Aaaaand I am back and I am ready for snack ideas during this pandemic because during this shutdown, lockdown, whatchamacallit, we are here together. Bored and hungry, so let's whip out easy to make - easier to eat snacks from whatever we have in the kitchen, shall we? Today's snack is Lumpia Mie or Noodle Spring Rolls. Let's start!

Bakwan sayur is an Indonesian national vegetable fritters. Well, okay, I might exagerated a bit there saying it is a national dish, but you can ask any Indonesian if they know bakwan sayur, and big chance that they do and they love it, no matter what region in Indonesia they come from. 

If you have been following this blog, you will notice that I have a penchant for street food. I grew up eating street food. Not something to be proud of, knowing how unhealthy street food can be, but it's not something I regret either. Did I tell you that there's ZERO street food in Quebec City? Well, there isn't any since food trucks are prohibited. Boring.. 

This Sunday is my me-time day, and what is a me-time without eating your fav food? This is the exact question that inspired today's recipe. One of my fav food is fried stuff. I know, I know, its not very healthy, but what can I say, I love it. Fried food is my definitely sinful delights!

Today I am sharing another wrapped finger food recipe. I must admit that I am a sucker for this kind of food, does it show? I like everything wrapped, either fried, steamed or boiled. From Sosis Solo to Perogies, from siomay to momos, and yes, I have those frozen in my freezer and I am planning for making some more for Ramadhan. 

Last weekend we had a Moroccan themed supper and I was responsible to bring some kind of Moroccan appetizer, so I made meat briouats, a Moroccan puff pastry with meat filling. The real Morrocan briouats are wrapped in warqa, a typical Moroccan paper-thin pastry sheet but I substituted this with phyllo sheets instead. Some said you can even use spring roll skin, but since I am baking this briouats instead of frying it, phyllo sheets work much better. 

For getting the authentic Moroccan taste, I used Ras El Hanout. Ras El Hanout is the Garam Masala of African cuisine. Its the typical spice mix used in their cuisine, consist of minimum 12 (and up to 100) different spices. I am sure if you Google the ingredients, you can make your own mix. However, I got mine pre-mixed from 35 different spices. 

From the look of it, you might think its a heavy and too-much-spiced food for an appetizer, but actually its pretty light since its wrapped in phyllo sheet, its kinda melt in your mouth. To balance out the taste, I make Tzatziki sauce to go with it. Yes, I know Tzatziki is not from Morocco but it just my preference to have a dipping sauce for my wrapped food and since I couldn't find any Moroccan sauce to go with briouats, Tzatziki it is then, and it turned out awesome. Thanks to these two, I was showered with compliments for my appetizer. :)

Ingredients:

500 gr of veal minced meat (you can use lamb or chicken too)

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup of chopped parsley

1 heap tbps of Ras El Hanout (adjust to your taste)

1/2 tsp corriander powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

salt and pepper

Olive oil 

phyllo sheet 

Melted butter

Cooking Step:

1. On medium heat, sautee chopped onions and Ras El Hanout until the onion turns translucent, 
2. Add minced meat and cook until the meat changes color, for about 10 minutes,
3. Add parsley and the rest of the ingredients, mix well and continue cooking until the liquid from the meats evaporates a bit, but not too dry, set aside 
4. Now lets prepare for rolling the briouats, first make sure your phyllo sheet is room temperature,
5. If your phyllo sheets are square, cut the each sheet in two and you will end up with two rectangular sheets out of one square sheet, 
6. Put one sheet on top of the other, brush the bottom layer with melted butter,
7. Put a heap tablespoon of the meat, and gently roll it as you roll a spring roll, brush the edges with melted butter before you tuck in each end, 
8. Once your roll is done, brush the surface with melted butter, 
9. Repeat with the remaining meat and phyllo sheets,
10. Preheat oven to 200 C, 
11. Line your baking tray with a parchment paper and place the briouats on it, bake for 5 to 6 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp, turn the briouats and continue baking for another 5 to 6 minutes. 

Now, lets make the fresh and simple Tzaziki sauce!

Ingredients:
2 cups of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of finely chopped mint leaves
1 or two cups seeded and grated cucumber
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp cumin powder
salt and pepper to your taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper powder (optional)
garlic paste is also common to be used in Tzatziki sauce, but I am not using it today, I find it too strong to go with the briouats.

Simply mix all ingredients in a bowl (refrigerate for an hour for best flavor).



Happy cooking!!


PS: The phyllo sheets get dry very fast, keep it under a damp kitchen towel to keep it moist and pliable.
Taste while you are cooking and adjust the spice to your liking, my measurement is merely a basic guide.

One of my all time favorite street vendor snacks is Siomay. Its steamed fish dumpling with vegetable (steamed potato and cabbage), tofu and boiled egg, served in peanut sauce. Traditional siomay made of ikan tenggiri (Wahoo fish) meat altho it is common to substitute the fish with shrimp, or mackerel.  

Baked Mac and Cheese, although it is not a traditional Indonesian cuisine, it is very well-known dish in Jakarta. We serve it mostly as snack. My mom used to make it in a big casserole, my brother and I would dip it in spicy sauce then gobble it up in no time. The ingredients used for this recipe like cheese and milk were expensive so my mom didn't cook it as often as we wished. She made it mostly on special occasions or when we had guests that she wanted to impress. It was kind of a luxury snack for us.

Last week, a lovely friend of mine invited us to her place for dinner. She served Mac and Cheese on bite size for appetizer, brilliant!! I love heavy dishes that come in bite size. It leaves me a reason to eat more because hey, its only a bite size anyway :P 

Toffu is definitely my top favorite protein source. It has subtle flavor and very versatile. You can use it for savory or sweet dishes. Back home at my parents' place, we have toffu and or tempeh on our table for each meal time (yes, it means minimum two times a day, and sometimes for snacks too). There are so many ways to cook toffu, you can use as meat replacement too.

Today I am making Perkedel Tahu or Toffu patty, using firm white toffu. My mom used to make it too, and she would add chunks of shrimp in it. I didn't have shrimp so I substitute it with crab stick. I was making this patties for supper but it ended up as my afternoon snack. My love for tofu and fried food knows no boundary nor discipline... 

Today's recipe is totally not a traditional Indonesian recipe at all, however I cook it often since I tend to have a lot of moose meat. You can use any strong-flavored meat such as lamb or even turkey. I used a lot of spices to soften the meat flavor yet careful enough it doesn't taste too much like a big triangle chunk of deep fried spice mix. 

Nice colorful salad, healthy and easy. When you need vegetable as side dish yet you are lazy like me, this recipe can be the savior of the day. 

Today was the first day of full sun and the temperature was over 20 Celcius here in my city. We had a long agonizing winter this year, so when you can actually go out without layers of coat and its sunny outside, you definitely do not want to waste such a beautiful day in the kitchen. However, I still had to feed my growling stomach which at the moment starts to show its ability to impersonate a whale mating sound. 

I was thinking to make a simple sandwich to bring and eat it at a park. I went to a nearby grocery to get some cooked meat for the sandwich and then I saw this nice cooked lobster on specials. I like lobsters, and I like it even more when its on special. Woo hoo!! 

Fortunately, I had few ripe mangos and avocados at home, and I was thinking what could I do with these fruits and lobster meat. I mean a sandwich could do, but when its hot outside, I don't really like eating heavy stuff like bread, and I was like, hey, why didn't I make some summer spring rolls instead! 

To be honest, before, I didn't really like summer spring rolls much since usually they put cilantro in it and I am cilantro taste intolerant, yeah I am picky like that. But now since I can make my own rolls,  I use fresh basil instead to give some taste to my spring rolls. 

Et voila, cook-free supper!!