My friend Ming - fashion designer turned chef - sent me the following recipe from Jakarta. We'd met while we were at Cordon Bleu together here in Paris.
The irony of cooking for a living is that I don't often have time to cook for mysef - much less for my loved ones.
Today, I offer you this recipe as part of our Menu for Hope: Food Bloggers for Tsunami Relief. I ask you to please join us by donating to UNICEF now. Thank you.
Indonesian Squid Curry
Serves 4
- 500 grams squid, cleaned, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 8 small fresh red chilis, de-seeded, finely chopped
- 6 shallots, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 centimeters fresh curcuma, peeled, grated
- 2 centimeters fresh galanga, peeled, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 stalks lemongrass, whole, crushed
- 3 kaffir leaves
- 1 cup coconut milk
Mix chilis, shallots, garlic, curcuma, galanga, and shrimp paste. Heat oil to medium, cook mixture until fragrant. Add squid, sautee about 2 minutes. Remove squid to warm plate, cover loosely with foil, hold in warm oven. Add sugar, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, and coconut milk to pan. Reduce over medium-high heat. Season to taste. Pour sauce into warm bowl.
Serve family-style, squid and sauce separately, with steamed white rice in individual bowls.
