Thursday, September 26, 2013

Cooking Class

Today we are learning to make Beef Rendang.
Step 1. Develop a rapport with your teacher!
Our teacher today is Lily. She has worked in our home since we moved to Cilandak. Lily has a winning personality. She is friendly, cheerful, thoughtful, and she can make a killer Rendang.
This morning Janette and Jacqui have enjoyed a little language lesson, have shared stories as they have become acquainted with one another - women can get to know one another regardless of a language barrier.


Lily has a 2 hour commute to our home. This morning I had asked her to get our fresh ingredients from her local traditional Market before work, so I believe she had to be up before the crack of dawn, 4:30am in fact!

Step 2. Get to work!
A beautiful assortment of ingredients make up the fragrant Bumbu powder (coriander, turmeric, white pepper, fenugreek, star anise) and the coconut milk base for the beef (fresh bay leaves, kafir lime leaves, red chilli, galangal, lemongrass, candlenuts, garlic, red onions, ginger, tamarind). The girls were impressed with Lily's artistic arrangements for the photos! She certainly pays attention to the details!

Smash the lemongrass and puree the spices and fill the house with the promise of an amazing treat come dinnertime!


Into the saucepan it goes to simmer and even boil away for a few hours. Here, Janette indulges in the heady, pungent aroma.

Step 3. Enjoy! Late this afternoon we headed out for a bit of retail therapy. How nice it was to return home, well after the dinner hour actually, to our delicious meal, ready and waiting for us. "Enak Sekali" indeed!

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