Organic cooking: Kare Tofu

Today we want to share our favourite Balinese Tofu recipe with you. Tofu or bean curd is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. Tofu has very little flavor or smell on its own, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, and it is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish. Tofu contains a low amount of calories, relatively large amount of iron, and little fat. Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the tofu may also be high in calcium and/or magnesium.

tofu

At Jiwa Damai we serve health-conscious cuisine for body and soul. We only use local fresh farm products, some grown on our land. In combining our ingredients, we pay attention to how the valuable substances in the food complement each other in order to create a balanced and vitalizing eating experience. Our talented cook Astri likes to prepare various Tofu dishes. This one is sooo yammi....

Recipe for Kare Tofu:

• 2 pieces of lemongrass, pounded with mortar & pestle
• 1 package firm tofu
• Approx. 4 leaves Daun Salam, an Indonesian Bay-Leaf. If you cannot attain Daun Salam you can substitute with ordinary bay-leaves, though the taste will be different.
• 4 pieces of Kemirie Nuts. This Indonesian nut looks like a large hazelnut. Astri uses it to thicken and flavor the Kare Tofu sauce. You can substitute with Macadamia or Brazil nuts.
• 2 red onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 small piece fresh turmeric (peeled an ground)
• A pinch of Ketumbar, or coriander spice.
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ block veggie stock
• 1 package of Santan Kelapa (65 ml) or Coconut milk, specifically the extract from the grated coconut flesh
• 1 cup water

Preparation: First, make the sauce. Add the Kemirie, chopped garlic, minced red onion, turmeric, Ketumbar and sugar together in blender (a bullet is useful here).

Cut tofu into triangles. Heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in the wok enough to coat the pan and give partially cover tofu. Once hot, add tofu. Give the lemongrass a couple of pounds with mortar and pestle and then add the entire stalk into the skillet. Add Daun Salam. Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Add sauce and stir. Next, add water. The mixture should look almost soupy. Add vegetable sock. Bring the tofu and sauce to a boil for about 15 minutes. Reduce heat, allow to continue cooking and reducing for 2 or 3 minutes. Take off heat and add Santan Kelapa. Stir and let stand. Give sauce adequate time to cool and thicken around the tofu.

Serve warm, with rice.

Kare Tofu_

Enjoy your meal!

Organic cooking: Fried Tempeh

Today we show you another traditional Balinese dish made from Tempeh. Tempeh is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. It has a firm texture and strong flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine.

Sliced_tempeh

At Jiwa Damai we place a high value on sustainable food practices and organically grown produce. We grow and eat a fair amount from our permaculture garden. Astri, our very talented Balinese cook, prepares food with great care and love. Below is her recipe for Fried Tempe. Very yummy.....

Astri's recipe for Fried Tempeh: 

Ingredients:

• 1 block of Tempeh
• Add a dash of Merica Bubuk, Indonesian Pure Pepper Powder
• 1 block vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water

Preparation:

First cut tempeh into flat squares. Combine with Merica Bubuk, vegetable stock, and salt. Add ½ cup water and allow to soak 20 minutes. Drain, vegetable oil in wok and fry tempeh. We enjoy tempeh with rice and sambal.

Other variations include cutting the tempe into thin rectangles and combining with peanuts and red peppers. This makes a great addition to stir fried bok choy, or added to a salad like croutons.

Fried Tempeh

Organic Cooking: Balinese Sambal

At Jiwa Damai we place a high value on sustainable food practices and organically grown produce. We grow and eat a fair amount from our permaculture garden. Astri, our very talented Balinese cook, prepares food with great care and love. We eat mostly traditional Balinese dishes here.

In this blog, we want to share some of Astri’s amazing recipes with you. We start with a very important dish in the Balinese cuisine - Sambal.

Ingredients for one batch:

• 5 to 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 5 to 6 little red onions, minced
• Spicy: 3 red chilies, Mild: 1 red chili
• 7 medium sized tomatoes
• ½ block veggie stock (homemade is best)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

Tomatoes

Preparation:

Peel and chop garlic, red onion, tomatoes and chilies. Combine in medium mixing bowl.

Heat skillet with around 3 tablespoons of oil. Add ingredients and allow to simmer. Stir occasionally, reducing the tomatoes down. Add the teaspoon of salt, continue to reduce until tomatoes are soft and juicy.

Remove from heat, add veggie stock and sugar. Put ingredients into blender, run until smooth. Most of the time at Jiwa Damai, we eat sambal with tempe and rice. It makes a delicious addition, however, to cooked vegetables or eggs.

Cooking Sambal

Note: There are many variations of sambal in Indonesia, used both as a sauce, a dip and a regular table condiment. Variations include those with Kaffir lime, peanuts, or shrimp paste.