Tumpeng Ulang Tahun

It is my first attempt to make TUMPENG ( cone shape made by yellow/white rice). It is a symbol of celebration and thanksgiving in most place in Java island.
I don't have cone mold to form a good shape of cone. So I made 4 layers of rice to make it a tall enough rice  'mountain'  :) . The entree were ayam kalasan (sweet sour chicken), telur bumbu bali (hard boiled eggs with Balinese seasoning), perkedel ( fried mashed potato). The condiments were sambal manis (sweet chilli sauce) and the edible garnish were sliced cucumber & tomato.
I made it last week, on my birthday. We enjoyed these food with some of my friends. I'm glad they like it. 

Just to make my son happy, I made effortless jelly bday ( i don't have bday cake). Jev loves to blow birthday candle. I made konyaku jelly with chocolate flavor and added fresh strawberries on top of it by using toothpick. Jev was so glad. Strawberry is his favorite fruit. He almost finished all strawberries.  

Above all food prepared that night, my birthday celebration was complete with my lovely family close to me.

Dawet/Cendol Jelly (Pandan Jelly drink)

I took time to arrange my pantry. I've left them for 3 months as I stayed in Indonesia previous months. 
I found 'konyaku powder' . I have Nutrijell brand which is one of the leading brand for konyaku powder in Indonesia.  Konyaku powder is starch that is processed from tuberous root from the devils tongue plant was traditionally used in Japan to produce jelly like substance used in food. It is also one of source of fiber for our daily intake.  


I tried to browse the recipe using this jelly powder, I still have the plain one. 
Finally I got a lists of recipe from Nutrijell website. If you want to take a look, just click HERE. It's in Indonesian language. 
I decided to try Dawet/Cendol Jelly (Jelly drink) recipe with some adjustment. 
I don't have 'Suji leaves'. So I change this ingredient to just Pandan paste I got from Asian grocery store here. I ran out of  coconut milk so I used coffee mate. And instead of palm sugar I used brown sugar. 


The original version of Dawet/Cendol is made from rice flour and/or mung bean flour mix with Suji and Pandan leaves extract. It is more complicated to make. Here is the video how to make the original one. The video is from Nova tabloid Indonesia. Click HERE to watch. 


Here is the recipe with my modification :

For the Jelly:
1 Plain Nutrijell
700 cc water
2 tsp of Pandan Paste

For the drink:
700 cc cocounut milk ---- my version : I'm using coffee mate + water
200 g palm sugar ---- my version  :  brown sugar
50 g sugar
Pandan leaves 
A pinch of salt

Method : 

For the jelly, mix the powder with the water, heat it (medium heat), stir until it is boiled. Pour the jelly mix into a container/pyrex.  Let it cool. Shred the jelly. 

For the  drink, mix coconut milk, palm sugar and sugar.  Cook with medium heat until boiled.  

Prepare a tall glass,put some cube ice, put some shredded jelly and pour out the drink. It is ready for us  to enjoy....

Bandung Visit Highlight

Being in my home town is such a joy.

Sundanese 'taste bud' has attached to my preference. 

Here are some highlight..

1. Nasi Liwet & Martabak Telur Bi Aca
 (slow cooked rice & fried eggs crepes  made by Bi Aca)

Bi Aca is my mom's helper, especially when my mom had a big feast.  She will help to cook. 

Her fried chicken, nasi liwet, martabak telur, sayur asem (sour soup), sambal terasi ( shrimp paste chilli sauce) are phenomenal. 

I think she has 'cooking gift' in her hands. Though she only used just simple seasoning and herbs, she could nail many kind of food.  One day, she cooked for us, nasi liwet ikan asin (salted fish slow cooked rice) and martabak telur (fried eggs crepes).  Her fried eggs crepes is so delicious, I got one of her secret, she added small amount of ground candle nuts into it. 

Nasi Liwet with tempeh, sambal terasi, and cucumber ..."please forgive me for this blurry pictures"

Martabak Telur

2. Batagor Yunus ( Fried fish dumpling & tofu)

Bandung is the original place of this kind of food. Many people recognizes Bandung as a creative town in term of food and fashion. Many kind of unique food has been born from this city.  I remember around 1980 when I was still in elementary school, my dad bought this kind of food. It is a fried fish dumpling with tofu, we enjoy Batagor with peanut sauce and sweet soy sauce sprinkled by 'jerut purut' ( kaffir lime). 

Batagor & Kaffir Lime

There are varieties of Batagor from the gourmet one to the street vendor one. For me Batagor Yunus is in the middle of these two categories. It has reasonable price with delicious taste. Their simple place now is getting larger. Last time it only had about 4 big tables, now it has more then 10 tables.  Batagor Yunus located on Jl. Kopo, near Jl. Panjunan, before Imannuel Hospital. 

3. Buah Naga (Dragon Fruit)

I've seen the pictures in the Internet. It was my first time to hold, cut and taste this exotic fruit. It is not too sweet, smooth and it has 'cooling' effect to my tummy. Definitively  I will eat this again.