Aglio Olio, the Honest Pasta

With simply garlic and chili, Aglio e Olio is the most simply honest pasta have ever invented. Don't be fooled, however. With only 2 main ingredients, only a skillful chef can prepare a decent one.

Pasta need to be perfectly al dente, chili and garlic need to be fresh, as no cream and tomato to shield the taste. Add generous Olive Oil, and drizzle bit of Italian herbs and pepper. And you will have a perfect dishes of Aglio e Olio, if you hit it right.

Meatlovers can add slices of Cervelat. The peppery taste of Cervelat would perfectly complement the strong taste of Aglio Olio.

Want to make one? Follow the recipe here: http://www.malaysiabest.net/2006/04/04/recipe-spaghetti-aglio-olio-with-portobello/. The recipe highlight the most important thing that I always overlook: To put generous amount of Olive Oil.

Next time I'm going to put in white wine, and see if the taste match.

Shabu Dinner with Shabuya

Jive Kitchen was invited.

Between packed schedule and unfriendly traffic, couple weeks ago finally we were able to visit and enjoyed Shabuya, restaurant specialized in shabu style with “premium angus beef” tagline. Thanks to goorme.com who gave such invitation for ‘tukang makan’ like us.


Once you step through reception desk, you’ll find white bricks walls dominate the interior while iron décor and hanging lamp accentuate warmth ambience. Most of the tables are spacey, enough for a family of 6 or more to sit comfortably. In fact, eating shabu always become communal ritual in fun way. We were hosted politely to a reserved table near window. Our table can accommodate up to 4 person, and equipped with electric infra red ceramic cook top. I like this kind of cook top due to its capability to provide stable warm temperature for longer cooking period.

Three kinds of Korean style appetizer served nicely in small array. Home made fresh kimchi, today chef selection of golden ball (meaty potato balls), and sweet potato glazed with caramelized sugar and sesame. I like their kimchi because of its fresh taste balance and crunchy bites between watery cabbage, spicy and sour fermented chili. The golden ball, rolled on bread crumb before frying, combine the crunchy texture, softness of potato and crumbly meat at the core.

Before cooking ritual begin, they served us several kind of dipping sauce, vegetables, plate of seafood, and appealing thinly sliced shiny red angus beef. Ponzu shoyu (citrus based sauce) come in larger bowl than usual, while gomatare (sesame dipping sauce) only served when you asked. Table default were chili powder and salt. Pak Kevin, the restaurant manager, hand us plate of triple yakume : crushed garlic, radish, and chopped scallion. He assists us to blend the ponzu with triple yakume to acquired better taste for dipping. The ponzu gets thicker with the mixing and gave bold taste while gomatare taste less nutty than usual. This ponzu sauce was tasty enough, once you realize in next session you tend to dip the beef and vegetables over and over.



At first, we wanted to try the broth without any dipping sauce to acknowledge its original flavor. The broth surprisingly taste good with slightly natural sweet meaty taste come from good quality beef and katsuoboshi broth. Electric stove worked excellent for those who want food texture and broth temperature stays on their peak. Vegetables still crunchy to bite, and meats still lean. In that way, you can enjoy your shabu for longer period without worrying for overcooked meals.

Later, with few drips from ponzu dip we try to continue the exploration for richer taste to come. It works, with the result we tried to dip most things into ponzu sauce. Some of vegetables went well with gomatare dip. Those who wanted hotter splash sensation, there are chopped chili and chili powder to fulfill your needs. We decided to keep eating with lesser dipping and enjoyed meat and vegetables original flavor. Seems nice to have relaxing family dinner here next time.

Shabuya
Central Park Mall 1st floor 113A
Jl. Let. Jend. S. Parman Kav.28
West Jakarta, Indonesia
Phone: +62 (21) 56985585
Opens: 09:00 - 21:30 (Last Order)

Website: http://www.facebook.com/shabuyaindonesia

Twitter: Shabuya_Indo

Olive & Balsamic Vinegar Salad

A more healthier salad, compared to the last one, the Olive & Vinegar Salad doesn't contains any meat or cheese. The olive used is also supposed to be lower in fat than mayo-based salad. Thanks to Ranch Market for the inspiration

I tried 2 different mushroom preparation: raw and cooked with olive oil. Between those 2, a compromise is the best: dip the mushroom in the olive oil, but don't pan-fried it. As the mushroom soak, it will gain more taste.

Next on the dressing. My local groceries runs out of olive oil-based dressing, so I was forced to be creative. Put some olive oil, some balsamic vinegar, pepper, sesame seed, mustard, and there you have a mixture rich of taste. Good enough for me.

So, have another experimentation on salad? Have your own favorite mixture for dressing? List it in the comment, and we will try it out.

Wasabi Mayo Salad Dressing

Have too much Wasabi Tube leftover from the last Sushi cooking? Is it going to expire soon? Don't worry, this recipe will help you to finish it, along with some leftover vegetables in the fridge. In our case, it helps to finish off some Romaine Lettuce, Cherry Tomato, Olives, Carrot, Parmigiano Cheese, Smoke Ham, Almond and Sesame Seeds.

We compared between regular mayonnaise and Kewpie. The regular Mayonnaise come out too salty when mixed with Wasabi. So, we choose the Kewpie which come out better to our taste.

Mixing wasabi and mayonnaise is tricky. The wasabi taste does not come out during mixing, but when you spoon a mouthful of salad later on, the wasabi will kick hard to your nose.

We also put in some bread stick bought at Him Heang in Penang. Those crackers was supposed to be for coffee, but we are too lazy to make our own crouton. If you can get one, it would be great, but you can always bake your own crouton.

Dinner is finished with full stomach, and empty fridge happily

The Energy Food: Baked Mini Potato with Cheese

One afternoon of a sunny day. We were having a late brunch, thanks to the holiday, which make us skip our lunch altogether. However, I planned to do 10k run on the evening, and in need of energy. A LOT OF ENERGY.

Rice is too boring and take time to prepare, plus all the dishes that follows. Potato become my option. To be specific, it would be mini potatoes for 2 reasons: It is bite size, and take shorter to prepare,compared to the bigger potato.

All these steps took less than 15 minutes preparation, and around 30 minutes of baking

1. Wash the potato in running tap water, then cut them in half
2. Pour olive oil in baking pan, and spread evenly. Arrange the halved potatoes on the pan. Don't forget to heat the oven to 180-200 degree. Put some pepper, salt or parsley to your taste
3. Put the potato in the oven, and set a timer for 10 minutes. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your favorite TV show
4. After 10 minutes, take out and stir. Place it back in the oven for another 1-15 minutes. Sit back and continue watching your favorite TV show
5. After 10-15 minutes, take out and place in a serving plate made of ceramics (or something else that oven-save). Grate your favorite cheese on top of the potato. My favorite is Mozzarella to give some nice melt, and cheddar for the salty taste
6. Put the potato and cheese with the serving plate back in the oven. This is the tricky part. You have to watch the cook so that the cheese melt, but not burnt. Sorry, no favorite TV show here
7. Serve with tabasco or mustard. And you will have more than enough energy for your 10k run