Ayam Areh (chicken in coconut milk)

If you read Madhouse Family Reviews blog often, you must know just how adventurous Cheryl is when it comes to cooking. Last summer she cooked Ayam Areh (chicken in coconut milk with Indonesian spices), and I thought how brave she was in trying such an exotic recipe. Well, my turn has come.
The Kitchen Trotter food subscription box is Indonesian-themed this month (see my previous post on trying Gado Gado salad).

The recipe requires several authentic ingredients which you can find in Kitchen Trotter box - combava leaves, Terasi shrimp paste, kemiri nuts and lemongrass powder.
Having read Cheryl's post, I was very careful to have the nuts cooked properly. Apparently if you eat them raw, you might suffer from "an explosive malfunction" to put it kindly.
Kemiri nuts look like big sized hazelnuts or macadamia nuts, but the taste is different. It is mostly used ground and cooked.
Also a word of warning: if possible, keep the windows open in the kitchen - the shrimp paste has a very pungent smell (this is a euphemism for stinky very smelly). I could smell it the next morning. I do buy the fish sauce for Asian stir fries, but this is 10 times stronger smell-wise.

Ayam Areh (recipe courtesy of Kitchen Trotter)
Ingredients:
4 Combava leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves)
1 tbsp shrimp paste (Terasi - Ams Koe Poe)
5 Kemiri nuts (Epices et Delices & Kitchen Trotter)
1tbsp lemongrass powder (Terre Exotique & Kitchen Trotter)

2-3 chicken breasts
2 bay leaves
2tbsp vegetable oil
2tbsp brown sugar
400ml coconut milk
3 onions
3 cloves of garlic
1tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 cube chicken stock
salt & pepper
rice to serve

In a mixer mix the onions, garlic, kemiri nuts and shrimp paste. When a semiliquid paste is obtained, keep aside.
Bring 20ml of water to boil in a saucepan, add the stock cube, stir well and set aside.
Dice the chicken and brown on all sides in a deep frying pan with oil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in the paste and stir for a couple of minutes.
 (bring out your chemical warfare gas mask, sorry, couldn't resist)
Add the coconut milk, the stock and stir well. Add the brown sugar, bay leaves and combava leaves (slightly crush them in your fingers to release the flavour), the lemongrass powder, coriander and stir well.
Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer on low for about 45 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Stir regularly.
Serve with rice.

I already mentioned the strong smell. Now let's mention the appearance. Let's just say that the overall result (and it could be entirely my fault) was not exactly an Instagram material. I even said Sorry to my DH.
The sauce looks pale brown and sloppy.

I braced myself and had my first forkful. And then I was pleasantly surprised. This dish is very nice indeed. Despite the smell and the looks, don't dismiss it. It is very flavourful and tasty.
I'm glad I cooked this dish, as it was quite a revelation.

As much as I enjoyed the dish, I don't think I'm brave enough to use more of the shrimp paste jar.
Any takers?
Did you try this recipe, and what did you think of it?

Disclosure: I received a Kitchen Trotter food box for the purposes of testing the recipes and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Gado-Gado salad

I've been reading reviews of Kitchen Trotter written by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews for a while, thinking how exciting that travelling via world cuisines food box subscription was. And to my delight, it is available now in the UK as well. I was pleased to receive my first Kitchen Trotter box, which is Indonesia-themed this month. When I opened the box, I realised that I don't know most of the exotic ingredients. For a foodie like me, it is like opening a Christmas present. Oh, the excitement!
Every month Kitchen Trotter delivers a cooking kit to your door. Each box is a surprise, but it will allow you to cook an authentic meal that serves 4-6 people and create 4 authentic recipes. It includes 7+ gourmet items. You can subscribe at £29.00 monthly fee (unsubscribe at any time).

Today my boys are back to school after a week-long break. Eager to start cooking, using the ingredients from  Kitchen Trotter, I decided to make a quick and simple salad called Gado Gado.

What will you need?

Gado Gado recipe (recipe courtesy of Kitchen Trotter)
From the kit
for the dressing:
80g Gado Gado Mix - Asli
2tbsp Kecap Manis - Bango
2 Combava leaves - Terre Exotique

+ add:
80ml water
2 bay leaves

For the salad:
salad leaves (I used gem lettuce, the booklet suggests iceberg lettuce)
4 small potatoes
4 tomatoes
4 radishes
4 eggs
1/2 cucumber

As I was cooking just for myself, I have quartered the amount of ingredients and halved the amount of ingredients for the dressing (I still have some dressing left for another salad tomorrow).

Pour the water in the saucepan, adding the combava and bay leaves. Heat. Once the water starts boiling, add the Gado Gado mix.
As soon as the mix thickens, remove from the heat and mix in Kecap Manis. Keep aside.

What exactly is Gado Gado mix? This is a peanut base dry mix.with sugar, mixed herbs and spices. It is an interesting combination of sweet and savoury, a great base for a dressing.
Dried Combava leaves have a citrus fruit aroma close to lemon. Combava leaves are also known as kaffir lime leaves (which are easily found in supermarkets). This ingredient is very popular in Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Indonesian cuisines.
Kecap Manis (Bango) is apparently an Indonesian cusine must-have. This is a sweet and slightly thick soy sauce which is used in a variety of recipes. I loved the taste of this soy sauce, and can easily see it used in many Asian meals.

Back to our salad - peel and cook potatoes. Cook the eggs to hard-boiled. Slice the tomatoes and radishes.
Assemble your salad by putting the lettuce first, then all the other ingredients. Season with salt and add the Gado Gado dressing over.

Kitchen Trotter suggested this lovely vegetarian salad as a starter for an Indonesian-themed menu. I had it for lunch, and really enjoyed it. The salad itself is not specifically exotic, if anything, I have had salads like that for many years, but it's the dressing which makes all the difference, adding an exotic flavour.

I will be posting more recipes from the latest Kitchen Trotter box, but if you fancy seeing which other countries and recipes were covered in the past, check out Kitchen Trotter posts by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews.

Disclosure: I received the food box for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.