Belitung style Fish Soup with Cassava: Gangan

My Grand mother and my mother used to make Gangan (Belitung style fish soup) for our family. We lived near seaside when I was a kid, no wonder I love seafood. Guess, what is the best part I love in this soup?. Cassava!! Singkong...ooohhh..singkong :)

ingredients:
500 g mackerel, discard inside, wash and cut into pieces
500 g cassava, cut into pieces
1 l water
2 bay leaves/daun salam
1 tablespoon tamarind paste + 100 ml hot water, sifted
1 teaspoon sugar, salt to taste

spices to grind: 3 shallots, 3 candlenuts, 2 cloves garlic, 2 cm ginger, 2 cm galangal, 3 cm turmeric, 4 bird´s eye chillies, 1 tsp shrimp paste/terasi/belacan, 2 cm lemon grass (take the white part only)

directions: Boil water in a saucepan. Add spices, tamarind juice, bay leaves and cassava. Lower the heat, add mackerel, salt and sugar to taste. Simmer until the fish and cassava quite tender. Be careful not to overcook or they will disintegrate.

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Homemade Fishball Soup

My grandmother´s recipe heritage has been used by three generation in our family: my grandma(nenek), my mother(ibu) and me :). This dish really bring me back to my childhood. I used to help her and my mother to make the fishballs. They made fishballs with feeling, without measurement so that I just know the basic recipe. Normally, Fishballs contain tapioca flour, white eggs to keep them firm. But she used only Ikan Tenggiri (in Indonesia, species called Tenggiri: Scomberomorus guttatus) or Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), coconut milk and spices.

Years a go, I tried to make it with fish paste (not spanish mackerel) that I bought in an Asia Markt. It turned out horribly. The fishballs broken , spreading and floating everywhere in the water :(. That was my first trial and error using another kind of fish. To get the best result, the choice of fish type is important. So, Please don´t blame me if this recipe doesn´t work with other kinds of fish :). Anyway, don´t throw it away you can still make fishballs for Tekwan (see the recipe here).

Hopefully, this entry is suitable for Original recipe, Culinarty round-up arranged by Lore.

Ingredients: for Homemade Fishballs, makes about 40
500 g ikan Tenggiri/spanish Mackerel (discard bones and skins), minced
4 tablespoons coconut milk
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 shallots, grinded
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
salt to taste

directions: Store minced fish/fish paste in the freezer for about 1-2 hours. Then combine fish paste with other ingredients together until mix well. Balls the fish paste for about 1 teaspoon , smear both of your hands with cooking oil. Pour about 1,5 litre water in a large saucepan, boil the water. Place fishballs in the boil water then turn the heat down, keep simmering until the fishballs floating on the surface of water. Set aside.

for the Fishballs soup:
40 Homemade fishballs
4 carrots, cut into pieces
3 potatos, peel and cut into pieces
1,5 litre fish stock
2 cm ginger, bruised
4 shallots, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
white ground pepper and salt to taste
1/6 tsp nutmeg
1 stalk celery or spring onion, chopped
3 tbsp cooking oil

directions: saute shallots and garlics until fragrant in a large saucepan. Pour in fish stock and ginger. Add fishballs, potatos, salt, nutmeg. Keep them simmer for a while. Finally, add carrots. Serve hot and garnish with chopped celery or spring onion.

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Soto Belitung

Beragam Soto ada di Indonesia, mulai dari Soto Betawi, soto Bandung, soto Kudus, Soto Pekalongan, Soto Ambengan Surabaya, Soto Madura, Soto Banjar, Soto Padang, Coto Makassar....dll, sampe Soto Belitung. Soto Belitung ini biasanya di buat sama Ibuku yang terdiri dari 2 versi, yang pake santen dan Soto bening tanpa santan. Nahh..yang ini versi pake santan, biasanya pelengkap sajian saat hari Raya, tapi di Hamburg ini sering banget bikin....masakan andalan..he..he, soalnya bisanya cuman bikin yg kayak gini.

Bahan:
1 ekor ayam, potong jadi 4
5 butir kentang, potong seperti untuk sop
300 ml santan kaleng
2,5 l air

Bumbu utuh:
2 btg serai, dikeprek
4 lbr daun jeruk
3 cm laos, dikeprek
3 cm jahe, dikeprek
Bumbu: dihaluskan
7 butir bawang merah
5 siung bawang putih
1 sdm ketumbar sangrai
6 cm kunyit
6 butir kemiri
sedikit jinten
1 sdt gula pasir
garam secukupnya

Pelengkap: Lontong, sambel kecap, emping, daun bawang, bawang goreng
Sambel kecap: cabe dan bawang goreng dihaluskan ditambah kecap.

Cara: Tumis bumbu yg sudah dihaluskan dengan sedikit minyak sampai harum, setelah itu masukkan air, bumbu utuh (daun jeruk, jahe, serai,laos), jika kuah sudah mendidih masukkan ayam. Setelah ayam matang, angkat dan suwir-suwir. Masukkan kembali suwiran daging ayam kedalam kuah soto berikut potongan kentang. Terakhir, tambahkan santan. Sajikan dengan lontong, sambel kecap, emping. Taburi dengan rajangan daun bawang dan bawang goreng.

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