Es Sarang Burung (Bird Nest Ice)

This weekend was very special since we invited our close friends to celebrate Ave's birthday. I was so excited to prepare the food. Most importantly, all of us had a great time together sharing our stories. Yeah...we joked a lot about Tea Inn boarding house where Thu, Ave and I met. The dodgy entrance door with graffiti, rat in the kitchen and crickets in Thu's bedroom door!

Theme for the dinner was Indonesian. So, we had es sarang burung for the drink; deep fried soft-shell crab, sambal terasi, lalapan, pepes udang, pepes tahu, and soto ayam for the mains. I also baked kue pandan for the birthday cake. Here is a photo of our dining table with the food prepared (the cake was still hiding in the kitchen).

Es sarang burung is one of the easiest Indonesian drinks to prepare. I actually planned for es cendol but cendol dough was overcooked so it completely failed. Well... it didn't matter since I decided to serve es sarang burung instead.

Ingredients:

• agar powder
• white sugar
• Indonesian basil seeds
• two fruit cans of your choice

Preparations:

Make the agar based on the instructions given. I usually reduce the amount of water and sugar required to 70%. This agar will be much easier to grate later on.

Soak basil seeds in cold water for at least 1 hour. Leave the boiled agar at cool temperature for 3-4 hours.

When the agar has completely cooled down, grate the agar.

Mix all the ingredients together. Use the syrup from the fruit cans. Add more water and ice to adjust the sweetness.

Es Cendol

I was so happy when my mum sent me a cendol maker last year. I have never seen such a thing before. It looked cute and also weird. My cendol looked like green noodles since I put too much dough before pressing it. Well.. something to learn for a better looking cendol next time!

Es cendol is a popular Indonesian drink, served with coconut milk, palm sugar and green jelly (cendol). I added jackfruit in mine to give extra flavor. This drink is easy to prepare and the sweetness of palm sugar is very unique.

 Ingredients (5 serves):

• Coconut milk
• A pinch of salt
• Pandan leaves
• Hunkwe flour cap Boenga
• Rice Starch
• A drop of pandan paste
• A can of jackfruit
• Palm sugar
• Water

Preparations:

Prepare cendol: add 150 ml water and a small drop of pandan paste into a boiling pot. In another bowl, add 37.5 gr hunkwe flour, 12.5 gr rice starch (3:1 ratio) and 150 ml of water. Mix well. Add the flour mixture when the water starts to boil.

Mixed the flour mixture until it thickens. Turn off the heat.

Prepare a big bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Press the green dough using the cendol maker into the cold water. Cendol is now ready!

Prepare coconut milk: Add coconut milk, a pinch of salt and several pandan leaves into a small pot and bring to boil.

Prepare palm sugar: Cut palm sugar into small pieces and add a small amount of water. Keep stirring and bring them to boil. Run the boiled palm sugar through a strainer.

Prepare jackfruit: Open the jackfruit can and get rid off the syrup. Cut the jackfruit into long strips. Serve es cendol with some ice cubes or shaved ice. Here is my cendol station!

Kumquat Refresher Drink

Happy new year, everyone! Let's hope for a great year ahead with lots of joy, happiness, and new cooking ideas. Thu and I spent last Christmas in Melbourne with his family. There were plenty of Vietnamese food, family gatherings, and kids running around.  I mostly enjoyed eating the apricots and purple plums from my in-laws' backyard. Mum and Dad also packed a full box of purple plums and a bag of kumquats for us to bring back to Sydney. Here is a photo of happy kumquat tree in the backyard.

I recently tried to make kumquat syrup for a refresher drink. It is easy and only requires sugar, water, and lemon juice. This drink is very refreshing but has a very subtle bitterness. It's very weird but gives you a 'little kick'. If you have a kumquat tree and don't know what to do with the fruits during harvest time, try to make this kumquat syrup!

Ingredients:

• 700 grams peeled kumquat fruits
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• juice from half lemon 

Preparations:
Peel the kumquat fruits (keep the kumquat rinds for baking purpose)

Add all ingredients in the sauce pan.

Set a low heat to boil for 30 mins or until the kumquat fruits are very soft and turned transparent.

Remove the seeds floating on surface. Keep the syrup in an airtight container. Add 3 tbs of kumquat syrup, ice cubes and water to dilute the sweetness in each cup.