month ago Blass-Hernandez gave us a pack of Minnesota wild rice. Last weekend we cooked it using the following simple recipe:

Wild-Rice-Stuffed Things

The things to be filled up

• One pound of cuttlefish: Clean up the cuttlefish, separate the ink, and chop up the head. Leave the body hollow to be filled
• Bell pepper, cut off the top and clean the inner part to make
• Portobello Mushroom, chop up (or you can also scoop up the inner part to make hollow part for the stuffing)

The stuffing

• A cup of Minnesota Wild Rice
• Water, just enough to cover the rice.
• One Onion, chop it up
• Garlic to taste, chop it up
• Herbs (Basil, rosemary, oregano)
• Butter
• Salt and pepper to taste, a bit of sugar too
• Toothpicks

To make stuffing

1. Boil water with a dash of salt
2. Toss in the wild rice and the cuttlefish ink.
3. Stir so that the wild rice is well covered in water and break the cuttlefish ink.
4. Put the stove power to low, and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes until the rice grains breaks and the water is reduced significantly. You can drain off the excess water.
5. In the pan: melt butter, and then mix in the garlic and onion.
6. When the onion becomes transparent and soft, mix in the chopped cuttlefish head.
7. Saute for several minutes, then mix in the rice.
8. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs.
9. Saute for several more minutes until the rice is moist with butter and is dry but fluffy. Set aside.

Stuff the thing!

1. Fill in the things (Cuttlefish body, calamari, mushroom or other things such as tomato, aubergine) with rice mixture.
2. Seal the cuttlefish with toothpicks.
3. You can bake it in the oven for few minutes, or wrap the things with aluminum foil and grill it over charcoal.

Last Monday we went to IMM and I discovered these funny signs (please click for details):

After dinner Widyo came to our place to bury his son's placenta. Congratulations for the new baby boy, Widyo! We hope he would be able to join you to play tennis soon.

For full entry, read the original posting at www.indrani.net

When we went to Padang last month, we splurged on traditional Minang food that we missed so much, such as Sate Padang, Bebek Lado Ijo (with happy seasoning), many kinds of Sambal Lado and Gulai, and the special grilled fish from Lake Maninjau, grilled banana, and sanjai crackers. We took the opportunity to get Dadih or Dadiah, traditional minang water buffalo yogurt which is fermented in bamboo container covered with banana leaf.