This
was a very interesting week for me - I have to admit that I knew very little
about Indonesia before beginning my research.
I read many blogs and websites, before settling on my recipes - Satay
Chicken with Peanut Sauce and their traditional rice dish with minced chicken
and an egg on top. Everything turned out
very well with many amazing herbs, spices and flavours incorporated
seamlessly. However, it reminded me how
important it is to follow a recipe!
I
deviated in three ways: instead of using minced chicken in the rice, I used
pork for the cost savings and flavour (win!).
I also thought that I had brown rice, or at least white rice at home,
and I did not. I substituted sticky rice
(fail) which did not affect the flavour, but created a terrible texture. Finally, I marinated the chicken in the
peanut sauce for the recommended 30 minute minimum, and it turned out well, but
not optimal.
I would say that the thing
I learned most this week was that there are SO MANY soy sauce varieties and
they are all very different, in a wonderful way! I've always known that I didn't like the
generic soy sauces on the market, but I didn't realize that there were so many
other amazing options. Tamari was the first one I came across while shopping
for ingredients – it is a Japanese form of soy sauce, traditionally made as a
byproduct of miso paste. The main
difference between Tamari and regular soy sauce is that it typically does not
include any wheat (but you should always check the label if you are allergic to
gluten!). Kecap Manis was the second
type of soy sauce on my list, originating from Indonesia and it is sweeter,
thicker, darker and more syrupy due to the high content of palm sugar. (Scroll down for recipes)
Recipes
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