Sambal Goreng Tempe

This is what I made for the pot luck gathering on Sunday. It's an Indonesian dish that uses Tempe, which is fermented soybean cakes (soybeans that have been fermented with rice yeast). Sounds gross but is rather bland if cooked on its own. It's a great carrier of flavours and is a popular ingredient in Indonesian and Malay cooking. It's also nutritious as it's high in protein. To be honest, as much as I love eating Indonesian food, sometimes I feel too lazy to cook it cos there's too many ingredients involved, especially if u need to make a spice base (rempah).

uncooked tempe

Source: The Food of Indonesia - Authentic Recipes from the Spice Islands

Ingredients:

• 2 cakes Tempe, cut in long narrow strips and deep fried
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 shallot, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 red chillies, sliced
• 2.5cm galangal, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste
• 5 tsp chopped palm sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp tamarind juice
• salt to taste
• 8 bird's eye chillies (chilli padi), chopped

Prepare the tempe and set aside. Heat the oil and saute the shallots, garlic, chillies, galangal and shrimp paste for 2-3 minutes. Add the palm sugar, water and tamarind juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Put in the tempe and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce has reduced and caramelised. Season to taste with salt and stir through the bird's eye chillies just before serving.

Note: I've also added fried peanuts and fried ikan bilis.

ingredients chopped and ready


tempe cut into strips


Sambal Goreng Tempe, peanuts and ikan bilis


I also brought along some konnyaku jelly. But that didn't seem to be as popular as the tempe. The picture was taken in a rush after i had accidentally tipped the container, so the jellies were all out of line after i had so nicely arranged them ><

Identity Crisis

Today we attended an Indonesian Fellowship Pot-Luck gathering at Sembawang church. It was an enjoyable day mingling with fellow brethrens and meeting new people. I had no idea there were so many Indonesian members in Singapore church.

But all this got me thinking on my identity. I really don't feel very Indonesian myself eventhough I was born there and can speak the language (somewhat fluently) and still have family living in Jakarta. But I myself don't identify with 'being' an Indonesian, know what I mean? After living in Australia for so many years (from 1988 till 2002 with an absence in '93-'94) I mostly feel Australian than anything else, albeit a Chinese Australian. Not even an Indonesian-Australian you see. Rather confusing? And I always get confused as to what I should say when ppl ask me "So where're u from?". It always begins with "Um....errr.....".

Anyway, I sort of felt a little bit out of place being in an Indonesian fellowship, because my mind all along is saying - "but I'm Australian, not Indonesian!". And even the speaking part I get a little confused. I think in English but have to speak in Indonesian, so sometimes when I talk it comes out like 'gado-gado' or 'rojak', everything all jumbled up. Having lived in oz since I was 8, I've forgotten a lot of Indonesian words and am not in touch with any of the latest slangs. I speak to my parents in Indonesian, english to my brothers and english to my sister in laws who are Malaysian and Indonesian respectively.

When Edmund tells his friends his wife is Australian, their first reaction is "oh she's an angmoh (caucasian)?", then he'd have to go into explaining no I'm not white, but Indonesian-Chinese. Talk about Identity Crisis!

Some Random Observations

1) I wonder why people here never developed the habit of cleaning their tables themselves at fast food restaurants after they've finished their meal? Even when the cleaners (who often time are older folks mind you) are busy, the patrons would rather sit on their hands and wait till they come and clean the tables for them. Ok so it's understandable if the table needs a real good wipe down, but if not? Then what about those cleaners themselves? Why do they make such a big deal when someone asks them to help clean their table? It's their job isn't it? I've noticed cleaners in a few places like hawker centres and food courts acting like this. Maybe they think people are looking down on them and treating them like low class people. But I'm sure most often than not, they just need their tables cleaned.

2) For some reason, I can't help and stare when westerners go to supermarkets and tell the cashiers to not bag their groceries and also when I walk by westerners who carry their groceries in several reusable cloth bags. I'm sure there are asians who do it too, but I mostly see westerners. I know we're supposed to use less plastic bags, but I like having a stash of supermarket plastic bags for the rubbish bins around the house and as for the small bags, I like to keep it beside the sink to throw scraps of food or small items so I can throw it down the garbage chute periodically when it fills up. I do like having garbage chutes in the house without needing to walk outside my house to throw the rubbish away - very convenient. And no need to assign rubbish duty on who should wheel out the stinky rubbish bins like in Brissy.

On the topic of recycling, I still try to recycle as much as I can here. I was rather ashamed one time when a friend at my house saw something that could've been recycled go into my rubbish bin. Since then I've made a conscious effort to recycle as much stuff as I can, and I'm happy to say Edmund's gotten into it too. It's also good that we have recycling bags that are collected every 2 weeks (every week would b better tho) and it's good to see big recycling bins around the area. A long time ago a lecturer told us that it costs more to recycle materials, dunno if it's true or not, but at least we're saving Gaia right?

3) In Singapore (and Malaysia and Indonesia) we've got people who help fill up our petrol at the petrol stations. With petrol prices soaring, I wonder if these people were 'done away' with, would it make any difference to the petrol prices? Save on their salaries and pass on the savings to us perhaps? I know it's creating employment (especially since the attendants are usually older folks), but we're definitely feeling the pinch of driving a car in Singapore. Yes yes, I know I just talked about recycling, but having a car when you have a child is way more convenient.

4) On the subject of cars, I have to admit that I'm rather scared to drive in Singapore. I feel that people here drive faster (not adhering to the speed limits), the roads are narrower (including carparks) and there's a blatant disregard on using their signals. After being here for close to 6 years and seeing my fil, bil, and hubby all having had car accidents (be it minor and not their fault), it's really put me off driving entirely.

A Nifty Invention - The Handbag Hook

This month's Elle Magazine comes with a free 'handbag hook (said to retail for $39.95). It's a compact design that you can slip into even your smallest handbag. The underside of the round metal piece has a non-slip backing. I think it really is a great invention because sometimes you go to a nice restaurant where you put a napkin across your nap, but your bag is on your lap so the napkin sits really funny. Or sometimes you've done some shopping and you don't want to put your bags on the floor while you eat even at a foodcourt. Google 'handbag hook' and you'll see that there's a lot of handbag hooks out there with cute designs, but what I like about the Elle magazine one is its compact design so it doesn't take a lot of room in your bag.

Korean Cold Noodles (soup) from Sim Lim Square foodcourt

I absolutely love these cold noodles and will always order this whenever I go to Sim Lim Square. The soup has just the right spiciness and sourness. And the noodles have just the right chewiness. The dish basically consists of ice cold clear beef soup (they even put ice in it), sliced beef, shredded raw cabbage, shredded cucumber, some chilli, half a hard boiled egg and Korean noodles. There's not many Korean foodcourts stalls selling this. Yummmm!

Before it's mixed

After it's mixed. Very refreshing.