La Diva went traipsing up north to her favorite ethnic grocery stores yesterday to replenish her dwindling supply of sauces, pastes, spices and other exotica that help La Diva's dishes reach FABULOSITY! So, I decided that every once in a while I will share with you, my darling readers, some of the places and products I LOVE.
Today's product: Sweet soy sauce or Kecap Manis!
I was turned onto this sauce by my crazy Dutch housemate in Sydney, Marcel! As you know, Indonesia was a Dutch colony and my dear friend was quite an excellent cook of Indonesian food. Marcel was gay, odd and quick with the double entendre, keeping La Diva in stitches! He used the sweet soy in a most divine sate sauce, which I just might share with you one day!
Kecap Manis is a dark and sweet soy sauce from Indonesia (surprise!), used in many dishes and is a primary flavoring component of Nasi Goreng or Indonesian fried rice. (for recipe, click on the link! Go on!) For those of you who are unfamiliar with the dish, nasi goreng is a fried rice dish, traditionally served with prawns and a fried egg on top. It is garnished with fresh tomato and cucumber slices and like all fried rice, the ingredients can vary. Sitting with a view of the steamy mist hanging over the rice paddies in the early morn, La Diva enjoyed nasi goreng daily for breakfast while in Bali.... Sigh...but back to the kecap manis!
The sweet soy sauce is made of palm sugar , soy beans, garlic, and star anise, among other ingredients, and has the texture and color of dark molasses. (Palm sugar is like maple sugar but made from palm trees, of course!) It is said that the modern word "ketchup" derived from kecap or ketjap, an Indonesian term for fermented sauces.
La Diva uses it to flavor marinades, stir fries, fried rice and omelettes or anything that needs a hit of salt and sweet! You can pick it up at PK Oriental Mart, a purveyor of asian groceries. 255 NE 167 St. N. Miami Beach, Florida. 305 654 9646
So, there you go and now you know! Ciao, darlings!
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5 comments:
Lucky Oriental Mart down at 8356 SW 40th St carries it too. The bottle you pictured is my preferred brand so I'd recommend those trying it for the first time to look for the ABC label.
How is PK for other Indonesian ingredients? I recently restocked on the basics through mail order but I still need Kaffir lime leaves and maybe some kencur. I'd hate to go to all the trouble of driving up there and go home empty-handed.
Thanks Bill. I mapped it out and I'm exactly in the middle of both groceries!
PK does have a little bit of everything for everyone, a little Filipino, some Persian, Vietnamese, Japanese but mostly Chinese. They do, however, have bbq duck and char sui pork and a small selection of fresh fish. I have bought fresh kaffir lime leaves there a while back but was not looking for them this time. But, what about getting your own kaffir lime tree, seeing as we live in Fl and can grow our own citrus? I had one in Sydney, very handy. I'll be your new BFF if you do! haha!
Lucky's got fresh fish and a little bit of prepared food too. Better to go across the street to Tropical Chinese and have dim sum instead, though.
OK, I've just ordered a kaffir lime tree (although, a minute too late, I realize I probably should have checked at Fairchild during the next festival there first). We'll see if it survives shipping and my feeble gardening skills.
Good luck! I also had a small meyer lemon tree when living in Los Angeles, both the lemon and lime were in containers and did great, just need the sun! Also, don't pick your kaffir lime tree to death, pick a few leaves here and there. I don't have a sunny balcony, otherwise I'd have one too. Where did you get it? Did you call PK about the kenchur? Keep me posted!
I mail ordered the tree from alohatropicals.com. With shipping it was around $25 which isn't too bad at all.
I didn't call PK yet. The failure of last night's homemade gyoza wrappers has me heading to an Asian grocery on the way home from work today which means Lucky is rather more convenient. I'll check out PK next time.
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