The movie is about a mouse named Remy who had a dream of becoming a chef. He was very inspired when he saw a book “Anyone Can Cook” which was written by a very known chief. He has a gift to sense the smell and taste.

After he went through many things and separated from his family, he ended up Gusteau’s restaurant where he met a young boy named Linguini who cannot cook but really wanted to become a chef.

Anyway, at the end of the story, both Remy and Linguini finally ran a restaurant together.

The part which I like from this movie is when Remy showed his brother how good is to taste two kind of foods at once, especially when he finally could cook the mushroom with the cheese with the help of the lightning. Wow… that’s amazing.

I know that I’m not the best chef on earth, and I count myself as an amateur in cooking. But I believe it is always worthwhile to try and if we cook with the whole of our heart and not affraid to take the risk, even the simplest recipe can be a great dish.

I do really hope that this website can inspire those who are like me :). There was a saying, the key to men’s hearts is through their stomachs. But I would like to say, the key to everyone’s heart is through the food which you cook with the whole of your heart

So, don’t be affraid to cook for the people whom you love even if you cannot cook

Veg Fried Bihun

Rice noodle which we called “Bihun” in Indonesian or “Bee Hoon” is made from rice and water, but sometimes other ingredients such as starch is added to give the chewy texture and transparent look.

Rice noodle also known as Rice Vermicelli or Rice Stick, in India, rice noodle is also known as “Sevai”. As per my knowledge, sevai doesn’t have the chewy or firm texture like any other rice noodles in south East Asia. I have bought sevai in few occasion with the expectation that I could have made the fried rice noodle with it considering it has the similar look as normal rice noodle which we have in Indonesia. But to my disappointment, sevai melt easily in the water eventho if it is cold water. I’ve tried in many ways but all are failed. First I tried to dip it in cold water, it seemed working, but when I drained it, it really melt and stick to each other and soon became like a dough. Secondly, I tried a different way, I put the sevai in a strainer, and just poured the cold water on it, but again the same result as the first one. so, I never dare to try to do it again with sevai. In my first resident area, I didn’t find any rice noodle which I really want, it was really a very backward area.

After I moved the my second home, I was very glad when I found rice noodle in one small department store, it was manufactured in Bangalore, India. Interestingly, it has “Dragon” brand . At first I was not very much sure about this one as I thought this might be the same result with the sevai, but it was really work, the noodle became soft when I dip in the water and wasn’t melt like a dough. When the first attempt with this brand quite good, I went back to the department store and bought many packages of Dragon Rice Noodle, in fact I was the only one who finished the stock (They don’t have many packages maybe only 8 packages at that time), after quite sometimes, I understood why I was the only one who bought this rice noodle because people in that area didn’t know how to cook the rice noodle. One day when I went out from that store, one lady asked me (with the curiosity of others ladies surround her) how do I cook the rice noodle, so I told them that I will cook it just like we make the chow-mien. Well… believe me that was the easiest way to explain it, because chow-mien is quite famous in here as Chinese food, and believe me also… that is all that they know about Chinese food funny isn’t it?

Few months after that, the store closed down their stock for Dragon rice noodle with the reason: low demand (Of course… I was the only one who bought that!!!). I was left devastated when I visited the store and they told me they don’t keep the Dragon rice noodle anymore. But few months after that, I found imported rice noodle from Thailand came to the market in one big department store about 4 Kilometers from my home. Well… that was a relieve

Almost two years ago, me and hubby shifted to the South Kolkata, I was very delighted to find both Dragon Rice Noodle and imported Thailand rice noodle are available everywhere, whether in traditional market or big department stores.

To prepare the rice noodle, we just need to soften the noodles with water. Just dip the rice noodle in the water for few minutes and drain it, the noodle is ready to be used. But If I use the imported Thailand rice noodle, I would soften the noodle with water and drained it, then I would pour the hot water on it while it was on the strainer. After that I would again put the noodle under the running cold water. For me, this would give the best taste and “easy to chew noodle” that I want.

If you want to make stir fry rice noodle, mix the noodle with little oil to prevent the noodle to stick with each other and keep it cool before using it. It is much better to prepare the noodle first before preparing other ingredients, so the noodle will be cool and dry enough.

For making this recipe, I was using the same ingredient and instruction with the Chow-Mien (but without the ham and the eggs as I was cooking this for my hubby ). Click here to see the recipe.

Fried Chicken in Sweet Butter Sauce

The tasty secret of this dish is the mixture of 3 sauces, cooked with butter instead of oil. It’s quite Indonesian traditional dish … well, so far that I know. One of the sauces which we use for this dish is sweet soy sauce.

Soy sauce which we also called shoyu in Japanese, is a fermented sauce made from soy beans. Base per the history which I found from Wikipedia, Soy sauce was invented in China, where it has been used as a condiment for close to 2,500 years. In its various forms it is widely used in East and Southeast Asian cuisines and increasingly appears in Western cuisine and prepared foods.

In Indonesia, there are 2 types of soy sauce available; salty soy sauce and sweet soy sauce. Sweet soy sauce is thicker than salty soy sauce and it’s consistency is almost like syrup. I thought sweet soy sauce was only available and made in Indonesia, but one of my friend who lives in Netherlands told me that she also found sweet soy sauce in that country, which is brought down through generations from the Indonesian people who went to Netherlands during Dutch colonial. While in Indonesia the name of sweet soy sauce has followed new rule of Indonesian spelling “Kecap Manis”, in Netherlands the spelling is still using the old spelling “Ketjap Manis” - If anyone of you can find this soy sauce with this spelling please send me the picture I’ll be very grateful

Alternatively, if you are not able to find sweet soy sauce in your country, you can also use oyster sauce, this is what my friend told me.

Ingredient:

• 1/2 Kg chicken - cut small pieces and fry in deep oil
• 2 tbs sweet soy sauce
• 2 tbs salty soy sauce
• 2 tbs Manchester sauce
• 1 pc lemon
• 3 pcs garlic - make a paste
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• salt as per taste - I used only a sprinkle in this recipe
• 2 tbs butter

How to make:

• Marinate the chicken with salt and white pepper for 15 - 20 minutes
• Heat the butter and add garlic
• Add the fried chicken and mix well
• Add the sauces and mix well until the sauces thicken
• Sprinkle the lemon juice
• Serve hot

Spicy Egg Curry

This is actually my modified recipe of the Indonesian egg cuisine which is called “Telur Balado” or egg in red chili sauce. In India, egg curry is cooked differently with many spices which are blended to make a thick paste curry.

I’m not really liking the curry which is cooked with the egg, I’ve tried many type of egg curries but none to my liking. I really missed the egg in red chili sauce of Indonesian style, but I always have a problem in finding the fresh red chili pepper. In India, the season for fresh red chili pepper only come once in the year, normally by end of the winter, and by that time people will dry the peppers and store them or grind them to make red chili powder.

So, I have come up with my own recipe to make my own egg cuisine, and I have replaced the red chili pepper with green chili, red chili powder and chopped tomatoes.

Ingredient:

• 4 pcs egg - boiled
• Oil to fry
• 2 pcs tomatoes - chopped
• 1 pc onion
• 2 pcs green chilies
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbs red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

How to make:

• Fry the boiled egg until the color turn golden brownish (about 5 minutes) - be very careful with the oil blast, if possible cover the pan while frying the egg.
• Heat 1 tbs oil
• Fry the onion and green chilies, saute until the onion soft and the good smell comes out
• Add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cook until the tomatoes soft and the juice thicken
• Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and sugar
• Add the fried egg and mix well

Serve hot with the steam rice

Macaroni Chips

I got this recipe from the internet and it really gave me the idea to try this recipe. Me and my hubby really like to eat chips, whenever we sat to watch TV or movies at home, it just didn’t feel good if we don’t chew anything crispy , I think you might know what I meant

I really want to give you the link where I found this recipe, but I just couldn’t find it again. I have added some spices with this recipe to suit our taste.

Ingredient:

• 200 gram dried macaroni
• 3 tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
• a pinch of food seasoning (optional)
• Oil to fry

How to make:

• Boil the macaroni - make sure that it doesn’t overdone, drain the macaroni and keep it aside
• Mix the flour, salt, red chilly powder and food seasoning
• Add the mixture of the flour with the macaroni and mix well
• Heat the oil and fry the macaroni

Give a sprinkle of salt and red chilly powder, this will give a good look on the macaroni and also add the salty taste when this macaroni reach the tongue

Vegetable Schezwan Spaghetti

This recipe was started accidentally. One day when I came home, I thought of making chowmein, but I found out that I was out of stock of dried noodles in my cupboards. So i thought that I just make the most of what I have. So, instead of using the noodles, I would use spaghetti.

The result was very good and yummy.. the taste of the schezwan sauce mixed with the soya sauce really blended with the spaghetti, makes this cuisine doesn’t less tastier than normal spaghetti which we cook. Since that time, I cook this food quite often and my hubby really like it.

Ingredient:

• 1 1/2 cup boiled spaghetti
• 1 pcs carrot (big size) - cut into small pieces lengthwise
• 3 pcs baby corn - cut into small pieces lengthwise
• 5 pcs french beans - cut lengthwise
• 1 pcs big onion - chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cabbage
• 2 tsp schezwan sauce
• 2 tsp soya sauce
• salt to taste
• food seasoning (optional)
• 1 tbs oil

How to make:

• Heat the oil
• Fry the onion until the good smell comes out
• Add the carrot, baby corns and french beans, cook until soft and add the cabbage
• Add the schezwan sauce and mix well
• Add the boiled spaghetti and mix well
• Add the salt, food seasoning and soya sauce
• mix well until all the sauce blend well with the spaghetti

Serve hot

Meatball which we called “Bakso” in Indonesia is one of the most favorite cuisine in Indonesia, which is served in many ways. Normally meatball is served like soup in a bowl with the noodles, tofu, vegetables, steamed or fried siomay, wanton, etc.

Every country have their own variety in making and serving the meatball depending on their food culture. In Kolkata, there is a place where we can find meatball or fishball. It is located in central Kolkata which is near to Poddar Court. That is a very busy area and very crowded. But if we go in the morning at about 6 - 7 am, we will find small Chinese market and majority people who go there for shopping are the Chinese people who have settled in Kolkata since a very long time.

In this market, we can find tofu, siomay, pao, wide noodles, sprout, etc. Really… really the taste and the good smell which I was familiar with . By 8 am, this market will start disappearing and this road will be turned to busy road with no trace to the market at all. One day, I arrived at 7.30 am in this market and the tofu was finished, I was quite disappointed, but it was soon recovered when I saw a lady selling meatball and fishball. And there were still some sellers selling siomay and pao. So, basically, I have to be here atleast by 7 am before this market started disappearing… funny isn’t it??

This is how I made the chicken meat ball:

Ingredients:

• 400 grams boneless chicken
• 2 pcs garlic (big size)
• 1 pcs small onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbs starch or corn flour
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 litre water
• 1 pcs egg (remove the egg yolk)
• Onion leaves to garnish
• a pinch of food seasoning
• 1 tbs oil

How to make:

Chicken Balls:

• Place the chicken, 1 pcs garlic, onion and salt in food processor. Process until smooth.
• Put the processed chicken in a bowl and mix with the egg and flour. Knead the dough and roll the dough into small balls
• Boil the water
• Add the chicken balls and boil until the balls float to the top
• Drain the balls

The Soup:

• Heat the oil
• Crush 1 pcs of garlic and fry the garlic
• when the good smell comes out and the color turn golden, add the stocks (the water which was used to boil the chicken balls), let it boiled
• Add the salt, pepper and food seasoning
• Add the chicken balls and garnish with onion leaves

The chicken meatball soup is now ready to be served . What an easy way to cook. This meatball soup can also be served with siomay or wanton, whichever you like.

Chicken Meatball Soup served with Siomay

]]> http://www.easyrecipeworld.com/chicken-meatball-soup/feed/ http://www.easyrecipeworld.com/chili-potato-gravy/ http://www.easyrecipeworld.com/chili-potato-gravy/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:38:31 +0000 admin http://www.easyrecipeworld.com/?p=79

When the first time I came to India, I was quite surprise whenever me and hubby visited Chinese restaurant. Most of the menus have been innovated as per Indian taste. I never find tofu in any Chinese restaurant not even in a big Chinese restaurant, in spite they have change it with paneer which is made from cow milk and which is quite similar with cottage cheese. I will write the article about paneer menu in my future recipes

One of the famous Chinese food in India beside chowmein is Manchurian, which I have never seen in my life before. I think I quite understand that all these changes were to adapt the food with people’s taste and culture. For example, in Indonesia, some or basically most of Chinese foods use beef in their menu and mostly are non vegetarian. But in India, majority of the people don’t eat beef and some culture prevent the people to eat meat.

Chili potato is commonly found in Chinese restaurants in India. Sometimes I wonder the history of this recipe and how it came to India, if anyone of you know the history of chili potato please let me know. In most of the restaurant, when you are placing the order, the waiters would ask the question if you want it to be gravy or dry . At first I was quite surprise when the waiter asked me this question, because frankly speaking, no waiter ever ask me if I want my food to be dry or gravy . Anyhow, we sometimes ordered dry and sometimes gravy, because my husband likes to have liquid with his steam rice.

To make all the story short I tried to make my own variety of Chili potato and my hubby loves it.

Ingredients:

• 200 grm potatoes, peel and cut 1 cm lengthwise.
• 1 pcs medium size of bell pepper or capsicum, cut lengthwise
• About 100 grm onion leaves, cut about 5 cms length
• 1 pcs big onion, cut lengthwise
• 2 pcs garlic, make a rough paste
• 2 pcs Chilies, cut roughly
• Salt to taste, in this one I used 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar, optionally you can use food seasoning
• 1 1/4 tbs soya sauce
• 1 1/2 tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp corn flour or starch

How to make:

• Deep fry the potatoes until it is cooked and keep aside
• Heat 1 tbs oil
• Add garlic and fry only for few seconds
• Add the capsicum or the bell pepper, onion and chili, mix and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Add the fried potatoes and mix well
• Add the salt, sugar/food seasoning, soya sauce and chili sauce, mix well for 4-5 minutes in medium flame
• Mix the water with the corn flour
• Add the mixture of water and corn flour to the cooking and mix well
• Cook until the water boiled and the gravy thicken
• Add the onion leaves
• Add more salt if required
• Serve hot with steamed rice

Siomay is my favorite food, when I was still staying in Jakarta, I used to buy this almost everyday I really miss this food so bad, specially the Indonesian siomay which is eaten with peanut sauce.

Siomay is an Indonesian cuisine which is influence by Chinese people who have immigrated to Indonesia since a very long time. The word Siomay came from chinese word shaomai which is traditional chinese dumpling which we very well know as dim sum.

In Indonesia, siomay can be steamed along with tofu, cabbage, potatoes and bitter gourd or bitter melon. Normally this cuisine is served or eaten with peanut sauce, sweet soya sauce and lime juice while normally dim sum can be eaten only by dipping the siomay in chilly sauce.

Siomay is basically a light meal and it can be found everywhere in Indonesia and normally each of the city has it’s own specially in serving or making siomay.

Below is siomay recipe which I have modified according to my taste. I have added garlic and pepper in the filling to give a hot feeling in the mouth.

Ingredient:

Filling:

500 gr prawn, peel and chopped or grind
1/4 pc garlic, make a paste
2 tbs corn flour or starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Wanton skin:

100 gr flour
10 gr corn flour or starch
2 tsp butter
50 cc hot water
A pinch of salt

How to Make:

Filling:

Mix all the filling ingredient

Wanton Skin:

• Mix flour, corn flour/starch, butter and salt. Add the hot water little by little and keep mixing for about 15 minutes
• Keep it cool for about 10 minutes
• Take a small ball of the dough and flattened it by bottle or wooden roller
• Do the same for the rest of the dough
• Take one peace of the wanton skin, fill with the filling in the middle and fold it up wise and leave the top open
• Steam for about 20 minutes
• Serve hot with red pepper sauce or peanut sauce

I have taken this picture from my mobile phone camera, I don’t know why my camera doesn’t work. But I hope that the image doesn’t discourage you to try this recipe

This is a very simple recipe and doesn’t take time to cook.

Ingredient:

2 large size eggplants, cut into medium pieces lengthwise
1/2 cup chopped chicken meat
1/2 cup peeled prawn
1 Medium size onion, chopped
2 pcs green chilly, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
Salt to taste - for this one I used 1 tsp salt because I like salty
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbs oil

How to make:

• Heat the oil and fry the chilly and onion
• Add the chicken meat and prawn, saute until both of the chicken and prawn are cooked
• Add the eggplant, mix and cook
• When the eggplant begin to tender, add the salt, sugar, turmeric and chilly powder
• Mix well and keep it cook for 2-3 more minutes
• Serve hot with steamed rice