Oasis restaurant mixes western, Indonesian cooking
Oasis restaurant mixes western, Indonesian cooking
JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever witnessed someone incessantly
snacking on crispy ikan teri? Probably not, unless you have
visited Oasis restaurant on Jl. Raden Saleh in Central Jakarta.
"Our ikan teri is for guests to snack on while waiting for a
table. But, sometimes they love it so much that, for example, a
Japanese guest bought tens of kilograms to bring back to Japan,"
said Broto Soetantyo, the executive chef of the restaurant's
Indonesian food section.
Some guests have asked for the recipe for teri fish, known as
ikan bilis in Malaysia, but most just ask for doggy bags, Broto
added.
It took a lot of experimentation to produce the recipe.
"Before we settled for this one, we cooked the fish in hot
balado sauce which is very famous in West Sumatra. But it made
your fingers dirty, so we decided it wasn't a good snack food. We
upgraded it until we eventually arrived at the recipe we now
use," Broto said.
The mixture of Indonesian and western cooking at Oasis, famous
for its Indonesian rijsttafel, is made possible by a Swiss
executive chef who likes experimenting with combining the East
and West palates.
"I like using Indonesian ingredients and prepare them using a
western cooking system. The result will be a dish which looks
like a western one but with an Indonesian flavor," said Chef
Ewald Falk, pointing to his and Broto's collaboration Fragrant
Java Chicken.
the two chefs have prepared the following two recipes for The
Jakarta Post's readers:
Ikan teri Oasis snack:
You will need about one kilogram of Ikan teri Medan.
1. Soak the ikan teri in cold water to lessen the salty taste.
Change the water from time to time until the intestines fall out
and the heads fall off.
2. Drain and dry either in the sun or in the oven, but keep
the heat low.
3. Fry the dry ikan teri in very hot oil until you hear a
popping sound. When the ikan teri are floating on the surface, a
sign that the fish is cooked, take them out of the oil and let
cool.
The batter for ikan teri
Ingredients:
Garlic 50 gr
Shallots 150 gr
Coriander 10 gr
Turmeric 20 gr
Kencur (Galingale) 20 gr
Kemiri (Candle nut) 30 gr
Chili (optional) 20 gr
Salt to taste
Eggs 2
Cornmeal 400 gr
Milk 1 1/4 ltr
Flour 400 gr
How to prepare:
1. Grind garlic, coriander, shallot, turmeric, kencur, kemri
and chili until very fine or put into the blender with some
liquid (milk).
2. Mix all the ingredients to make batter.
3. Use the batter to refry the ikan teri in moderate hot oil,
until golden brown.
Fragrant Java Chicken
(6 portions)
Ingredients:
Baby chicken (500 gr per portion and boneless) 3 kg
Coconut milk thick 1.5 ltr
Caisin (mustard greens) big leaves 100 gr
Turmeric 120 gr
Salam leaves med (bay leaves 1/2 only) 10 pcs
Lemon grass stalk 2 pcs
Breast chicken meat (diced) 200 gr
Lemon basil leaves 20 gr
Fried shallots 20 gr
Rice 6 port
Vegetable East (see recipe below) 6 port
Opor kuning sauce (see recipe below) 240 ml
Rock salt 6 kg
Egg white 6
1. Beat egg white slightly and mix with the rock salt
2. Mix yellow rice with diced chicken, lemon basil leaves and
fried shallots
3. Stuff the baby chicken with this mix and close, wrap with the
boiled caisin leaves, cover with the rock salt and bake in the
oven at 150 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes
4. Serve with sauteed Vegetable East and opor kuning sauce.
Yellow Rice
Ingredients:
Rice 400 gr
Turmeric 120 gr
Lemon grass 2 pcs
Salam leaf 5 pcs
Coconut milk 1 1/2 ltr
1. Wash and rinse the rice
2. Grind the turmeric finely, and mix with the rest of
ingredients
3. Boil the rice with the mixture, until the liquid is absorbed
but still moist, stir occasionally
4. Remove the rice to a steamer and steam gently until done
Vegetable East
Ingredients:
Bean sprouts 300 gr
Water convolvulus 60 gr
Chives (cut 3 cm long) 120 gr
Chili red (strip 3 cm long) 70 gr
Butter 5 gr
Seasoning 5 gr
Garlic (chopped) 30 gr
Onion (chopped) 50 gr
Salty soya sauce 3 ml
Sweet soya sauce 2 ml
1. Quick fry in very hot pan with clarified butter, onion,
garlic, chili, bean sprouts, chives and water convolvulus
2. Season and add a dash of salty soy sauce
3. Add salt and sweet soya sauce
Opor kuning sauce
Ingredients:
Garlic 7 gr
Shallots 35 gr
Coriander seeds 3 gr
Cumin seeds 3 gr
Candle nut 10 gr
Turmeric root 10 gr
Ginger root 10 gr
Galingale root (laos) 12 gr
Salam leaves 2 pcs
Lemon grass stalk 1 pc
Coconut milk, thick 500 ml
Oil 10 ml
Salt 3 gr
Pepper 2 gr
1. Finely grind: garlic, shallots, coriander, cumin, candle nut
and turmeric, then saute in the pan with oil until brown.
Add ginger, galingale, salam leaves, lemongrass continue to
saute for a while.
2. Pour in the coconut milk, bring to boil and then simmer until
thick
3. Take salam leaves and lemongrass stalks out adjust seasoning
This quantity will yield about 300 ml. (als)