No MONKEY BUSINESS!!
ANY MONKEY BUSINESS AND I WILL EAT MY HAT!
Ok, lets start with Bali, below is a story I just sent to my local 'Swan Magazine' of whom I regularly write for:
The Chef- Explorer has been concentrating on some major field work in 2010, by getting out there and exploring the world’s culture and cuisine. I need to keep my knowledge updated! So, in July I took the Murphy family to explore the villages and cuisine in Bali, and in August I travelled alone to check out a new country for me -Portugal. And in the process, joined forces with my old schoolmates who also travelled from around the world for a rather grand 50th birthday reunion!
However, more on that next month, first let’s go to Bali, where I am aware that the majority of folk in Australia have ‘Well Done’ Bali like an overcooked steak on the Barbie! But have you really explored the wonderful cuisine?
We kept well away from Kuta, preferring to stay up in the more spiritual village of Ubud. What a wonderful place, (although there are too many tourists there now too!)
The food was ALWAYS excellent even in the cheapest Warung (Restaurant). My boys love ‘Mie Goreng’, the packets of instant Noodles that you can buy, like a cheap six pack from all our local supermarkets, and nowadays, even cook them themselves! In Bali one can often indulge in the real thing, but immersed in the freshest of ingredients which really gave the dish such zest and at $3 for a main course, it is still as cheap as chips!
I also put myself on a day’s cooking course at the ‘Bumi Bali Cooking School’, so as to learn about Balinese cuisine first hand, from a Balinese Chef! Six scrumptious courses later and a rather ‘Life really is wonderful’ pathetic grin on my face I emerged from the class and happily waddled down the rather narrow street!
The highlight of my visit was an organised special ‘Chef-Explorer Tour’ so we could see the Hidden Bali with a Foodie theme.
Now my folks reckoned this rivalled our Great Barrier Reef adventure in 2009. We explored the real wholesale food markets, walked through the ancient rice fields, exploring Vanilla and coffee Beans, spices and the inevitable Banana tree. It was hard going, and well off the beaten track but we eventually rested with a local family who had farmed there for many generations. Their unplanned hospitality included climbing a tree to crack open a Coconut for a refreshing drink straight from the shell, followed by grinding their own coffee beans for the best coffee we have ever tasted! One cannot get any fresher. To round off a great day, the skies proceeded to remind us the Monsoon season is still running late, so the old Matriarch of the family emerged from the bush with huge Banana leaves to make a great Umbrella each ..wow, freshly made Umbrella’s too!
We also just HAD to explore the famous Monkey Forest. I had already instructed my children to behave themselves and ‘No monkey business” when we were out on our prior cultural tour. Now it became more apparent ‘You Cheeky Monkey’, is also an apt line in the forest in Ubud, as you can see below, one of them tried to eat my hat!
Next month, I will be in Europe, in search of Spanish and Portuguese Tapas in view of escorting future ‘Chef-Explorer’ tours there in the future. So, watch this space. Bon Appetite and Bon Voyage!
BALINESE AYAM (CHICKEN) SATE
This month’s recipe, is an authentic tasty Indonesian Sate stick but giving you a choice of upgrading ingredients using chicken breast and simplifying the sauce using peanut butter, or use mince which we used in Bali to wrap around the sticks.
Authentic Sate Ayam on Lemon grass stick
4 Chicken Breasts, skinned, cut into 1 inch / 2.5 cm cubes OR for a cheaper and more authentic recipe use your choice of mince meat
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
3 tsp Soy Sauce
5g chopped Galangal (use Ginger)
SATE SAUCE
1 tablespoon Peanut Oil
1 diced Onion
2 cloves crushed Garlic
5 large service spoons (400g) Peanut Butter
60 ml Soy Sauce
2 tsp Palm (or brown) Sugar
5g chopped chilli
100 ml Coconut Cream
400 ml Water approx
METHOD
1. Marinate Chicken in Garlic , Soy Sauce and ginger for 30 minutes
2. For the sauce; sweat the Onions In the Peanut Oil, then add Garlic and Chilli and fry for a few minutes
3. Add the Peanut Butter , Soy and Water and simmer gently for 20 minutes
4. Meanwhile, skewer the pieces of Chicken and place under the grill or on to a Char-grill. Keep the marinade.
5. * Now If you use minced meat, it will absorb the marinade, and you will have to mould the mince around the sate stick like in the photo above. If the mince is too dry then well mix in some raw egg,This will help it bind.
6. Meanwhile, finish the Sauce with the marinade juices and Coconut Cream and simmer a further 10 minutes.
7. Serve the Sate Ayam sticks on a bed of Rice with a little Sauce over them and the rest served separately
8. * For an Aussie touch Garnish with whole or chopped Macadamia Nuts
Cheeky Monkey! My Chef-Explorer hat still has the bite marks!
The Chef-Explorer learning how to cook Balinese cuisine
If you want more of ‘A TASTE OF THE WORLD’ from The CHEF EXPLORER, check out Brendan’s book, on his website at www.chefexplorer.com.au.
Ok, lets start with Bali, below is a story I just sent to my local 'Swan Magazine' of whom I regularly write for:
The Chef- Explorer has been concentrating on some major field work in 2010, by getting out there and exploring the world’s culture and cuisine. I need to keep my knowledge updated! So, in July I took the Murphy family to explore the villages and cuisine in Bali, and in August I travelled alone to check out a new country for me -Portugal. And in the process, joined forces with my old schoolmates who also travelled from around the world for a rather grand 50th birthday reunion!
However, more on that next month, first let’s go to Bali, where I am aware that the majority of folk in Australia have ‘Well Done’ Bali like an overcooked steak on the Barbie! But have you really explored the wonderful cuisine?
We kept well away from Kuta, preferring to stay up in the more spiritual village of Ubud. What a wonderful place, (although there are too many tourists there now too!)
The food was ALWAYS excellent even in the cheapest Warung (Restaurant). My boys love ‘Mie Goreng’, the packets of instant Noodles that you can buy, like a cheap six pack from all our local supermarkets, and nowadays, even cook them themselves! In Bali one can often indulge in the real thing, but immersed in the freshest of ingredients which really gave the dish such zest and at $3 for a main course, it is still as cheap as chips!
I also put myself on a day’s cooking course at the ‘Bumi Bali Cooking School’, so as to learn about Balinese cuisine first hand, from a Balinese Chef! Six scrumptious courses later and a rather ‘Life really is wonderful’ pathetic grin on my face I emerged from the class and happily waddled down the rather narrow street!
The highlight of my visit was an organised special ‘Chef-Explorer Tour’ so we could see the Hidden Bali with a Foodie theme.
Now my folks reckoned this rivalled our Great Barrier Reef adventure in 2009. We explored the real wholesale food markets, walked through the ancient rice fields, exploring Vanilla and coffee Beans, spices and the inevitable Banana tree. It was hard going, and well off the beaten track but we eventually rested with a local family who had farmed there for many generations. Their unplanned hospitality included climbing a tree to crack open a Coconut for a refreshing drink straight from the shell, followed by grinding their own coffee beans for the best coffee we have ever tasted! One cannot get any fresher. To round off a great day, the skies proceeded to remind us the Monsoon season is still running late, so the old Matriarch of the family emerged from the bush with huge Banana leaves to make a great Umbrella each ..wow, freshly made Umbrella’s too!
We also just HAD to explore the famous Monkey Forest. I had already instructed my children to behave themselves and ‘No monkey business” when we were out on our prior cultural tour. Now it became more apparent ‘You Cheeky Monkey’, is also an apt line in the forest in Ubud, as you can see below, one of them tried to eat my hat!
Next month, I will be in Europe, in search of Spanish and Portuguese Tapas in view of escorting future ‘Chef-Explorer’ tours there in the future. So, watch this space. Bon Appetite and Bon Voyage!
BALINESE AYAM (CHICKEN) SATE
This month’s recipe, is an authentic tasty Indonesian Sate stick but giving you a choice of upgrading ingredients using chicken breast and simplifying the sauce using peanut butter, or use mince which we used in Bali to wrap around the sticks.
Authentic Sate Ayam on Lemon grass stick
4 Chicken Breasts, skinned, cut into 1 inch / 2.5 cm cubes OR for a cheaper and more authentic recipe use your choice of mince meat
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
3 tsp Soy Sauce
5g chopped Galangal (use Ginger)
SATE SAUCE
1 tablespoon Peanut Oil
1 diced Onion
2 cloves crushed Garlic
5 large service spoons (400g) Peanut Butter
60 ml Soy Sauce
2 tsp Palm (or brown) Sugar
5g chopped chilli
100 ml Coconut Cream
400 ml Water approx
METHOD
1. Marinate Chicken in Garlic , Soy Sauce and ginger for 30 minutes
2. For the sauce; sweat the Onions In the Peanut Oil, then add Garlic and Chilli and fry for a few minutes
3. Add the Peanut Butter , Soy and Water and simmer gently for 20 minutes
4. Meanwhile, skewer the pieces of Chicken and place under the grill or on to a Char-grill. Keep the marinade.
5. * Now If you use minced meat, it will absorb the marinade, and you will have to mould the mince around the sate stick like in the photo above. If the mince is too dry then well mix in some raw egg,This will help it bind.
6. Meanwhile, finish the Sauce with the marinade juices and Coconut Cream and simmer a further 10 minutes.
7. Serve the Sate Ayam sticks on a bed of Rice with a little Sauce over them and the rest served separately
8. * For an Aussie touch Garnish with whole or chopped Macadamia Nuts
Cheeky Monkey! My Chef-Explorer hat still has the bite marks!
The Chef-Explorer learning how to cook Balinese cuisine
If you want more of ‘A TASTE OF THE WORLD’ from The CHEF EXPLORER, check out Brendan’s book, on his website at www.chefexplorer.com.au.
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