Chicken Teriyaki Rice Burger

Teriyaki sauce is one of my favorite sauce. Actually, teriyaki itself is  a cooking technique in Japanese cuisine. The word teriyaki is a combination from 2 Japanese words : tare (means luster) and yaki (means grilled or broilled) (Wikipedia.org). So, basically, the meat will be brushed or dipped with the sauce before grilling or broiling process. Teriyaki sauce is traditionally made by mixing and boiling soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin until they are thickened. It taste delicious and very famous all around the world.

This time, I want to make teriyaki burger. To be honest, i was inspired by runnyrunny999's rice burger recipe. He's using rice instead of bread for this kind of burger. It seems that this burger is quite popular in Japan. I still have some Japanese rice. So, why not try to make this rice burger. I bet they are delicious.

During the process, I found out that this burger is easy to make but quite time consuming because I had to really to pay attention on in to prevent it from burning. Beside, I still had to make the rice burger as well after making the chicken patty. And it was difficult to make the rice burger. I had to try few times before I could make it into a nice firm flat round shape like a burger. When I finally made it, the shape was still not perfectly round and some of rice will crumble all around. But it was worth it. All my hard work was paid off. The burger was so yummy. I love it.

Tip : The burger also can be served with crusty bread such as kaiser roll or Italian bread (ciabatta) instead of rice burger.

First, lets make the chicken patty.
Ingredients : (serving 4-5 burgers)

• 250 grams boneless skinless chicken, ground or minced well
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tbs breadcrumbs
• 4 tbs flour
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder (or 2 cm fresh ginger, grated)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced 
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• salt and ground black pepper
• 6 tbs water
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs mirin
• 2 tbs white sugar
• 4-5 tbs vegetable oil

Preparation :

1. In a bowl, mix together ground/minced chicken, minced onion, soy sauce, breadcrumbs, flour, ginger powder, minced garlic, egg, sesame oil, salt and pepper.
2. In another small bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing together water, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar until most of the sugar are dissolved.
3. Preheat a non stick pan
4. Add some oil into the pan
5. Divide the chicken mixture into 4-5 part. 
6. Make a ball from each part of it. Press down the ball to make a flat burger. 
7. Put the burger into preheated pan and fry it for about 3 minutes for each side or until it become golden brown.
8. Pour the sauce mixture on the top of the chicken burger, reduce the heat, and cover the pan.
9. Let it cook for about 1-2 minute until the sauce is thickened.
10. Turn off the heat and remove the burger and the sauce from the pan. 

Now, lets make the rice burger.
Ingredients :

• About 3 cups room temperature cooked Japanese rice.
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped.
• salt
• sesame oil
• soy sauce

Preparation :

1. In a bowl, mix together rice, chopped spring onions, and salt
2. Wet your hand, take some rice mixture and make a firm ball out of it.
3. With both hand palms, press it gently until it become flat (about 2 cm thickness)
4. Repeat the process until you have 8 rice burger
5. Preheat about 2 tbs sesame oil in a pan.
6. Place the rice burger gently in those preheated pan.
7. Fry until golden brown on both sides. (Tip : do not flip the rice burger too much otherwise it will be broken)
8. Brush some sesame oil and soy sauce on both side for taste.
9. Remove the burger from the pan and assembly it with the chicken burger. 
10. Serve it hot with fresh salad.

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Arem-Arem (Stuffed Rice Rolls)

Long time ago, when I was just a little girl, my aunt often came to my house. She usually brought some unique traditional food with her every time she pays a visit. One time, she brought one bag full of lontong (cylinder compressed rice cake wrapped in banana leaves). Or that was I thought. I didn't really pay attention to it because well, it's only lontong. It's very common in my own city. I was wrong. It was not lontong but she brought arem-arem.

Arem-arem is a steamed rice filled in with spiced meat and wrapped  in banana leaves. It's shaped cylinder likes lontong but it has filling like lemper. That's why sometimes people will get confused between arem-arem and lontong. There are a lot of variation for the filling such as spiced chicken, beef, fish, or it is even possible to add some vegetables. Just use your imagination and create your own filling. Those filling will make the rice taste even better as well. Yum!!

I love arem-arem since the first time I tried it. I always want to make it and eat it again. But too bad, not long time after that my aunt got sick and it was getting difficult for her to pay a visit. It has been years since my last time eating arem-arem. Until few weeks ago. My friend gave me few of her leftover banana leaves. What a happy coincidence because I was thinking the possibility of participating Indonesian Foodblogger Comunity Challenge #14:Olahan Beras (Rice dish). Anyone who want to participate should make any kind of Indonesian rice dish using an organic PureGreen rice. I'm a bit nervous actually trying to compete with other great food blogger. But no harm no foul. Well, while starring at my banana leaves, I was thinking why not trying to make arem-arem for this challenge? I like it, I always want to try to make, I have the ingredients (especially I have banana leaves), and now I have a good reason to make it.

Ingredients :
For filling :

• 2 medium shallots (or 4 Indonesian shallots)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 candlenuts (kemiri)
• 1 chili pepper, remove the seeds 
• 200 grams boneless chicken, cut into big chunk
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 2 1/2 tbs soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 40 grams grated carrot
• 30 grams green peas
• salt and pepper 
• vegetable oil
• about 500 ml water for boiling the chicken.

For the rice :

• 250 grams PureGreen Fragrance Rice
• 700 ml coconut milk
• pinch of salt.
• banana leaves for wrapping 

Preparation :

Let's make the filling 

1. In a pot, boil a water together with boneless chicken.
2. Once the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken and shred it. Do not throw away the leftover chicken broth. Save about 300 ml chicken broth and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, blend together shallots, garlic, candlenuts, and chili pepper until you get a paste.
4. In a pan, heat about 3 tbs vegetable oil and saute the spices paste until it become aromatic.
5. Add shredded chicken into the pan and stir it together with the spices.
6. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger powder, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir again.
7. Let it simmer for a while until almost all the liquid are evaporated.
8. Add grated carrot and green peas and stir. 
9. Turn off the heat and let it cooled for a bit.
   

Tip : You can always make the filling one day before making arem-arem. Just let it cool until the hot steam are gone, put it in a airtight container box and keep it in refrigerator. 

Now, let's make arem-arem :

1. With a strainer, rinse the rice with running water and drain it well.
2. In a big pot, mix together the rice, coconut milk ,and salt.
3. Turn on the heat and cook them together 
4. Stir it once in a while until about half of the liquid are absorbed by the rice.
5. Turn off the heat and let it cool for a while.
   
6. Prepare the steamer and let the water on the steamer boiled.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the banana leaves. Cut it into rectangle (about 15x25 cm) and clean it with damp kitchen towel.
8. Place about 2-3 tbs cooked rice in the middle of the leaves and press it until flattened. 
   
9. Place about 1/2- 1 tbs filling in the middle of the rice. 
   
10. Using the leaves, roll and fold the rice to cover the filling carefully. Be careful not to break the leaves.
    
11. Roll the leaves to wrap the rice and shape it like a cylinder. 
12. Close both of the end of the cylinder by tucking and folding it nicely to prevent the rice leaking during the steaming process.
13. Secure it with staples or with tooth pick or with small wood or bamboo stick.
14. Repeat this process with the rest of the rice and the filling.
15. Put all those nicely wrapped rice into the preheated steamer.
16. Steam it for about 1 hour.
    
17. Turn off the heat serve it hot. 

Tip : If you are living in a place where it is difficult to get banana leaves or in a place where banana leaves is quite pricey like in my place, you can always combine banana leaves with baking paper for wrapping the rice. Cut baking paper big enough to wrap and roll the rice. Place smaller banana leaves on the top of the baking paper. Put the rice and the filling on the top of it and start to roll the rice like as usual. 

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Simple Fried Rice

It's dinner time. I'm hungry and only have less than 30 minutes to cook dinner. I have a lot of leftover steamed rice and it seems fried rice is a perfect choice. Fried rice or nasi goreng  is one of the most famous Indonesian dish and I think it is originally come from China. It is a dish of steamed rice stir-fried usually mixed with other ingredients, such as eggs, vegetables, and meat. It has many variation because basically it can be made using any kind of meat and vegetables with some spices. Even it can be made by using leftover ingredients from other dishes.

Indonesian fried rice usually has red or reddish brown color and use sweet soy sauce, chili pepper, tomato, shallot, and garlic as its spices. We usually call it Javanese fried rice. There is another kind of fried rice that's famous in Indonesia. The other one is white fried rice or most people name it Hongkong fried rice. We call it white because it is made without tomato and sweet soy sauce. I love both of them. My mother often made it for breakfast or dinner. Today actually I prefer to make Javanese fried rice. But too bad I have no tomato and chili pepper left on my kitchen. Well.. it's almost dinner time and I think I can make a simple fried rice using ingredients that i have. Don't get wrong. Even though it is just a simple fried rice, it is delicious and decent enough for dinner. Especially if it's served with fried shallot and szechuan chili. So, let's get started.

Ingredients (about 4 serving) :

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 (about 100 grams) carrot, roughly grated
• 5 tbs green peas
• 3 champignon mushroom, roughly chopped
• 2 knackwurst, thinly sliced
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 5 tbs vegetable oil
• 600 grams room temperature steamed rice 
• Salt and pepper

Tip : You can always use another kind of meat such as canned pork, smoked chicken, ham, char siu (chinese barbecue pork) or anything else

Preparation :

1. Preheat the vegetable oil in a big pan 
2. Add minced onion and minced garlic into the pan and saute them until they become aromatic and translucent. 
3. Add grated carrot, green peas, and knackwurst and keep stirring.
4. Add beaten egg into the pan.
5. Add the steamed rice and stir the rice until all the ingredients are mixed.
6. Add soy sauce and mix again.
7. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. 

Tip : You can use chicken or prawn as well. But add them after sauteing onion and garlic (after step 2) and make sure to cook them well before adding the vegetables and the rice.

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Playing with Butternut Squash : Chicken and Butternut Squash Risotto

Did I told you that I'm going to make some dishes using butternut squash? Now, using what I have left from my squash, I'm going to make chicken and butternut squash risotto for dinner. I've been wanting to make risotto from scratch and finally today I have a chance to make it.

Risotto is an Italian rice dishes cooked in broth until it has creamy consistency. Properly cooked risotto is rich and creamy with some resistance or bite with separate grains. Italian people will call it al dente.  The rice should be still a bit firm and in a good shape and not broken or too soft like porridge. the texture is depend on the varieties of rice that is used as well. Risotto is usually made using short grain rice. It has high amylopectin but low in amylose. This condition will make the rice become a little bit sticky and soft after it's cooked because this kind of rice has the ability to absorb more water and release starch. It is different from common type of rice from south east Asia. They usually has long grain rice which has low amylopectin and high in amylose. This type of  rice is not as sticky as short grain rice.

This time I'm making chicken and butternut squash risotto. It is not that hard to make. I'm using sushi rice for the risotto instead of pandan or basmati rice because sushi rice has characteristics that are needed for making risotto. For making risotto it is much better if all the ingredients are prepared before. The broth has to be ready and slightly boiled, the chicken and the butternut squash have to be cooked before. Let's get started.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups sushi rice
• 200 grams butternut squash, cut into cubes
• 150 grams boneless chicken, cut into cubes  
• 3 strips bacon, sliced (optional)
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 100 grams grated  cheese
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) white wine (optional)
• 700 -1000 ml (3-4 cups) hot chicken broth 
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Preparation :

First, lets prepare the butternut squash. 

1. Preheat the oven for 200 C (392 F). 
2. Line the baking sheet with aluminium foil. 
3. Spread the squash cubes on the baking sheet, toss some olive oil, and sprinkle some salt and pepper. 
4. Put the baking sheet into preheated oven, and bake it for about  20-25 minutes.
5. Once the squash become tender, remove it from the oven and set aside.

Now, lets make the risotto.

1. In a big pan or heavy duty pot, preheat some (about 3-4 tbs) olive oil. 
2. Put the chicken and bacon into the pan and saute them until the chicken are cooked.
3. Remove the chicken and the bacon from the pan and set aside.
4. On the same pan, heat some butter until melted.
5. Add minced onion and garlic and saute them until the onion become translucent and the color become slightly brown.
6. Add sushi rice into the pan. 
7. Keep stirring the rice continuously until the rice is covered with butter, the edge of the rice is become translucent, but the center of the rice is opaque. At this stage, maybe some of the rice become slightly brown. Be careful not to burn the rice.  
8. Splash some white wine into the pan. Keep stirring until the wine is evaporated. (This process is optional)
9. Slowly add 1 ladle of hot chicken broth into the pan and stir.
10. Add another ladle of chicken broth after the liquid is almost completely absorbed by the rice. Do not rush this step to make the rice become creamy and cooked.
11. Repeat this process until the rice starts a little bit difficult to absorb water. This process will take about 15-20 minutes depend on the rice. For make sure, just take a spoon and taste the firmness of the rice. At this step when you bite the rice, it should be firm and chewy, not hard and crunchy, but not too soft and easily squashed like porridge.
12. Add 1 last ladle of chicken broth, cooked chicken and bacon, roasted squash, and grated cheese. Stir again and mix them well. 
13. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
14. Serve the risotto immediately 

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Nasi Gurih (Steamed Rice with Coconut Milk)

I still have about 500 ml left over coconut milk in my refrigerator.  I have to use it as soon as possible before it turns bad. I was thinking to make some cake, or cookies, or something like that. But 1 batch of cake or cookies only needs about 200 ml coconut milk. 500 ml is way too much for this. Finally i decided to make nasi gurih out of it. Easy and delicious for our dinner. I just need to cook the rice together with the coconut milk. Nasi means rice, and gurih means savory. The coconut milk will give savory taste to the rice. It is very popular in Indonesia. Some of us call it nasi uduk. In Malaysia, it is popular as nasi lemak.

There are 2 ways to make this rice. With or without rice cooker. I know some of you do not have rice cooker. So I will explain how to cook it in 2 ways. Let's get started.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups of rice
• 1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
• 200 ml water
• 1 lemon grass
• 1 bayleave, cut into 3 parts
• 1 pandan leave, cut into 3 parts
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preparation (without rice cooker) :

1. In a big bowl, wash the rice, and drain the water. Do it repeatedly 2 or 3 times.
2. Transfer the rice into a big pot or pan
3. Add coconut milk, water, pandan leave, bayleave, lemongrass, and salt
4. Stir lightly and level out the rice.
5. Turn on the stove and bring the water to boil. Do it on medium heat and with uncover pan/pot. You will see the bubbles forming gently in the edge of the pot/pan.
6. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and let it steamed for about 20 min until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft. Be careful not to burn the rice.
7. Turn off the heat, do not uncover it, and let the rice sit in the pan/pot for about 10 min.
8. After 10 min, open it and fold the rice few times with plastic or wooden paddle to mix all the fat from coconut milk that left on the surface of the rice. 

Preparation (with rice cooker) :

1. In a big bowl, wash the rice, and drain the water. Do it repeatedly 2 or 3 times.
2. Transfer the rice into rice cooker bowl. 
3. Add coconut milk, water, pandan leave, bayleave, lemongrass, and salt
4. Stir lightly and level out the rice.
5. Turn on the rice cooker and cook the rice until it's done.
6. When it's done (usually there's an indicator in the rice cooker when the rice is cooked), do not open the rice cooker, and let the rice sit for about 10 min.
7. After 10 min, open it and fold the rice few times with plastic or wooden paddle to mix all the fat from coconut milk that left on the surface of the rice. 

Tip : My mother taught me how to measure the water when i need to cook rice. It is ancient way but it is

always work for her and for me. Maybe for you as well? After transfer the pre-washed rice into the pan or pot or rice cooker bowl, add the water, and level out the rice. Place the tip of your middle finger on survace of the rice. The height of the water's surface should be as same as your first knuckle of your middle finger. 

Nasi gurih is usually served with assortment of side dishes such as chicken, egg, beef, stir fry vegetables, anchovy, peanuts, tempeh, tofu, starch crackers, and sambal (ground chilli sauce). 

For my dinner, i served it with ayam panggang bumbu rujak, string beans stir fry, oseng tempe tahu, sliced cucumber and tomato, and fried shallot.  

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