Betawinese style milkfish stew in soy sauce by Tika from Cemplang Cemplung

Meet a fellow food blogger and lovely lady behind the gorgeous food photography blog Cemplang Cemplung,Tika Hapsari Nilmada who is guest posting on my blog.A foodie friend I met in the blogging world I was instantly drawn towards her lovely food photos as we share the same passion for food and photography.She has won many DMBLGiT awards and had a been a host for the same.

We share the love for traditional dishes from our countries influenced by the culture and the people.So,it's no wonder Tika came up with a traditional Indonesian dish, Milk fish stew in soy sauce cooked in Betawinese/Jakarta style.I myself love milk fish and this is on the top of my must-try list.

Thank you,Tika for the lovely post and beautiful pictures.This post couldn't have come in any better time since I'm back to blogging after a long pause. Let me hand it over to Tika,to take you through a peek into the Indonesian cuisine.

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When my dear fellow foodie blogger, Farwin, asked me to cook something traditional from Indonesia, I think of a dish from Jakarta/Betawi. Betawi cuisine was influenced by other cultures (Arabic, Chinese and Dutch). The “marriage” between different cultures blend together with original Betawi tradition. One of Chinese influence in Betawi cuisine is Dodol Betawi (taffy made from sticky rice, coconut and palm sugar) and China has similar dish called Nian Gao. While Nasi kebuli (Kebuli rice) was influenced by Arabic culture. The rice cooked with a lot of spices and goat meat that creates a flavorful rice.

To fulfill Farwin’s request, I cook Betawinese style milkfish stew in soy sauce or Pindang bandeng Betawi. Pindang bandeng Betawi is very easy to make and can be served as side dish. It offers a sweet spicy fish soup. The food I grew up with but have never tried to make it even once until then. Therefor, I proudly present this special dish for Farwin of Love and other spices. When I was a kid, our neighbor used to send us this dish. She is an excellent cook. She was the one who introduced me to various Betawi traditional dishes. I remember when she made ketoprak (rice vermicelli with tofu, bean sprouts and rice cake served with peanut sauce), she also let me grind my own peanut sauce. That was an unforgettable moment for me as a child to learn how to grind the peanut sauce. 😀

Indonesian cuisine is amazingly diverse and rich, as it varies from region to region and also has so many influences. Every region has its own cooking styles and techniques, as well as staple ingredients. The traditional cuisine of West Sumatra is commonly cooked in coconut milk, known for its spiciness and the use of various spice mixtures that enrich the the taste. As for the Central Java cuisine tends to have sweet taste.

Note : Adjust the quantity of bird’s eye chilies to your liking.

Being born and raised in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, made me familiar with Jakarta traditional dishes. Some of them are available in roadside food stalls daily, yummy and cheap as it gets. Starts with soto Betawi (Betawinese beef soup), kerak telor (Egg crust), nasi uduk (Betawinese scented coconut rice) and mie juhi (cuttlefish noodle). So, for me Betawi/Jakarta traditional dishes are about everyday meal.

Head over to Cemplang Cemplung for more mouth watering Indonesian cuisine.

Comments

tika hapsari nilmada says

September 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Finally, I feel relieved to get the job done 🙂
Thanks, Farwin.

Love and other Spices says

September 12, 2012 at 6:24 pm

Thank you Tika for the lovely post !

Lisa H. says

September 24, 2012 at 9:18 am

Flavoursome dish...
Beautiful guest post... and thank you,Tika and Farwin 😀

Love and other Spices says

September 24, 2012 at 11:30 am

Our pleasure,Lisa... 🙂

dom jenkinson says

April 25, 2014 at 8:03 am

Good presentment, so look delicious. hmm i'm so hungry now 🙁

Toko bunga

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