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Bringing local food home
Cerita Rasa William WongsoIndonesian food is about much more than nasi goreng (fried rice), gado-gado (vegetables with peanut sauce), soto (meat soup) or satay (skewered meat)
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Cerita Rasa William Wongso
Indonesian food is about much more than nasi goreng (fried rice), gado-gado (vegetables with peanut sauce), soto (meat soup) or satay (skewered meat).
As an archipelago made up of thousands of islands, this country has many culinary treasures that (unfortunately) are yet to receive exposure, even on the local stage.
Through his new book, Ceritarasa William Wongso: Kumpulan Resep Alternatif (The Taste of William Wongso: A Collection of Alternative Recipes), culinary expert William Wongso reveals some of the hidden treasures of Indonesian cuisine.
The 100-page book features dozens of traditional recipes from across the country. Thank to these recipes, authentic local tastes become accessible for the cook at home.
However, this is no just ordinary cookbook with just a compendium of recipes: William has included interesting historical stories about each recipe.
And if anyone is qualified to do so, it is William Wongso.
William, who is an old hand in the local culinary business, has long been known for his tireless efforts to promote Indonesian food to the world.
He developed his passion for food when he established Vineth Bakery in 1977; from there, his culinary inspirations continued to grow as he traveled around the world.
During his travels, he was impressed by how Europeans promoted and preserved their cuisines; their experiences inspired him to do the same in his homeland.
Which is why William aims with this book to revive the family tradition of cooking at home.
"Today, mothers seem to have little time to cook because of their work. Also, many parents do not pay much attention to choosing good food for their children so they end up eating the same menu everyday," he said.
"I want to encourage people to go back to their kitchen and cook traditional food. I'm afraid that our culinary treasures will disappear if we don't preserve them."
William said that it was important to taste authentic cuisine before cooking it, stressing the importance of understanding the authentic taste of each dish.
To begin with, Ceritarasa William Wongso introduces some Betawi recipes, such as pecak ikan (fish with spices), picung ikan (fish with keluak nuts), udang bakar asinan Jakarta (vegetables with roasted prawns) and semur daging Betawi (stewed meat).
The basic ingredients for the pecak and picung sauces are similar. What differentiates them is the use of kencur (aromatic ginger) for pecak, and keluak (aromatic nuts) for picung.
William is promoting udang bakar asinan Jakarta as a "fresh" option for an appetizer.
"Many people have been lulled by Western appetizers like shrimp cocktail, which actually have a boring taste and presentation," he said.
William's version of the asinan has been given a modern twist, which means the Jakartan prawn dish could be a more tempting appetizer than the tired shrimp cocktail, he added, as it offers a combination of pineapple, carrot, cucumber and chili.
The book, printed in full color, features a number of authentic dishes from Central Java, such as mi goreng Java (Javanese fried noodles), bandeng presto bumbu merah (spicy pressed milkfish), gadon daging (steamed minced beef) and bubur gurih glewo buntut (porridge with tofu and egg).
There is also a recipe called sup pangsit Jepara (wonton soup), which was inspired by women's empowerment heroine R.A Kartini, who came from Central Java's Jepara.
The pressed milkfish is a favorite dish from Java, but William offers an alternative way to cook the fish, as he combines it with chili sauce and basil instead of just frying it.
Yet some of these Javanese dishes are rarely found or cooked in households across the province.
William also notes the importance of banana leaves in Indonesian cuisine, saying that dishes wrapped in the leaves tend to be long lasting because the leaves contain a natural disinfectant.
A variety of seafood dishes are also included. Among them is ranjungan biru (blue crabs), a seafood product usually sold in Tanjung Pinang fish market in the Riau Islands, which is delicious when combined with chili and tamarind water.
Another item from Riau is gulai sagu cumi udang pakis, a combination of prawns, sago and young fern.
Riau's neighboring region, South Sumatra, also has an array of delicious seafood-based dishes, including those featuring belida (knife fish) and patin (catfish), just two of the many fish in the area.
Catfish, for instance, can be used in a dish called gangan patin, which combines the fish with chili, shrimp paste and water spinach.
In another part of the book, William shows how to make an alternative recipe using Sumatran favorite pempek, a kind of fish cake that has been part of Palembang culture for hundreds of years.
The pempek can be cooked into another dish, kwetiau goreng lenjer, which is made by slicing the pempek and mixing it with chicken, prawns, eggs, bean sprouts and soy sauce.
The northern parts of Java are also popular for seafood cuisine.
Pekalongan, for instance, has its very own cumi hitam (black squid), a mixture of squid with coconut milk and various tropical spices.
To complement the Indonesian delights included in the book, William features some dishes from other countries in the region to give foodies some culinary perspective.
Some of the offerings among the international dishes are Vietnamese spring rolls and Yemeni stewed chicken and meat. William, however, has slightly adjusted the dishes to local tastes.
The book, published by PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama Jakarta, is definitely a good choice for those who want to know more about Indonesian food and are up to the challenge of making it at home.
