I think it is only fair to state that we, Indonesians, have a national fascination with fried foods. The fascination even goes up as the number of times the oil has been used rises. Spend some time on the streets of Jakarta, it is pretty clear what kind of street vendors are the most common.

I was trying to look up which ancient civilization invented the method of preparing food by immersing the food itself in a pan of heated fat. Wikipedia is not able to identify the origin of this particular method. I guess we can’t blame anyone for letting us to eat fat straight-up; the same way we can blame the egyptian for inventing cake.

One tip that wikipedia provides is how to get less fat in your food. “If performed properly, deep-frying does not make food excessively greasy, because the moisture in the food repels the oil. The hot oil heats the water within the food, steaming it from the inside out; oil cannot go against the direction of this powerful flow because (due to its high temperature) the water vapor pushes the bubbles toward the surface. As long as the oil is hot enough and the food is not immersed in the oil for too long, oil penetration will be confined to the outer surface”. It went on to say that the perfect temperature for frying lies in the range of 170-190 deg Celsius. Aha!

***

If you love fried food as much as we do, I bet you think the following recipe is just swell.

Risoles Ragout (original recipe by Rita Fauziah-NCC, copied from dapur mbak sYL (http://keluargacemara.net/dapur) , thanks mbak)
serves: 8

Ingredients

Ragout
1 tbs margarine/butter
1 onion, minced
100 gr chicken. Boiled and cut into pieces (I sometimes substitute this for green beans)
100 gr carrot, cut into small cubes
2 green onions, chopped
200 cc milk
1/2 tsp peper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp sugar
2-4 tbs flour
2 tbs margarine/butter

Crepes:
100 gr flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
275 ml milk
oil to grease the pan

coating:
1 egg & 1 tbs water. whisked
bread crumbs

Directions
-Heat 1 tbs margarine/butter on a skillet over a medium heat.
-Add in the onion and ground nutmeg. Let it sit until the onion turns translucent and the smell intensifies
-Add in the chicken, carrot and green onions.
-Add in milk, salt, peper, and sugar.
-Bring it into the boiling point.
-Add in the flour through a sieve
-Once everything becomes a goey mixture, remove from heat
-Add in the 2 tbs of margarine/butter. Mix well

Crepes/wrapper:
Combine all ingredients. Let it go through a sieve.
Grease a non-stick skillet pan with a well-oiled brush (Do this only as needed). Set it on top of a low heat.
Add in one spoonful of the mixture onto the pan. Even it out.
Once the surface hardens, take it out of the pan.
Repeat until there is no mixture left

Assembling:
Prepare a skillet over a medium heat.
Add one spoonful of the filling inside the wrapper. Fold it as you like.
Dip it into the egg mixture.
Coat it with the bread crumbs
Fry until it turns into a golden brown.

Bahasa Indonesia
Risoles

Bahan Ragout Ayam :
1 sdm margarin
50 gr bawang bombay, cincang halus
100 gr daging ayam rebus, suwir-suwir
100 gr wortel, iris dadu kecil-kecil

2 lembar daun bawang, iris halus
200 cc susu cair
setengah sdt merica bubuk
setengah sdt garam
setengah sdt pala bubuk
2 sdt gula pasir
2-4 sdm tepung terigu
2 sdm Margarine

Cara Membuat:
Bumis bawang bombay dengan 1 sdm margarine dan pala bubuk, sampai bawang layu dan harum pala keluar.
Masukkan ayam rebus, wortel dan daun bawang.
Masukkan susu cair, merica, garam, gula.
Biarkan sampai mendidih, masukkan terigu yang di ayak, aduk adonan, sampai kental. Matikan api, masukkan 2 sdm margarine, aduk sampai margarine rata.

Bahan Kulit:
100 gr tepung terigu
1 butir telur
½ sdt garam
275 ml susu cair
Minyak goreng untuk olesan

Bahan Untuk Memanir Risoles:
1 bt telur kocok lepas
1 sdm air
Tepung panir

Cara Membuat:
Campur semua bahan kulit jadi satu sampai betul-betul larut. Saring bila perlu.
Tuang adonan di atas wajan (sebaiknya Teflon datar) dari tengah, kemudian wajan diputar sampai terbentuk dadar tipis
Isi sesuai adonan ragout yang sudah jadi, lalu lipat membentuk amplop
Celupkan dalam kocokan telur yang sudah dicampur air, lalu lumuri tepung panir

Tips Menggoreng Kulit Risoles:
Minyak untuk menggoreng jangan terlalu banyak. Anda bisa memakai kuas besar untuk untuk mengoles wajan tiap 3-4 dadar (tergantung, kalau sudah mulai lengket, oles lagi). Gunakan api kecil.

Terus terang saya tidak bisa menahan diri melihat gorengan, Benar-benar gak sehat ya :D. Tapi setidaknya kalau mau gorengan ya buat sendiri, bisa mengurangi “guilty” ketika memakannya. Secara gak pake minyak jelantah donk ya.

sumber: yasaboga, modifikasi tisha

Bahan:
200 gr ayam
1 buah wortel, potong dadu.
50 gr buncis, potong dadu.
25 gr suun, rendam
2 buah buah telur, rebus dan potong dadu.
2 buah bawang putih, cincang.
6 buah bawang merah, iris.
1 batang daun seledri dan bawang prei. iris.
garam, gula, dan merica bubuk sesuai selerah
sesendok tepung terigu untuk mengentalkan

Bahan kulit:
250 gr tepung terigu
1 butir telur.

Cara:
Bahan isian:
Tumis bawang putih dan bawang merah hingga layu.
Masukkan daging ayam, dan sayuran. Tambahkan 100 cc air, garam, merica,gula pasir, dan tepung. Masak hingga air habis.
Masukkan suun dan telur.
Aduk rata.

Kulit:
Campur tepung, telur, margarin, dan air sedikit demi sedikit.
Aduk dan uleni hingga kalis.
Giling adonan menjadi lebih kurang 2 mm.
Potong bulat (bisa digunakan bantuan mangkok.
Isikan 1 sdm bahan isian dan lipat
Rapihkan lipatan dan bentuk biku-biku.
Goreng dengan minyak banyak

Tips
-Pastikan bahwa kedua sisi lingkaran kulit menyatu dengan sempurna (Bisa dipastikan dengan dicubit-cubit untuk menyatukannya).
-Lebih mudah kalau adonan kulit tidak diangkat dari meja ketika proses pengisian. Karena jikalau kulit diangkat, maka ia akan sedikit mengkerut. Lakukan pengisian dan penutupan adonan ketika adonan kulit masih menempel di meja.
-Jika kulit terlihat bergelembung, berarti minyak terlalu panas. Kecilkan.

Thinking of lapek pisang brings me the memory of childhood. Running around the neighborhood playing hide and seek till I lost one of my slippers or dragging my bicycle till I got bruises on my knees. All would come to an end when I heard my mom’s repeated calls: “Pulang lai nakkk“. That signaled me to directly go home because she would have a treat ready for me at home. It would be either lapek pisang, donut, or godok. Whatever it was, they always tasted good.

ingredients
6 ripe bananas
50 gr flour
2 handfuls of shredded coconut meat
banana leaves as wrappers
salt

filling:
shredded/cubed palm sugar

direction:
Mash bananas with a bottom of a a glass or a potato masher.
Add in flour and shredded coconut meat
You may add a little bit of water to the mixture (to your liking)
Add in salt to taste.
Take a piece of banana leave, put 1.5 tbs of the batter on top of it. Take a piece of the filling and nudge the batter to cover it.
Put it into a steamer, let it cooked.

Bahasa Indonesia
bahan:
6 buah pisang kepok/pisang batu matang
50 gr tepung terigu
2 genggam kelapa parut
daun pisang untuk membungkus

bahan isi:
gula jawa, iris secukupnya

cara:
haluskan pisang dengan menggunakan gelas/garpu.
masukkan tepung dan kelapa parut.
Jika adonan dirasa terlalu keras, tambahkan air secukupnya.
letakkan 1.5 sdm adonan di atas daun pisang, beri bahan isi, kemudian tutup adonan.
Kukus hingga matang.