Los Angeles has worlds of Southeast Asian cuisines at our feet yet the food of Indonesia, that vast archipelago of islands, isn't as well represented. Could that be because it's a cuisine that shows itself best in homes? Mother and daughter Patricia Tanumihardja and Juliana Evari Suparman aim to entice us into the kitchen with their cookbook, Mortar and Pestle.
Evan Kleiman: Let's talk a bit about the piece of equipment that is at the title of your book, the mortar and pestle. Juliana, can you describe your relationship to the mortar and pestle? What do you use it for? Do you remember your mom teaching you how to use it? Have you always had the same one over the years or do you have lots of different ones?
Juliana Evari Suparman: Yes, I remember that. You know, since I was young, my mother and my grandmother used to use that mortar and pestle for making ingredients, because last time, we didn't have an electric grinder or anything to make ingredients, you see.
And Pat, do you still use your mortar and pestle as a daily practice when you're making your home food? Or have you switched over to a blender?
Patricia Tanumihardja: My mom actually gave me her mortar and pestle, the same mortar and pestle that she brought with her to the US but I don't have that anymore because I actually gave that away to the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. I did manage to get another kit, and I use it sometimes to make simple sambals or to grind my spices but for the most part, I do use the food processor because it's a lot easier. I tend to make my spice paste in bulk, and it involves a lot less hard work.
As I mentioned in the introduction, Indonesia is this amazing country that covers a huge territory, which, of course, means there's a rich culinary diversity. Can you give us an idea of the geography of the country and some of the culinary influences in different regions?
Patricia Tanumihardja: Indonesia is a string of islands. I think there are over 18,000 islands as part of the archipelago. I can't give it an exact number because the number keeps changing every day. You have five main islands, Kalimantan, which is the largest, Java, Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea, and did I miss any? Sumatra is the second largest.
All these different islands are situated in different parts of the Indian Ocean, so there were traders who came to trade with different islands.
You had the Middle Eastern traders. You had the Chinese for Java. There were quite a few Chinese people who migrated, so there's a huge Chinese influence in the dishes in Java, whereas in Sumatra, rendang is a very popular dish. It originates with the Minangkabau people. That dish is actually an adaptation of an Indian curry because they had a lot of Indian traders who stopped by on that island. The Minang people took the Indian curry and made it their own by adding local spices and herbs and adding coconut milk and also cooking it till it was caramelized and dry, unlike Indian curries, which tend to be saucy. They just adapted all these different culinary influences, using local ingredients, local techniques, and also adapting to local palates and tastes.
Croquettes, which started as an elite snack that only the colonists consumed, are now an everyday food that can be made using leftovers. Photo by Waterbury Publications Inc.
Where is your mother from and what is her palate?
Patricia Tanumihardja: My mom was born in Bekasi, just outside of Jakarta, which is the capital on the island of Java. Jakarta has a very typical Betawi cuisine, and Javanese people tend to have a very sweet tooth. I'm sure you would have noticed, throughout the book and in some of the recipes, I always have a caveat, "Julia has a very sweet tooth," so temper the amount of sugar that you use in the recipes.
Can you describe kecap manis, what it brings to the table, and a particular dish that you could think of that really shows it off?
Patricia Tanumihardja: So kecap manis literally means an Indonesian sweet sauce, and it's actually a local adaptation of Chinese soy sauce. It's made in a similar way to soy sauce. It's fermented then local palm sugar is added to it to make it sweet. It has a sweet and savory flavor with hints of caramel and molasses as well. It's a very dark, thick sauce. Whereas Chinese soy sauce tends to be very thin and runny. Mom, what would you say is a very typical Indonesian dish that uses kecap manis?
Juliana Evari Suparman: Mostly like semur. You know, the beef semur, we use a lot of kecap manis.
Patricia Tanumihardja: Satay also uses, like all the popular dishes, kecap manis as the base. Semur, the dish that my mom mentioned, is kind of like a beef stew. It's a little bit more watery than a Western beef stew. I guess it's the Indonesian version of a Dutch beef stew that is flavored mostly with kecap manis, and you can put some herbs and spices in there as well.
Patricia Tanumihardja (right) grew up in Singapore, where she learned to cook at the side of her mother, Julia. Photo by Waterbury Publications Inc.
What does an Indonesian dinner table look like? Are there many dishes or is there a main one with sides? You call this style of eating, "eat in the middle." Can you describe the dishes that might make an appearance?
Patricia Tanumihardja: When we have a mea, there are various different ways to compose an Indonesian meal. Makan tengah, which is eating in the middle, would comprise, usually, a basket or a bowl of rice that is passed around the table, and everybody will scoop however much they want onto their plate. Then, in the middle of the table, we usually have a variety of dishes. Usually there's one protein. It could be a meat dish, like rendang, or it could be a chicken dish, like ayam goreng, which is fried chicken or fish, or even just tofu or tempeh.
Then, there would usually be a side dish of vegetables. It could be kangkung, fried kangkung is Morning Glory. Or we could have lalapan. Lalapan is actually just raw vegetables that is dipped into sambal. That's the simplest vegetable dish that you could have on an Indonesian dinner table, but we can also have just one dish, meals like laksa. This already has carbs in it, like a noodle or a rice, and then there is soup poured over it, and then with some meat and vegetables or tofu.
It all sounds so good. Let's talk about snacks. You open the book with a snack section and you say that Indonesians have a notable snacking culture. I just love the recipe for the sweet and spicy potatoes. Describe them to us. They just sound so simple to throw together.
Patricia Tanumihardja: I think that's probably the simplest recipe in the book. The traditional version actually uses cassava chips as opposed to potato chips, but they're a bit hard to find here, and the chips are coated in a sweet and spicy shellacking of sauce. When my parents moved here, this is a snack that my dad really missed. My mom's friend actually came up with a way to make it using potato chips. You just buy store-bought potato chips, and it's a mix of sambal oelek, some vinegar and some sugar. Make that into a sauce. Then you just dump the whole bag of potato chips inside your pan and mix it all together, wait for it to cool, and you can start eating right away. You can also store it for a couple of days but in my experience, it doesn't last a couple of days because once you start eating, you can't stop.
"Mortar and Pestle" delivers classic Indonesian recipes into the hands of home cooks, showcasing the cuisine's complex flavors and Dutch influence. Photo courtesy of Weldon Owen.
Could you pick another favorite dish that shows off its Dutch origins?
Patricia Tanumihardja: One of my favorite snacks, we call them jajanan pasar, which means market buys, literally in Indonesian. So one of my favorite jajanan pasar is croquette cantang, which is potato croquettes. It's basically an adaptation of the Dutch croquette. It's made with potatoes, and it has meat and vegetables, and it's coated in breadcrumbs. It's these round balls that are coated in breadcrumbs then deep fried and eaten with peanut sauce. That is one of my favorite snacks ever. I can still remember when my mom would make them. As soon as they're out of the frying pan, I'd be popping it into my mouth. It was that good. I couldn't wait.
Kroket Kentang
Chicken and Potato Croquettes
Makes 24
With its creamy center and crisp outer crust, this Dutch-Indonesian snack is a fan favorite! The name kroket comes from the Dutch word kroketten. What started off as an elite snack that only the colonists consumed is now an everyday food that can be made using leftovers. There are different fillings too—chicken, beef, and cheese are commonly used. The most popular version of kroket is made by wrapping the filling with a potato “dough,” which is then breaded and deep-fried. Julia combines everything, including the potatoes, into one creamy filling instead. I recommend making the filling on one day and breading and deep-frying on another.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1/2 lb (210 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts or 1 cup leftover cooked chicken
- 1 lb (450 g) yellow gold potatoes
- 6 tablespoons (90 g) unsalted butter
- 6 small Asian shallots or 3 large European, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup (145 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 cup (240 ml) + 2 tablespoons whole or 2 percent milk, divided
- 1 cup (140 g) frozen peas and carrots, thawed
- 1 cup (30 g) finely chopped Chinese celery leaves or parsley
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
For assembly and frying
- 1 cups (150 g) breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Sambal Kacang (page 167, optional)
Instructions
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To make the filling, poach the chicken (using the method on page 34) and cut into .-inch (6-mm) dice.
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Boil the potatoes until tender. Peel and cut into .-inch (6-mm) dice. Melt the butter in a wok or large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-loq heat. Once the butter melts, add the shallots and garlic and stir and cook until fragrant, 30–45 seconds. Sprinkle in 1 cup (115 g) of flour and use a wooden spoon to stir in a figure-eight motion until the flour has completely absorbed all the butter, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
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Gradually add 1 cup (240 ml) of milk and cook and stir over low heat until the roux thickens into a soft dough, 8–10 minutes. If any lumps of flour remain, break them up with your spoon.
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Add the cooked chicken, cooked potatoes, peas and carrots, and celery leaves, mixing in between each addition. Season with the sugar, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk and continue to stir until the “dough” is cooked through, just a little sticky, and firm enough to be rolled into balls, 20–25 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired. It should taste sweet, savory, and noticeably nutmeggy. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
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To assemble, have the following within arm’s reach: the cold potato filling, 2 rimmed plates (1 with the remaining . cup [30 g] of flour and 1 with the breadcrumbs), a bowl filled with the beaten eggs, and a parchment-lined baking sheet for the rolled kroket.
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Dust your hands with flour and roll 2 tablespoons of filling into an egg-shaped or round ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the filling is used up.
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Using separate hands (so the flour doesn’t get clumpy from the egg), coat each ball in the flour, the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Make sure to cover all surfaces. Return to the baking sheet. Repeat until all the kroket have been breaded.
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At this point, you can freeze the kroket on the baking sheet for an hour or two, then tip into a zip-top bag to fry at another time. (Do not thaw before frying and fry for an extra minute or two, adjusting the heat so that the outside doesn’t burn before the inside is heated up). Regardless, I recommend placing the kroket in the freezer to stay firm while the oil heats up.
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Heat 2 inches (5 cm) of oil in a wok or medium deep, heavy pot over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350¢XF (180¢XC). (See page 200 for deep-frying tips).
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Reduce the heat to medium. Using tongs, gently lower the kroket into the hot oil one at a time, making sure they float freely and don’t touch the bottom of the pan. Fry in batches until golden brown on all sides, 1–1. minutes. Nudge the kroket around in the oil as needed so they cook evenly. Remove with a wire mesh straner and drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
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Remove any rogue breadcrumbs and bring the oil back up to temperature before frying the next batch. Repeat until all the kroket are fried. You can keep them warm in a 250¢XF (120¢XC) oven.
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Serve warm or at room temperature with sambal kacang I (if using).
Kripik Kentang Pedas Manis
Sweet and Spicy
Potato Chips
Serves 4
Sweet and spicy tapioca crisps were one of my favorite childhood snacks. These crisps are potato chips’ exotic, far-flung cousins shellacked in a sweet, spicy, and tangy coating. I couldn’t get enough of them, my taste buds craving more as my fingers popped crisp after crisp into my mouth on autopilot.
Well, a few years ago, Julia learned to make a potato chip version. And, of course, there’s a story to go with it! “When Daddy goes to my friend’s house, she makes kripik for him, and he finishes everything. He loves this!” she told me. This happened so frequently that finally, in embarrassment, Julia just asked her friend for the recipe. Kripik kentang uses only four ingredients, and you probably already have them in your pantry—sambal oelek, sugar, vinegar, and store-bought potato chips. My advice: make a double batch and don’t bother saving it for tomorrow (or anyone else). They taste best eaten right away anyway.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 package (5 oz/140 g) unsalted or sea salt thick-cut potato chips, such as Kettle brand
- 18 Mortar
Instructions
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Combine the sugar, sambal, and vinegar in a wok or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat.
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Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens and starts to bubble, 3–4 minutes.
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Reduce the heat to low. Taste and adjust the seasonings if desired.
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Pour the entire package of chips into the wok and stir gently to coat. The chips should be lightly coated with sauce.
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Devour immediately or allow to cool before storing in an airtight container for 1–2 days.