Siomay is a very popular dish in Indonesia. I believe it's adapted from the Chinese shaoi mai by the Chinese immigrants who settled in long ago in Indonesia. Since the majority of the Indonesian population is Muslim, Siomay is normally not made from pork and prawn like the original shaoi mai, but usually with fish, or a combination of chicken and prawn. I nevertheless like my siomay best with fish and a little bit of pork fat. Siomay is usually served with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chilli sauce and a drizzle of kaffir lime juice. Siomay can also be served together with steamed potatoes, bitter gourds, tofu, cabbage and hard-boiled eggs.

Siomay is also such a reminiscene of my childhood. I still remember the siomay men who sold their steamed goods with their bicycles. Almost every afternoon I could hear the bicycle bell of a siomay hawker passing by my house. It was so cool...! I really miss those hawkers in Indonesia...! If you want to see a blog that features lots of hawker foods in Indonesia, please visit Selby's Food Corner - she has so many mouthwatering posts about hawker foods.

Ingredients
Siomay

• 400 gr mackerel fish paste
• 100 gr minced pork
• 400 gr tapioca flour
• 400 gr water
• 2-3 tbs chopped spring onions
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
• Wonton wrappers (optional)
  

Mix all ingredients. You can use wonton wrappers to wrap the siomay, but it's not completely necessary. Just scoop a tablespoon of the siomay mixture and place it in the steamer. Steam for 10 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

• 200 gr peanuts (or use peanut butter)
• 1-2 tbs oil
  
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs minced chilli
• 200 ml water
• 1 tbs vinegar
• 1 tbs sugar

Heat the wok and add 2 tbs oil. Pan fry the peanuts, when they are golden brown, add in garlic and chilli. Add the pan fried peanuts, chilli, and garlic in a mixer, including water, vinegar and sugar. Mix all ingredients until smooth.

As accompaniments, I added steamed rolled-cabbage and hard-boiled eggs to my siomay.

Drizzle with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chilli sauce and kaffir lime juice. Enjoy with a glass of avocado smoothie:)!

I am still looking for other delicious siomay recipes, if you've got one, please let me know!!

Jus alpukat is Indonesian for avocado juice. Avocado juice is a very popular drink/dessert in Indonesia. I used to think that it's a very typical Indonesian beverage which could only be found in Indonesia, but after a few years of food-blog reading, I found out that it's not true at all. Apparently you could find avocado juice or smoothie in some other South-East Asian countries.

For some people, who are used to think of avocado as fruit used only for savoury dishes or salads, the idea of having avocado as a sweet dessert might be weird. But believe me, cold avocado smoothie is a real treat for a hot summery day! Well, it's still a real treat for me in winter ;-) . In Indonesia, avocado juice/smoothie is made by mixing avocado with water, ice cubes, sugar and condensed milk. It's normally served with chocolate condensed milk or chocolate syrup. You can also add some vanilla essence to make the smoothie smells nicer. Adding a scoop of vanilla ice-cream might also make this drink more smoothie-like, but I prefer mine less thick and less glamourous...:).

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, seeded and peeled
  
• 250 ml water
• 3 tbs sugar (or to taste)
• 2 tbs condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 15-20 ice cubes

Mix all ingredients in your mixer!

I didn't have chocolate condensed milk/syrup, so I used grass jelly as the topping for my avocado juice.

AWARD

By the way, two weeks ago, Slywia from Unsifted, gave me the Honest Scrap award. Thank you Sylwia, and I am sorry for the delay in posting the award. During the last two weeks I had been occupied by the arrival of a new member in the family - a very sweet, adorable bunny, called Charlie :-).

Isn't she a darling :)??

Soto Betawi is a curry-like soup originated from Jakarta, Indonesia. Unlike the other types of soto which normally have quite clear or transparent yellowish broth, Soto Betawi has a more curry-like flavour due to its use of coconut milk. I am not a fan of Soto, but Soto Betawi is an exception. I find this dish very aromatic, spicy and delicious.

Although Soto Betawi is not a dish that I would eat regularly due to its quite high-cholesterol content, having this from time to time can be a real treat. Like many other South-East Asian dishes, you would need to collect quite some herbs and spices to be able to make Soto Betawi from scratch, such as galangal, lemongrass, candlenut, bay leaves, turmeric, red shallot, garlic, ginger and coconut milk. This is a quite long list! And living in Germany doesn't make it easier to get ahold of these fresh exotic spices - sure we do have some local Asian groceries that do sell all those ingredients, but I don't go there often. That's why having an instant seasoning mix can sometimes come in handy. My favourite Indonesian instant mix brand is called Munik.

It's the best instant seasoning brand I know, that provides really quite authentic taste of Indonesian cuisine. Munik is also (as far as I know) more expensive than the other Indonesian seasoning mixes, but it's worth it. I have tried their Rendang, Gulai and Ayam Goreng mixes and I am not disappointed. But I have tried their Nasi Goreng seasoning mix, and I can only say, make your own Nasi goreng, it would taste better! I don't think that Germany has Munik in sale anywhere, I have my own Munik stock from my Mum who vistited me a year ago.

For the Munik Soto Betawi, basically you just need beef, water, coconut milk, the Munik instant mix of course and that's it - you can adjust the taste by adding a bit of salt, sugar or pepper as you wish. I served the Soto Betawi with chopped spring onions, fried onions, tomato slices, sambal (chilli) and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Normally you also need some slices of fresh lime and emping - Melinjo (Gnetum Gnemon) crackers. But since I don't like emping, I didn't feel that I missed anything :).

What's your favourite flavoured-milk brand? Müllermilch is my favourite one currently (no, no, this is no advertisement and I don't get paid !;) - I just like the flavour!). There are many milk brands in Germany of course, and I am sure there are also other good ones beside Müllermilch, since Germany does have high-quality dairy products, but I haven't tried them yet. I have the tendency to buy the same things over and over again once I know a product is good instead of trying other brands as well - so in this area I'm not that very adventurous. But I am sure one day I'll try other flavoured-milk brands as well.

Müllermilch has various flavours - my most favourite flavour is chocolate, followed by strawberry and vanilla. There are also other flavours like banana, coffee, passionfruit and so on. But as I have mentioned before, I am just not that adventurous - For my milk and ice-cream, I normally never go beyond these three 'safe' flavours (well, except green tea or sesame for ice-cream - but they don't have these flavours in Germany ;)).

What I like about Müllermilch is, the taste is not too overpowering and sweet yet flavourful, especially when served cold. My favourite Australian milk brand is Moove. But I think Müllermilch tastes even better!