Indonesian
cooking methods are similar to those used in any other Asian or Western kitchen especially
the basics such as blanching, broiling, steaming, frying and deep frying. However,
there one important basic that you need to know how to prepare. It is how to prepare
what is called the basic spice paste. There are varieties of basic spice pastes and
they are called basic because they are the seasoning bases of almost all Indonesian
dishes.
In Indonesia, a
saucer-shape granite grinding stone (mortar) and pestle are used. Ingredients are
peeled as necessary and sometimes chopped or sliced into small pieces so they would be
easier to grind. The pestle is used with a backwards and forwards motion across the
mortar until the ingredients are blended together into a smooth paste. If you are
using a blender or a food processor, the order of processing the spices is much the same
as using a mortar, but in some cases you might need to add some liquid to keep the blades
of the machine turning during the blending process. The liquid could be oil if the spice
paste needs to be fried or either coconut milk, stock or water if the spice paste is to be
simmered.
The order to be followed when
grinding spice paste ingredients is the hard items first although at most times I like to
grind garlic and shallots first. The hard items are dried spices, nuts and tough
fibrous rhizomes such as galangal, lemongrass. When all of these ingredients are
fine, add softer rhizomes, such as turmeric, ginger and fresh soaked dried chilies.
Once all of these are quite smooth, then add ingredients that are full of moisture, such
as shallots and garlic. Finally, you add shrimp paste and tamarind juice or any
other kind of juices and process to mix well.
This spice paste often then needs to
be fried or simmered depending on the recipes. If it needs to be fried, just use a
little bit of oil over low to moderate heat and stir fry it until it starts to smell
fragrant. This usually takes only 2-3 minutes. Sometimes, pieces of meat and
poultry are added to the paste and stir fried until these are well coated and the color
has changed.
Another process that you might need
to know since Indonesian cooking often use banana leaves to wrap its dishes is how to
correctly wrap them. Most of them are the ones that need steaming such as seafood
dishes. Another type of dishes that use lots of banana leaves for wrapping is the
desserts.
