Lontong Opor Ayam by Arfi Binsted

Entry pertama untuk event ini, dari Arfi  B, Lontong Opor Ayam, dengan Lontong  yang cara pembuatannya  dibungkus dengan daun anggur, tidak ada daun pisang daun anggur pun jadi... amazing kan ?

Dear fab cooks and bakers, Trio Wokeh darlings,

Akhirnya, saya dan keluarga menikmati lontong opor ayam. Meskipun ga pake daun pisang, karena ga punya dan ga ada dijual di Asian groceries di Pukekohe, saya pakai daun anggur saja. Daunnya dibersihin dulu lalu dipake spt daun pisang, dibungkus pakai aluminium. Cara bikin lontongnya saya lebih aman pakai cara di aron dulu, dan lebih cepat tentunya--krn anak2 sudah hilir mudik ke dapur, checking when the food is ready.

Trio Wokeh dear, ini entry saya ya. Mudah2an fotonya ga kegedean, ukuran foto ga tertera di RoTG, jadi saya pakai 62K tertera di file saya, mudah2an ga melar melebihi bandwidth ketika dikirimkan.

Berikut data-data saya:

Arfi

Blog: HomeMadeS (http://www.homemadesbyarfi.com/)

Link Post: http://www.homemadesbyarfi.com/2012/02/lontong-opor-ayam.html

Lontong (Rice Cakes)

• 1 cup medium rice
• 1/2 cup long-grain rice
• Water
• banana leaves (thawed when using frozen; wash and dry when using fresh to get rid of the wax-my grandmother used to heat the leaves up on top of the stove heat as to soften or relaxing the leaves and release the oil, so they won't break when folded)
• aluminium foil
• pandan leaves, cut into strips

Wash the rices under cold water tap in a sift and drained. Put them in a saucepan and cover with water. Dip your forefinger in to measure how much water you should use. If the water is coming up to your first knuckle, drip a little more of water until it's coming a bit more up about 3mm from it. Cook on the stove on medium heat and stir occasionally as not to catch the rice on the bottom of the pan. When it's boiled, turn the heat down to very low, stirring occasionally. When you see water has been absorbed, removed from the heat and cover until cooled a bit.

Prepare the banana leaves. When using grape leaves like I do, you need to wash off the fluffy stuff that covers. Now, this is what I did with grape leaves.

Put the aluminium foil as the outer layer, then cleaned grape leaves, strips of pandan leaves. Spoon the cooked rice on top of the edge of the wrap. Roll to cover and sealed both sides, so you will get nice and firm cylinders. Prick them with a pointy knife several times in different location, make sure you don't make big holes all around, just enough little tiny holes to give water introduced into the cakes and help it boiled and hardened.

Cook for about an hour and a half, using pressure cooker. Give more time if the cakes are not firm to touch and check the water. I add up more water with boiling water from the kettle every time I top up. These cylinders have to be cooked in the water, not floating.

They are ready when they are firm to touch. Remove from the pan, and cool them on a wire rack. I like using a colander-like pan that came with kitchen tap set, so the excess water from the rice cakes can drip through.

When they are cooled, peel off the foil and the grape leaves. Actually, they leaves are safe to eat, like your Greek's dolmades. But, I just peel them and cut into slices. Eat with your favourite curry, sauce, or whatever comes to your creative imagination!

Opor Ayam (Chicken Braised in Lemon Grass)

• 1 whole chicken, joint, wash and dry (about the chicken. If you use free-range chicken like I do, you have to boil the joints until half-cooked prior to further cooking. Use the stock in the cooking. If you use commercial chicken from the supermarket, it is optional)
• 6 hard-boiled eggs

Bumbu (Indonesian Seasonings)

1 Tbs coriander seeds, toasted

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

8 shallots, peeled, chopped

5 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped

6 candlenuts

4 lemon grass, white stalk only, chopped

2cm ginger, peeled, chopped

2cm galangal, peeled, chopped

2cm turmeric, peeled, chopped

2 kaffir lime leaves

1 star anise

1 cinnamon quill

salt

white sugar

oil to cook

1 can Kara coconut milk (Indonesian product)

Except kaffir lime leaves, star anise, cinnamon quill, salt, sugar and oil, process all ingredients until becomes a paste in a food processor.

Cooking Opor Ayam


Heat the oil in a wok, add in the paste. Cook until fragrant. Pour in the coconut milk and 1 cup of water (or use the remaining stock). Add in the chicken pieces and hard-boiled eggs. Add in kaffir lime leaves, star anise, and cinnamon quill. I also bruised the green part of lemongrass and add them in. Cook in a slow heat will release spices oils completely and absorbed much further in the chicken meat. Season with salt and sugar. Cook through until chicken is tender. Serve hot with lontong slices. 

Sambal Udang Goreng (Prawns in Hot Chili Sauce)


1 kg prawns, washed, peeled and deveined, tails on
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 clove garlic, minced
a pinch of salt


Marinate the prawns with the mixture of tamarind paste, minced garlic and salt. Set aside for 30 minutes. Shallow fried. Place on absorbent paper, set aside. Cook in sambal goreng paste.


Sambal Goreng paste

• 1 cup sambal oelek (it's available in Asian groceries)
• 5 shallots, peeled, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
• 1 cm ginger, peeled, bruised
• 1 cm galangal, peeled, bruised
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp tamarind paste + 1/2 cup of water (add more water if you see the sambal is dry)
• 1 kaffir lime leaf, shredded
• salt
• palm sugar
• oil to cook

Process sambal oelek, shallots, shredded kaffir lime leaf and garlic in a food processor or mortal and pestle. Heat the oil, cook the paste until fragrant. Add in bruised ginger and galangal. Add in bay leaves. Cook until the sauce is thicken. Add in fried prawns. Mix thoroughly and cook further on low heat until the spices are absorbed in prawns and prawns are covered by sambal. Remove and serve.


Serving


Slice some rice cakes. Put in a bowl. Pour in the opor ayam generously with its curry sauce, sambal udang goreng, egg halves, and kerupuk (tapioca/prawn/shrimp crackers).

Salam lontong enak,

ab