Probably the highlight of our touch-n-go trip to Udine and the Far East Film Festival, Theodora Hurustiati’s lesson on Indonesian cooking was really interesting, useful and fun.
Like many of the events at the Far East Film Festival it was free, an element which is not to be overlooked when the objective is to get more visibility for a niche product or interest (such as Asian film and food in Italy).
Anyway the discovery of the month for me is Theodora an Indonesian chef living in Italy whose blog (puracucina) I sincerely suggest you visit for inspiration. She embraces the need-for-speed of modern living that makes Nigella appealing to your average woman, but manages to show you that speed need not make asian food (usually rather lengthy to prepare) an absolute no-no.
We were shown how to prepare three dishes:
Nasi Kuning (yellow rice)
Urap (coconut vegetables)
Rendang (coconut beef stew)
Because I am really lazy and not a plagiarist I’m attaching the hand outs that Theodora gave us to this post so you can read the whole recipe. I will just comment the pics and add anything that may not have been written down.
As usual it’s all in the preparation also keeping all your ingredients under your nose is great if you are a bit forgetful
Theodora slicing the ginger for Nasi Kuning
Adding laurel leaves and keffir lime leaves to the yellow rice for tanginess
Voilà!
I always feel a bit more at home when I see a rice cooker in the room.. To make nasi goreng you add one part water and one part coconut milk (instead of just water) to the rice and add salt.
Fresh lemongrass shoots and ginger for Rendang
Preparation of the urap sauce
Adding coconut milk to the sauce for the runner beans ( think maybe sugar peas would be crispier?). Remember to just very lightly cook those or you risk losing all the texture along with the green goodness!
The wax nut which you can replace with almonds or cashews for extra texture
This is what your rendang stew should look like three hours after you’ve put it on. I agre with Theodora that a juicy stew is tastier and helps all the flavours mingle on the plate.
Tamarind syrup
Plating up…
The finished product!
An absolutely mouth-watering tangy and coconutty dish. Can’t wait to have a go myself. Thanks Theodora!
worldnosh 
