Rambutan

Where: Indonesia

Rambutan are a close relative of longans and lychee. The fruit loks visually like lychee, except instead of short spikes covering it, long, reddish fur like protuberances cover the delicate white fruit. Peeling one takes a bit of skill, but a knife doesn't hurt.

They taste... well, almost exactly like lychee, and not all too dissimilar to longans. Not entiely sure how to describe it to the unitiated, but a sort of light, sweetalmost pear-like flavor, with an almost shrimp like gelatinous texture.

Given tey are a little harder to come by than lychee or longans, they're not worth hunting down except if, like me, you're ridiculously curious, although they did get a mention on Stargate Universe recently (and fed to an alien who promptly spit them out, but no accounting for taste there...)

Beef Rendang

Another one of Indonesia's more famous dishes is beef rendang, a spicy curry-like preparation of beef and coconut. Based on this recipe.

You may need to make some substitutions on this one- don't be afraid to. Tamarind pulp can be replaced by lemon juice mixed with brown sugar, kaffir lime leaves can be replaced with basil, and palm sugar can be replaced by white sugar, or preferably turbinado sugar. Galangal can be omitted if you can't find it. Toasted coconut can be made by dry roasting shredded coconut on a frying pan or wok.

Beef Rendang

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb beef, cubed

5 tbsp cooking oil

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

3 star anise

3 cardamom pods

1 lemon grass, sliced and pounded

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup water

2 tbsp taramind pulp

6 kaffir lime leaves

6 tbsp toasted coconut

1 tbsp palm sugar

Spice Paste:

5 shallots

1 inch galangal
3 lemongrass (white part only)

5 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

10-12 chilli peppers

Preparation:

Chop the spice paste ingredients and use a food processor to turn them into a paste.

Cooking:

In a medium pot, heat the oil and then add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, snd cardamom pods, and stir fry until aromatic. Add the beef and lemongrass, and cook for one minute.

Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, and water, and simmer on medium heat until the meat is almost cooked. Then add the kaffir lime leaves, toasted coconut, and palm sugar.

Simmer on low heat 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender and the liquid is mostly gone. Add salt to taste.

Nasi Goreng : Indonesia's National Dish

Nasi Goreng, literally fried rice, is a dish you likely associate with Chinese food, but it's actually Indonesia that calls it their "national dish". The beauty of nasi goreng is that it's the perfect way to use up leftover rice, and about the only use once it's been refrigerated.

Just don't expect it to turn bright yellow. I'm pretty sure that's added turmeric.

Nasi Goreng

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2-3

2 cups leftover cooked rice

2 tbsp oil

3 eggs

1 onion

2 green chillis

1 garlic clove

1 leek

1/2 pound chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

3 tbsp sweet soy sauce (or dark soy sauce, if unavailable)

On one skillet, make on omlette out of the three eggs. Take it off the heat and cut into strips. Heat oil in a frying pan and add leeks, garlic, onion, and chillies and cook until aromatic. Next add the chicken, and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked.

Mix the Rice, eggs, and soy sauce, and mix until rice is hot.

Then serve and enjoy.

Avocado Juice

One of Indonesia's more unique, and most delicious treats is a sort of smoothies known locally as "Avocado Juice". It is not, in fact, juice but a smoothie concocted by putting Avocado, milk, and sugar in a blender. And surprisingly, it is fantastic.

Avocado Juice

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

2 cups milk

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

a couple drops vanilla

Preparation:

Slice avocado and remove seed, and outer skin. Place in blender with milk, water, sugar, and vanilla, and blend until smooth and lightly whipped. Pour over ice and enjoy.

Chapter 6 : Indonesia

As countries go, Indonesia remains an enigma to Americans. We know it gets hit by tsunamis, rebel separatists can be found there, and merchants stamp Osama bin Ladin on t-shirts there, but that's about it. Bizarre snippets of news float across the Pacific to us from the large and varied nation situated between Malaysia and Australia.

Having been roommates with an Indonesia for a few years wasn't as illuminating as you might expect, but I learned a few things from her. First, Indonesians love fried

chicken, by the bucket, and their favorite condiment is a sort of ketchup made with chilli peppers and tomato, or even just chilli peppers, called Manis Pedas or Extra Pedas, accordingly. I won't mince words about it: this is the single best spicy condiment I have ever tasted. Many of my friends fo buying Sriracha sauce, which is both mild and flavorless by comparison.

They also tend to prefer a sweet, molasses-like soy sauce called Ketchup Manis, or Sweet Soy Sauce. One can use these two condiments to make delicious ramen with no effort. Just strain the ramen after you cook it, and pour both into the pile of noodles and mix it up, and you'll have a sweet, spicy treat with no effort.

If you can locate these two condiments, don't hesitate to pick them up, and take a day off from cooking and pick up some good old fashioned fried chicken with extra pedas.