Ja Jang Myeon

Ja Jang Myeon is a korean noodle dish. It has udon-like noodles but smaller in diameter. And instead of being poured with marinara sauce like italian pastas, it's poured with a black bean sauce (Ja Jang). I never tasted a real Ja Jang Myeon before although I really want to if I'm given the chance. I first come to know about Ja Jang Myeon from watching Korean TV series. Watching them eat it makes you want to have it as well. So, I searched for the recipe in the internet. Unfortunately, I can't find the Ja Jang in the Korean supermarket in my area. But fortunately, I could find a cold packaged Ja Jang Myeon (complete with the noodle and the pre-made Ja Jang sauce). All I have to do is just add several other ingredients according to my own taste to make it taste even more perfect.

Ja Jang Myeon

Ingredients

1 Package of cold Ja Jang Myeon
1/4 onion (sliced)
1/2 clove of garlic (chopped)
1/2 diced potatoes (cut it into 1 inch cubes)
1/4 lbs thinly sliced beef, ground pork, ground beef or ground chicken.
5 sliced button mushrooms
2 sliced red chili with the seeds already removed (optional)
1 tsp soy sauce

Directions

Put in the cold noodle into a pot of boiling water.
Let it cook for around 4 minutes.
Then, remove.

Heat a pan at medium-high heat.
Put in approximately 2 tbs of oil.
Stir fry the potatoes until a little golden brown.
Remove.

Heat another pan at medium heat.
Put in 2 tbs of oil and stir fry the onion, garlic and red chili.
Add in the mushrooms and meat, and cook until the meat is cooked.
Add in the fried potatoes, Ja Jang sauce and soy sauce.
Mix them well and serve it hot on top of the noodles.

Martabak Keju

Ok...I know that I'm supposed to take a picture of it so that the recipe will look more appealing, but I forgot. And the martabaks were gone pretty quickly as soon as they're done (my friends were here when I made it). But I could definitely say that it's very successful. It tasted really good! Yum!

Martabak Keju

Ingredients

300 gr all-purpose flour
500 mL warm milk
100 gr sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda

Toppings

Melted margarine (use Blue Band)
Sugar
Shredded cheddar
The Laughing Cow light cheese bites

Directions

Mix the flour, milk, sugar, baking powder and vanilla extract.
Mix them well and let it stand for around 10 - 15 minutes.
Add in the eggs and bakin soda.
Mix them well.

Heat the non-stick pan at low heat.
Pour the mixture based on thickness preference (I personally like the thinner ones).
Move the pans around so that the mixture touches every part of the pan (to create the crust).
Cover it and let it cook until the pores appear.

Uncover the pan and grease the cooked surface with melted margarine and sprinkle the sugar.
Sprinkle the shredded cheddar.
Add in the cheese bites pieces (optional).
Cover the pan again until the crust has a golden brown color.

Uncover the pan.
Fold the martabak and remove it from the pan.
Cut into pieces and serve it warm.

Kue Cubit

Kue cubit (pinch cake if you literally translate it to English) is one my favorite street snack (jajanan jalanan) when I was young. I've been missing it for quite some time and I finally got the recipe from this recipe compilation that my dad gave me just a few days ago. It might not taste exactly the same, but it tastes pretty close.

Kue Cubit


Ingredients

4 eggs
150 gr sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
50 gr melted margarine
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
50 gr chocolate rice (meses)
100 mL water

Directions

Mix eggs and sugar until fluffy.
Add in the flour and baking powder, then mix.
Add in margarine, vanilla extract and water into the mixture.
Mix well and leave for 10 minutes.

Heat and grease the filled-pancake pan (see below) with margarine.
Put in approximately 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of the mixture into each part of the pan.
Sprinkle the chocolate rice before it's fully cooked.
Cover the pan and wait until each of them is well cooked.
When it's fully cooked, it will look dryer on the top.
Remove and serve while it's warm.

Optional

Kue cubit can also be served half-cooked. I usually prefer it half-cooked, but it depends on each person's preference.

Filled-Pancake Pan

Bakwan Jagung

I'm currently fasting for lent. So, I can't eat meat for a while. But vegetarian food is not necessarily bad. As long as you know how to cook good food (or as long as you can appreciate food), even vegetarian food can be really good. Here's one that I made just a few days ago. It's a simple Indonesian appetizer that can also be served with rice.

Bakwan Jagung (Vegetarian)

Ingredients

Sweet corn (can use frozen ones)

All-purpose flour

1 tsp ground corriander

1 clove garlic (grind it)

1/3 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

50 mL chicken broth

1/2 onion (make it 1/4 onion if you're adding shrimp)

4 green onions (chopped)

Water

1 egg (stirred)

Shrimp (optional for non-vegetarians)

Oil for frying

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients into one batch in a big bowl. Make sure you don't add too much flour and water.

Put in 2 tbsp of batch into hot oil at a time. Fry it until it turns brown.

Pineapple Rice...

Cooking has always helped me feel a little better. I have been quite depressed lately, especially with the tons of bad news I have been getting. So, this is what I made a few days ago (without the shrimps, prawns and floss of course since I am meat fasting for lent). I learned it while taking a cooking class in high school.

Pineapple Rice

Ingredients

1 can (567 gr) pineapple rings

400 gr shrimps (without shells)

60 gr cashew nuts

30 gr dried prawns

1/2 clove garlic (grinded)

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 cm cinnamon bark

50 gr butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp sugar

3 cups Jasmine rice (rinsed and drained)

Garnishing

Fish floss

Fried shallots

Directions

Drain the juice from canned pineapple and set aside the juice for later.

Cut pineapple rings into small cubes and lightly squeezed out part of the juice and set aside along with the rest of the juice.

Over very low heat:

Put approximately 4 tbsp oil in a frying pan and place the cashew nuts in it.

Fry the cashew nuts until it turns golden brown then remove and set aside.

Over medium heat:

Fry dried prawns until it turns golden brown then remove and set aside.

Fry shrimps for 1/2 min then remove and set aside.

Fry pineapple cubes for 2 minutes then remove and set aside.

Put butter in a wok and fry garlic until fragrant.

Add in ground turmeric that has been mixed with the lemon juice and cinnamon. Then stir.

Quickly stir in the washed uncooked rice until well combined.

Add in the salt and sugar and fry until all of the oil has been absorbed by the rice.

Move the rice from the wok to the rice cooker.

Add in the pineapple juice that has been set aside and enough water.

Cook the rice until done.

As soon as the rice is cooked, add in the fried dried prawns, shrimps, pineapple and cashew nuts over the rice then cover for 10 more minutes.

Mix the rice and the rest of the ingredients well.

Served warm garnished with fish floss and fried shallots.