A BUSY AUGUST; PART 4

SHORT COURSE FOR GARDENING COMMUNITY : FOOD PROCESSING

August 7-9, three tiring days... 

We held a short course for women gardening communities.. 

Here, we sharing about urban farming, gardening and also food processing.

First day we were discussing about urban farming and gardening.

And the second day we were practicing about food processing.

We processed food from so many ingredients that mostly found in our home garden.

Look... these were that we cook on that day.

Steamed cake from cassava, Peanut cookies and pudding from sweet potato and coconut milk.

'Nagasari' is a  kind of pudding made of cassava flour and banana.

'Abon Ikan' or Fried-Shredded fish from cat fish, great eaten with warm rice.

The participants were making 'Bola-bola Talas' or colocasia root ball with shredded fish inside.

That's all really funny experience...

COCONUT : PART 12

I think everyone know about coconut oil and have ever used it for cooking or other purposes.
There two kind of coconut oil, these are coconut oil and virgin coconut oil (VCO).
Coconut oil is usually well known as cooking oil.
Now, we will talk about the common coconut oil, or here we call it as 'minyak kelapa' and Javanese call it as 'lenga klentik'.

There are two basic way on making coconut oil, these are dry process and wet process.
First, we we talk about the dry process.
On dry process, the coconut pulps will dried directly with sun drying process or using oven.
Sun drying is the cheapest way on drying coconut pulp, but it needs 5-7 days on the full sunny day.
Using oven, the drying process just needs up to one day, but that's much expensive.
Oven is usually used during the rainy season, cause almost there's no sunny day along that season.
And also the rain water make contamination on the pulp, that it could decline the quality of the coconut oil.

The dry coconut pulp is called 'kopra'.
The kopra is ready to be processed if it has brownish color, wrinkled texture, curled shape and the water content is under 5%.
The first process is chopping the kopra using machine until it has very small shape.
Then the chopped kopra will be pressed on the pressing machine to remove the oil from the kopra.
Pressing process will be repeated twice or even more to remove all the oil content.
This process produce crude coconut oil (CCO) and also residual stuff that we call it as 'blendo' or 'plendo'.
The crude coconut oil then will be strained to get the clear oil.
Straining process also using strain paper.
To relieve the water content that remain, we can use activated carbon.
Water content on the oil will cause oxidation that make the oil have bad smell or we call it 'tengik'.

Now, we get coconut oil that has yellowish clear color.
And it ready to be packed.
Next, we will talk about the wet process on making coconut oil.
Please enjoy this series and have a wonderful week.

KEEP HEALTHY WITH OUR HOMEGROWN MEDICINE - PART 6

MEMANEN DAN MENYIMPAN TOGA
HARVESTING AND PRESERVING HOMEGROWN MEDICINAL PLANTS

Banyak tumbuhan obat yang sepertinya wajib ditanam di pekarangan rumah kita untuk pertolongan pertama.
Di Indonesia, kita mengenal Sirih (Piper betel), Jahe (Zingiber officinale), Kunyit (Curcuma domestica), Lidah buaya (Aloe vera), Lengkuas (Alpinia galanga), Kencur (Kaemferia sp), sereh, dan  masih banyak lagi tumbuhan lain, yang hampir selalu ditanam di pekarangan sebagai apotik hidup atau TOGA.
Selain sebagai TOGA, sebenarnya beberapa tumbuhan tersebut lebih dikenal sebagai bumbu dapur.

A lot of medicinal plants that should be grown on our home garden for first aid purposes.
In Indonesia, we have known that Sirih (Piper betel), Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Tumeric (Curcuma domestica), Aloe (Aloe vera), Lengkuas (Alpinia galanga), Kencur (Kaemferia sp), Lemon grass, and many more that almost grown on on home garden as homegrown medicines.
Actually, these plants is more popular as spices.

Sirih (Piper betel)

Beberapa tanaman tahunan bisa berproduksi sepanjang tahun, sehingga dapat dimanfaatkan kapan pun, sebagai contoh sirih, lengkuas, lidah buaya dan sereh.
Namun beberapa tanaman merupakan tanaman semusim yang tidak dapat dipanen setiap saat, sebagai contoh jahe, kunyit dan empon-empon yang lain.
Oleh karena itu pada tanaman semusim itu kita perlu mengatur waktu penanamannya, serta menyimpannya agar bisa dimanfaatkan sepanjang tahun tanpa mengenal musim. 

Some perennials can produce medicine stuffs all year round, so we can use it every times, such as Sirih, Lengkuas, Aloe and Lemon grass.
But there are several annuals that couldn't be harvested all time, such as Ginger, Tumeric, and other Zingiberaceae.
So, for these  annuals we have to rescheduling the planting time and also preserving the harvests in order to be able used all time.

Curcuma

Rimpang dari empon-empon bisa kita awetkan dalam bentuk segar dengan cara membungkus rimpang yang telah dicuci bersih dan kering menggunakan kertas koran lalu dimasukkan ke dalam kantung plastik, kemudian simpan di tempat sejuk dan kering. 
Dengan cara ini rimpang tidak mudah kering dan bisa bertahan hingga 2 bulan.

The rhizomes from Zingiberaceae can be preserved freshly by wrapping the clean rhizomes using paper and put it in the plastic bags, and put the plastic bags on the dry and cool place.
The rhizomes could be stay fresh up to 2 months.

Cara lain adalah dengan mengolahnya menjadi  simplisia atau bahan sediaan kering.
The other way to preserve the fresh stuffs is processing it into simplisia or dried stuffs.

Bahan segar dibersihkan lalu dipotong-potong untuk mempercepat proses pengeringan, kemudian dikeringkan dengan cara dijemur atau menggunakan oven. 
Bahan kering ini bisa langsung digunakan sebagai teh herbal atau diolah lebih lanjut menjadi berbentuk serbuk.
Bahan-bahan ini kemudian disimpan di dalam wadah kedap udara atau toples kaca, kemudian diberi label.
Bahan kering inilah yang menjadi sediaan bahan obat herbal yang praktis untuk persediaan di rumah, cukup diseduh dengan air panas, lalu siap dikonsumsi.

The fresh stuffs are cut into small pieces in order to make the drying process become faster, then it will dried by sun curing or using oven.
These dry stuffs could be used directly or processed later into powder form.
Then every stuff is saved in airtight containers or jars, then labeled.
These final stuffs will be a very practical herbal medicine stuffs for home remedy, just brew it using hot boiled water, and then ready to be consumed.

KEEP HEALTHY WITH OUR HOMEGROWN MEDICINE - PART 4

RAGAM BENTUK JAMU
THE VARIOUS FORM OF HERBS

Dahulu, jamu yang dijual di pasar dikemas dalam wadah sederhana untuk mengurangi biaya produksi.
Pada umumnya, jamu dikemas dalam bungkus kertas atau plastik transparan yang sederhana.
Saat ini, jamu selain dikemas dalam bentuk sederhana, juga tampil dengan kemasan sachet atau botol yang kedap udara, yang praktis dan modern.

Long time ago, Herbal medicines were packed on a simple pack to reduce production cost.
Commonly, herbal medicines were packed on paper or plastic bags.
Right now, they are packed both on simple packs also on modern pack using sachet or airtight bottles that more practically.

Begitu pula dengan bentuk penyajian dari jamu itu sendiri, sangat sederhana, berupa serbuk atau bahan kering (simplisia).
Dalam penyajiannya serbuk jamu yang harus diseduh dengan air panas serta harus ditambahkan pemanis (madu atau gula).
Sedangkan bahan kering (simplisia) harus direbus di wadah tanah dalam waktu yang lama, ini yang sering dikenal sebagai jamu godogan.
Semua itu dianggap terlalu rumit dan merepotkan.

The presentation form of the herbal medicine was also so simple, such as powder or dried stuffs.
The powder must be brewed using hot water and also added some sweetener (honey or sugar) on it.
While the dried stuffs must be boiled on the crockery pot on the fairy long time, it's well know as 'jamu godogan ' (stewed herbal medicine).
All the methods above are considered too complicated.

Saat ini, kita dapat menemukan beragam produk jamu yang disajikan dalam bentuk yang sangat praktis.  
Kerumitan dalam penyajian diatasi dengan membuat jamu dalam bentuk pil, tablet atau kapsul.
Jamu memang identik dengan rasa dan aroma yang tidak sedap.
Untuk mengatasi hal tersebut jamu disajikan dalam bentuk kapsul.

Right now, we can find so various herbal medicine products are presented on the very practical forms.
The complexity on presentation dealt with presenting herbal medicine on pills, tablet, or capsule.Herbal medicines usually have unpleasant taste and aroma.
So, the extract of herbal medicines are packed on the capsule form.

Banyak inovasi menghasilkan produk jamu dengan bentuk yang lebih menarik dan rasa yang lebih enak.
Sebagai contoh, produk jamu siap saji misalnya dalam bentuk sirup, minuman herbal atau permen.

There are a lot of innovation that raises so many herbal medicine that have more interesting forms and also better taste.
For example, on the syrup form, herbal drinks or candy.

Bentuk asli tetap diproduksi untuk melayani konsumen yang menyukai 'rasa dan bentuk' asli jamu, mereka menganggap bentuk asli jauh lebih berkhasiat dari pada bentuk modifikasinya.

The original forms are still produced to provide consumers that prefer to original taste and form, they consider that the original form is much helpful than its modification forms.

Ternyata jika diolah secara baik dan dikemas secara menarik, dari bahan yang sama akan menghasilkan produk dengan nilai tambah yang lebih tinggi.

Actually, if we do processing better and packing on more interesting packs, we will gain better product with the higher value-added.

NATURAL FOOD COLORING PART 7

GREY

This is one of unusual food color, but popular as traditional food color, especially in Central Java.
Maybe this color is not appetizing, but the taste is very delicious.

Ciwel

There are so many Javanese traditional snacks and drinks that have deep grey color.
We have ciwel, jenang saren, and dawet ireng. 

Ciwel is made from cassava.
The grey color agent  is made from oman (rice straws) or merang (rice shell).
The rice straw is burned, then diluted in water and strain.
Wait for about 15 minutes.
We only use the clear water and throw the sediment.
So we get the deep grey color agent.
In other place, people use burned dry banana leaves for the dye.
The taste is so delicious.

Dawet ireng (wikipedia)

Have a colorful weekend with your own food.
I hope you enjoy this series, and see you on the next monthly series.
Thank you visiting.

NATURAL FOOD COLORING PART 6

PINK-PURPLE-VIOLET

This is the favorite color of my daughter.
So cheerful...
We use red amaranth, beet root or ubi ungu (purple sweet potato)

Ubi ungu (okezonet.com)

Ubi ungu have deep purple color, so when we boil or steam it, the water will turned purple.

They have high antioxidant.

Keripik ubi ungu/purple sweet potato chips (wikipedia)

Sometime we use the basic material as an ingredient on the recipe, so we get the color the ingredients.

We also use red amaranth to get pinky color.
We boiled the red amaranth or just pouring hot boiled water on it.

Look... the leaves loose their pinky color, and now have a green leaves.
The pigment is moved to the water.

 

Look the pinky water...
So cute and have so many health benefits.

This is my pinky rice.

BLUE

This color is so popular in South East Asia.
We use kembang telang or butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) to get the blue color agent.

We can use both of fresh and dried flower.

You can check my old series 'FEEL BLUE'.
This is my blue dishes.

Put some lemon juice, the blue water will turns purplish.

How about your pinky and blue food?
Have a colorful weekend.

NATURAL FOOD COLORING PART 5

BROWN

Brown is an usual color in so many traditional foods and drinks.
In Indonesia the brown color is came from cocoa powder, soy sauce, palm sugar, shallot & onion skins, teak leaves,  guava leaves and caramel.

On savory dishes, we use soy sauce.
Cocoa powder is the most popular food stuff to make sweet dishes; cake, drink, ice, pudding, cookies and many more.

Cocoa powder

Traditional Indonesian foods use gula jawa (palm sugar) to get brownish color.

Gula Jawa in tubular shape

Gula jawa still in the molds

We usually boil some chicken eggs with shallot skin to get the brownish skins egg.

 

Look the difference...
Egg that has boiled in plain water have brighter color.
The egg that has boiled in water with shallot skins have darker color and more tasty.

 

If we do some little knocks on the egg skins when the egg still boiled, we will get a beautiful pattern on the egg inside.

 

Gudeg (identity food from Jogyakarta) use guava leaves or teak leaves to get red-brown color.
Gudeg is a dish that made from immature jackfruit.
The fruit is chopped and cooked for a long time, about eight hours in crockery pot.
The taste is sweet and sticky.

Gudeg Komplit (Wikipedia)

Do you have traditional brown foods?

NATURAL FOOD COLORING PART 4

RED

We use so many fruit, leaves, tuber or lumber.
For savory foods we usually use beet root, chilli or tomato juice.
To make sweet dishes we use strawberry, roselle and kayu secang  (Caesalpinia sappan).

We use roselle and kayu secang in so many herbal drinks.
It gives bright red color.
Fresh roselle calyces will give red color and a little bit sour taste.

Secang (Caesalpinia sappans).

Secang is usually planted as a hedge in so many state woods.
It's look like a little tree or shrub.
The skin is thorny.

Kayu secang

Kayu secang is well known as a spice and medicinal stuff.
We use kayu secang to treat cough, diarhoea, wound, and also as anti bacteria.
There are wedang secang, wedang uwuh and bir plethok that made from kayu secang.

Wedang secang

The color is really beautiful.
And the taste is so spicy. 
If we reduce kayu secang in the ingredient, we will get the bright pinky red color.

Manisan kolang kaling

 

ORANGE

Orange color is come from carrot juice.

Carrot contains Beta-carotene that produce red-orange pigment.

We use carrot juice to make cake and pudding. 

Do you cook red-orange dishes too?

NATURAL FOOD COLORING PART 3

GREEN

Green is a natural color.
We usually use so many leaves to make green color agents.
The color agent is called Chlorophyl.

Klepon; a Javanese traditional snack

Here, there are pandan leaves, katu, green amaranth and suji  leaves.
In so many savory dishes, such as green noodles, we use katu (Saoropus androgenus) and green amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves.
And for sweet dishes, we use pandan (Pandanus  amarilyifolius) and suji (Pleomele angustifolia syn Dracaena angustifolia) leaves.
Both of them have cooling effect for the body heat.

Pandan

To make liquid extract, we use blender or food processor to get the juice, then strained.
So the extract is already to be used.
Pandan leaves are used fresh or dried, and are commercially available 
They have a nutty, botanical fragrance which enhances the flavor traditional foods, especially sweet dishes and cakes.

The leaves are sometimes steeped in santan (coconut milk), which is then added to the dish. 

Pandan leaves

Pandan leaves may be tied in a bunch and cooked with the food. 
The leaves usually  be woven into a basket which is used as a pot for cooking rice.
The leaves are also used as a flavoring for desserts such as cake and sweet beverages. 
Bottled pandan extract is available in shops or groceries.

Suji leaves

We have a lot of traditional foods on green.
This is Dawet Ayu, an identity drink from Banjarnegara.

Dawet Ayu

Our family are really love this drink.
We use juruh (palm sugar syrup, santan (coconut milk) and 'cendol'.
Cendol is made from tepung gelang or tepung ketan (glutinous rice flour).
Gelang is flour that made from Aren log (Arenga pinnata).
 

Cendol; the main ingredient in Dawet Ayu

Both of Suji and pandan leaves are the green coloring agen for cendol.
So we get the green color, sweet flavor and smell good.

Do you have 'green food'?