Recalling My Teenager Days Indonesian Feast: Kecap Manis Ginger Chicken (Barefoot Contessa) and Coffee Avocado Milkshake (Es Alpukat)

Despite the fact that Indonesia is a popular Asian tourist destination, the one and only time that I have been to Indonesian is when I was 15. I visited Jakarta with a coachful of my schoolmates, few teachers and NO parents!!! The trip was fun!!! We were a brunch of crazy rowdy girls like wild animals released from a convent school. Yay!!! I missed those days...

I can't recall exactly what I ate during this trip. All I can remember is Es Alpukat (coffee avocado milkshake) or anything with kecap manis...

What is kecap manis? It is an Indonesian thick and sweet soy sauce. It is commonly used to cook Indonesian-style stir fry, noodles and fried rice. Most commonly, kecap manis can be found in most Asian grocery shops and mostly available as ABC brand. Alternatively, kecap manis can be homemade by using this recipe or mixing soy sauce with honey. To cut the fuss and taste the authenticness, I rather use the ABC ones...

To recall my wonderful memory of Indonesian trip, I like to cook these non-fuss kecap manis ginger chicken inspired by Barefoot Contessa... Huh? Can Ina Garten, a non-Indonesian cook Indonesian food??? I was skeptical until I saw Alice from I Love.I Cook. I Bake cooked her Indonesian Grilled Fish Fillet which is also a Barefoot Contessa inspired recipe... Alice mentioned this Ina's recipe is pretty good but I reckon Ina's choice of ingredients need to be slightly more Indonesian...

Instead of fish, I'm cooking Barefoot Contessa's inspired kecap manis chicken in this post. To grill these chicken is extremely easy... All I have to do is to marinate the chicken overnight, place everything in the oven and bake. Nice and easy! Ultimately, we like to enjoy these fully-flavoured chicken with Es Alpukat. 

Es Alpukat? It is a thick and creamy ice-blended coffee avocado milky drink. Es Alpukat remind me of the funny nights that my friends and I had in our Indonesia trip. We were chasing each other along the corridors and having pillow fights in our rooms. Please don't misunderstand us... We are truly the "innocent" late 80s kind of convent school teenage girls and don't consume any alcohol or drugs. Now recalling back, I can't help to think our extra-rowdiness is due to the excessive caffeine in the Es Alpukat that we had... LOL!

Kecap Manis Ginger Chicken and Es Alpukat

Only these three ingredients are required to grill kecap manis ginger chicken...

... and this is the special ingredient that make Es Alpukat extra creamy and yummy!

Instead of marinating chicken in baking trays, I marinated them in zip lock bags for easier storage.

Baking these chicken is easy...

... just bake, flip and grill!

Ta-dah!!! Delicious chicken!!!

While the chicken were grilling, I made these...

Es Alpukat is ready!

Kecap manis chicken is ready!

Let's feast!

Here are the recipes
(with my modification and notes in blue)

Indonesian Ginger Chicken by Barefoot Contessa from here or here
1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce 
(Instead of mixing honey and soy sauce, I have used 300ml of kecap manis)
1/4 cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
1/2 cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
(Instead of grating, I have roughly chopped the ginger)
2 (3 1/2 pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed
(I used 2 kg of chicken maryland with skins)

Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted - I skipped this step. Arrange the chicken in one layer in a shallow baking pan (or zip lock bags), skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 160°C fan forced.

If you marinate chicken in zip lock bags, arrange chicken with skin side down with marinating sauce in two aluminium and baking paper lined baking trays. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 mins - but I baked mine uncovered for 60 mins.

Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375°F or 170°C fan forced with grill. Continue baking for 30 mins or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown - I did mine for 15 mins or until skin grills to a rich brown colour.

Es Alpukat from Epicurious

Makes 2 large or 4 miniature serves
1/2 ripe large avocado
(I used 1/2 ripe small avocado for half of the recipe)
1/3 cup espresso or 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
(for half of the recipe, I used 4 tbsp decaff instant coffee made with 1/3 cup of boiling water)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk
(I used 99% fat free ones)
2 cups ice cubes
2 tsp vanilla (I used 1/4 tsp vanilla paste for half of the recipe)

Scoop avocado flesh into a blender, then purée with remaining ingredients until completely smooth, about 1 min.

Note: Using half of the recipe, I have made two miniature serves of smoothies as shown in my pictures.

Happy Baking

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This post is linked to Cook like a Star, ALL Stars Anniversary organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Mich from Piece of Cake. 

Wanna cook or bake like Donna Hay, Barefoot Contessa, Jamie Oliver, Masterchef, Martha Stewart, Delia Smith, Curtis Stone, Nigella Lawson, Ree Drummond and Bill Granger? To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from their websites or cookbooks and link with us at this Zoe's, this Joyce's or this Mich's post for the whole of March and April 2014.

To use this linky tool, please make sure that: (1) Your post must be a current post. (2) Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to us at Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Mich from Piece of Cake. Cheers!

For more details, please see this.

Here are my blogging friends that have joined me cooking for this event. Please visit their blogs for more of their 5-stars cooking. 

This post is also linked at the Indonesia event of Asian Food Fest (AFF) organised by Wendy, Table for 2 and hosted by Alice, I Love. I Cook. I Bake.

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (Bill Granger)

Summer came late and lasted later than usual this year. Nice that our Victoria Labor Day weekend including today is still warm and summery. For a nice warm like these, I wanted to serve something nice and refreshing for a picnic... Ideally, I wish to cook something stress-free with the least suffering from tears and sweats from cooking.

Ah! I see a light bulb on my head! I'm making light and refreshing Vietnamese rice paper rolls.

Good that these rice paper rolls are gluten free, low in fat and calories and very fresh and refreshing to eat. As I'm allergy to prawns, I have made a vegetarian version for me and also a vegetarian friend to enjoy.

Bright idea!??? Of course... Hope that I don't sound very ya-ya (meaning boastful in Hokkien) saying this... LOL! These rice paper rolls were gone very quickly... especially the ones with the fattest prawn!

Vietnamese rice paper rolls

The essential ingredients to make these paper rolls

I'm making the vegetarian and non-vegetarian ones.

... both with lots of GREENS!

Assemble and wrap... I think this YouTube video might help.

These are the vegetarian ones...

Ingredients to make the sauce...

Instead of peanuts, I like mine made with roasted sesame seeds.

This is how I ate my vegetarian roll... Yum!

Thumbs up that mummy used giant prawns to make these rolls!!!

I'm using this recipe which is the simple and easy one from Bill Granger at Lifestyle Food or UK TV with hardly any cooking and preparation involved. All I need to do is to assemble everything.
(with my modification in blue)

100g rice vermicelli
8 cooked and shelled prawns
1 oak leaf lettuce, washed and dried
Asian basil
coriander leaf
(I replaced this with fresh chives)
1 small Lebanese cucumber halved lengthways, then thinly sliced on diagonal.
8 large round rice paper wrappers
Vietnamese dipping sauce, see below

Vietnamese dipping sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce (I used the gluten free one)
crushed peanut to serve
(or roasted sesame seeds)

For the rice paper rolls:
Put the rice vermicelli in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 6-7 mins, then drain.

Soften one of the rice paper wrappers in a bowl of hot water. Remove and shake off any excess water. Top the wrapper with a little vermicelli, 1 cooked prawn, some cucumber, lettuce, basil and coriander (or chive) and roll up, tucking in the sides.

For the dipping sauce:
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined. Top with the crushed peanuts or sesame seeds.
 
To serve, hold the rolls in (or without) a lettuce leaf and dip into the dipping sauce.

Note: I have made a vegetarian version with soy braised tofu. Cook 350g sliced firm tofu with 3 tbsp soya sauce in medium heat for 10-15 mins. Cool completely before using them to assemble into the vegetarian rolls.

Enjoy the last bit of Aussie summer and also these refreshing treats!

Happy Baking
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This post is linked to Cook like a Star, ALL Stars Anniversary organised by me, Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Mich from Piece of Cake. 

Wanna cook or bake like Donna Hay, Barefoot Contessa, Jamie Oliver, Masterchef, Martha Stewart, Delia Smith, Curtis Stone, Nigella Lawson, Ree Drummond and Bill Granger? To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from their websites or cookbooks and link with us at this Zoe's, this Joyce's or this Mich's post for the whole of March and April 2014.

To use this linky tool, please make sure that: (1) Your post must be a current post. (2) Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to us at Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Mich from Piece of Cake. Cheers!

For more details, please see this.

Here are my blogging friends that have joined me cooking for this event. Please visit their blogs for more of their 5-stars cooking. 

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This post is also linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Moon from Food Playground at this post.

 

The Little Thumbs Up event starts on first Tuesday of the month until the last day of the month. Please join us! To join, simply cook or bake any recipe with the theme of the month which is PRAWN for March 2014 and link with us at this post. anytime until 31st March 2014. 

Don't forget your thumbs up or display this badge! And make sure that: (1) Your post must be a current post preferably within this month. (2) Please mention Little Thumbs Up in your post and link back to Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY or/and Moon from Food Playground. For more details, please see this.

What after March 2014? Ann from Anncoo Journal will be the next hostess of April 2014 and her theme is ORANGE!