Balinese Street Food II

Nasi campur (mixed rice) is the dish most commonly eaten by Balinese people and is available in almost every warung (food stall) in Bali. It consists of a portion of steamed white rice, accompanied by an assortment of meat, fish and vegetables, and it won't be complete without the spicy tomato and chilli sauce (sambal) and some prawn or other type of crackers. The style of these assortments differ from warung to warung guaranteeing you can get something slightly different every time. One popular example is some sort of fishcake with a spicy and aromatic taste. It would normally contain 1/4 fish and 3/4 mashed potatoes and other ingredients. I don't really know what type of fish they would use but I could imagine that it could be some kind of oily fish with a tasty fishy flavour. So inspired by that dish, last night I tried to recreate it with my own interpretation according to my memory of the flavour. I used salmon but I suppose you can use any other type of fish or a mixture of it such as haddock, coley, pollock, or even mackerel. Most of the ingredients that I mention here would be available at your local Asian supermarket.

Spicy Fishcakes with Chilli Jam

For the chilli jam


Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
1/2 red chilli, chopped
3 tomatoes
1 kaffir lime leaf, chopped
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs vinegar
salt and pepper


Blitz the tomatoes, chilli, ginger, and kaffir lime leaf in a blender or a food processor until fairly smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan with the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat then simmer gently and stir occasionally to prevent from sticking  for about 20-30 minutes until thick and jam-like. Set aside and leave until cool. 


For the fishcakes


Ingredients


(Makes about 4)


2 salmon fillets
200g potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
1 tbs dark soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 spring onions, sliced
a handful fresh coriander, chopped
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 bowl of fresh breadcrumbs, made from 4 slices of bread, blitzed in a blender or food processor.


Pre-heat the oven to 180C, place the fillets in a baking tray skin-side down and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Once cooked set aside until cool. While the fish is cooking you can start preparing the other ingredients. Mix all the ingredients except the egg and breadcrumbs, and when the fish has cooled down remove the skin, shred the fillets using a fork, add to the mixture and mix thoroughly. Shape the mixture into medium-sized patties, dip into the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs until well covered. Put the patties inside a fridge for 15 minutes to firm them up, then deep fry in hot oil until golden brown and serve with chilli jam on the side.

Pan Fried Sea Bream with Moroccan Spiced Vegetables, Crushed Potatoes and Harissa

I didn't have any plans to cook this dish last night but when I was at my local Chinese supermarket and saw a nice-looking whole Sea Bream in the fridge for £3.80 (what a bargain!!) I couldn't resist the temptation to buy it. I don't buy Sea Bream very often because they can be quite pricey, but along with Sea Bass they are one of my favourite fishes because of their firm texture and delicate flavour. You don't normally need to do a lot with them, simply grilled or barbecued until the skins crackle and served with potato salad and herby tomato salsa would be enough. But as I had the time to do something more, I decided to fillet, pan fry and serve it with Moroccan spiced vegetables, crushed potatoes and harissa (Moroccan style spicy sauce). I got the harissa recipe from one of Gordon Ramsay's cookbooks. I'd made it before with Mackerel and it worked really well so I thought it would go well with the Sea Bream, and to stick with the Moroccan theme I served it with some roasted vegetables marinated in Moroccan spices. 

Pan Fried Sea Bream with Moroccan Spiced Vegetables, Crushed Potatoes and Harissa

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 whole sea bream, filleted and bones removed (ask the fishmonger to do it for you)

1 tsp ras-el-hanout (a mixture of Moroccan spices, available at Tesco or Sainsbury's)

salt and pepper

Sprinkle each side of the fillet with the spices and salt and pepper and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes or more.

For the harissa:

1 whole roasted red pepper, deseeded and skinned

1/2 fresh red chilli, deseeded

1 small garlic clove

1 tsp tomato puree

few threads of saffron

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp caster sugar

a pinch of ground cumin
a pinch of ground coriander

1/2 tsp sweet paprika 

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbs virgin olive oil

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, blitz into a puree and set aside.

For the spiced roasted vegetables:

4 mushrooms, sliced
1 red or yellow pepper, sliced
1/2 aubergine, sliced
1 tsp ras-el-hanout
1/2 tsp ground coriander
a pinch of ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper


Mix all the ingredients above in a baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 C for 20 - 30 minutes. While the vegetables are in the oven you can start preparing the crushed potatoes:


300g maris piper potatoes
a knob of butter
1 garlic clove, chopped
10 pitted black or green olives, chopped
1 tbs olive oil


Cut the potatoes into wedges and boil until tender. Melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the garlic until fragrant then throw the boiled potatoes, chopped olives and the oil into the pan. Stir thoroughly for a few minutes on a low heat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm. 


Meanwhile heat a non-stick frying pan on a high heat and add 1 tbs of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot fry the fillet on the skin-side first for about 5 minutes then turn the heat down a bit and fry the other side of the fillet for another 5 minutes.


To serve arrange the crushed potatoes and roasted vegetables in the centre of a warm plate and put the fillet skin side up on top of them. Smear the harissa on each side of the plate, garnish the fillet with a slice of lemon and sprinkle with some toasted sunflower and sesame seeds.

TheRumblingKitchen: Balinese Street Food

TheRumblingKitchen: Balinese Street Food: "As a Balinese man having moved the UK the first thing that I really missed was the convenience of getting delicious freshly cooked foods at ..."

Balinese Street Food

As a Balinese man having moved to the UK the first thing that I really missed was the convenience of getting delicious freshly cooked foods at any time of the day. I missed all those "warungs" dotted along the street, the noise of the street vendors banging their wok stirring the fried rice or noodles and the smell of barbecued satay on the charcoal barbecue pits that just makes your stomach rumble. So today I'd like to show you how to recreate one of the most loved street food dishes "Nasi Goreng" or you may call it fried rice. It's a very simple, quick and easy dish to prepare, and you can add almost any leafy vegetables that you want or any sunday roast dinner meat leftover. But now I'll show you the basic recipe for it 

Ingredients
Serves 2


180g easy cook rice
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 whole onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cm ginger, chopped
1/2 fresh red chilli, chopped (less if you prefer it mild)
1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 handful bean sprouts
2 spring onions sliced
1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 eggs
salt and pepper
few sprigs fresh coriander to garnish


Cook the rice according to the instruction on the package and set aside. While the rice is cooking prepare all the vegetables and other ingredients. When all the ingredients are ready, heat the oil in a wok or  deep frying pan, throw the onion into the pan and cook until translucent. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and stir fry for a few minutes. After that add all the vegetables and keep stirring for 3 minutes and then add the cooked rice and all the sauces and stir fry for 5 minutes until the rice is mixed properly with the sauces and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile heat another frying pan and fry the eggs sunny side up. Serve the "Nasi Goreng" with chopped fresh coriander and a fried egg on top.