Pages

Friday, March 25, 2011

Indonesian Mild Curry (Opor)


Opor, one of the most beloved curries in Indonesia, is very versatile. The original version calls for chicken, but it works very well with other mild-tasting protein like tempe (soy bean cake), tofu and hard-boiled eggs. It's also wonderful with vegetables -- snake beans and mushrooms are my favorite. I actually like the vegetarian version of opor better. The tofu soaks up the rich sauce very well, as does the tempe, and since this is a milder type of curry, it doesn't mask the subtle taste of the vegetables. And if you've never had  a curry with boiled eggs before, don't turn up your nose -- just keep reading and you'll see why!

Although this is one of our milder curries, it's bursting with flavors. The coconut milk sauce is enriched with an array of spices, and the palm sugar adds an almost coconut-y sweetness to the curry, which balances out the savoury note provided by the chicken broth. It's best eaten with a lot of rice to mop up the sauce!

Start with an obscene amount of spices...And chop up all your ingredients.


Blitz the spices using a blender, and dump on a hot wok with some oil.


After the spice paste becomes slightly yellow and very aromatic, add the coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients, except for the mushrooms.


The tofu is fried before hand, so that it's soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. The hard-boiled eggs are fried briefly until they develop a thin, crackly skin that's very scrumptious. There's something about the creamy egg yolk, the satiny smooth egg white and the crispy skin that pairs very well with the curry.


This recipe also uses snake beans, tempe and enoki mushrooms. These mushrooms retain a good bite even after cooking, which works very well with the sauce. 


Cook the curry on medium heat. Don't worry if the curry looks very pale at this stage, because the color will get darker later.

Let all the flavors marry...


Once the curry comes to a boil, add the mushrooms, and turn down the heat so that the curry is just simmering. Your curry is done after it's been simmering for about 10 minutes and it has no more hint of bitterness. This means that all the spices have been cooked thoroughly.


Indonesian Mild Curry (Opor)
For 8 people

1 block of tempe (soy bean cake), cut into thick strips
2 large blocks of tofu, cut into thick triangles
1 large bunch of snake beans, cut into 4 cm pieces
2 bunches of enoki mushrooms, bottom part chopped off and cut into chunks
8 hard-boiled eggs, skin peeled
1000 cc coconut milk, mixed with 250 cc water

Spice paste:
18 garlic cloves (I'm not kidding with my blog title)
15 shallots
12 candlenuts
3 tbsp coriander seeds
5 heaping tbsp palm sugar, shaved

1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 lemongrass stalk, bruised
2 bay leaves
2-3 chicken/vegetable stock cube
white pepper, sugar and salt to taste

Deep-fry the tofu and boiled eggs until they form a thin skin. Drain on kitchen paper.
Grind all the spices for your spice paste using a blender or a food processor until smooth. Add some oil to the blender if it's difficult to blitz everything into a smooth paste.
Heat some oil in a large wok. Add the spice paste and sautee on medium heat until aromatic and the paste turns yellow.
Add the coconut milk that has been thinned with water to the wok. Add your eggs, tofu, tempe, snake beans, ground ginger, ground cumin, lemongrass stalk, bay leaves and stock cube as well. Stir well.
Bring everything to the boil, and then lower the heat until the curry is just simmering. Season with salt, sugar and pepper to your liking. Add the mushrooms and simmer for ten more minutes until the curry sauce doesn't have any hint of bitterness.
Serve with steamed rice.
















1 comment:

  1. yes much better colours. I am surprised there is cumin in that recipe.

    J

    ReplyDelete