Not all Indonesian food is healthy. For example, the use of white rice and deep-frying dishes is not recommended. To make a healthy rice table you have to choose from the right dishes and prepare them in a healthy way. Here you will find a few tasty recipes for a healthy rice table.
Healthy Indonesian cuisine?
Indonesian cuisine is often considered healthy. Of course, the Indonesian kitchen also has many healthy dishes, just think of freshly stir-fried vegetables in which all the vitamins have been retained, the use of vegetable oils instead of the more unhealthy butter and the use of more chicken and fish instead of the fattier sausage and meatballs. Yet many habits from Indonesian cuisine can be called less healthy, such as:
- Use of white rice. White rice is eaten with all meals. In white rice, the film has been removed, and it is precisely that film that contains all the good nutritional value such as fiber, vitamins and minerals. The nutritional value of white rice is therefore very low.
- Use of a lot of fat. Many dishes are fried. Although it is often fried in vegetable oil, it is not advisable to fry so much. The high temperatures often also lose important nutritional value.
With a few adjustments and by choosing the right ingredients, the less healthy dishes can be transformed into healthy dishes. For example, use brown rice and prepare dishes in the oven. Composing a healthy rice table is not difficult with a little creativity. Below are a few healthy and delicious recipes for an Indonesian rice table.
Gado gado
Gado gado is a vegetable dish with peanut sauce. Peanut sauce is often seen as a fattener. Nothing could be further from the truth, peanut sauce is very healthy! The main ingredient of peanut sauce is, as the name implies, peanut. And this legume is very healthy. Peanuts contain a lot of vitamins B3, B11 and E. Vitamin E ensures the building and protection of your muscles and a more efficient digestion and fat burning. Make sure you use many different vegetables for the gado gado. The more types of vegetables, the more different vitamins and minerals you get. By steaming the vegetables briefly, they retain as much of the nutritional value as possible. In addition, you can add eggs, tofu or tempeh to gado gado. In this recipe we add tofu. Usually tofu is fried, but you can also eat it unprocessed. Tofu is made from soybeans, which are known for their cholesterol-lowering properties. Preferably get fresh tofu from a Asian supermarket.
Ingredients
For 4 persons
- 600 grams Fresh vegetables such as bean sprouts, broccoli, beans, pointed cabbage, red bell pepper, cucumber, etc.
- 100 grams of fresh tofu
- 100 grams of peanuts
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon of sambal oelek
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
- lemon juice
Preparation
- Crush the peanuts completely in a mortar.
- Add the garlic, sambal and shrimp paste and make fine.
- Add the peanut butter and mix everything together.
- Boil water in the kettle and slowly add some water while stirring until you have a smooth peanut sauce.
- Clean the vegetables and cut into smaller pieces if necessary.
- Steam the vegetables in a steamer or electric steamer until al dente. Add vegetables that only need a very short steaming, such as bean sprouts, later.
- Cut the tofu into cubes.
- Put the steamed vegetables in a bowl. sprinkle the tofu cubes on top.
- Serve the peanut sauce separately.
Chicken Sate
Chicken fillet is a lean type of meat. Chicken contains many important proteins, B vitamins, iron and zinc. A satay of 30 grams contains almost 10 grams of protein. Proteins are important for muscle building. By grilling the satay you do not need any fat for the preparation. Instead of a satay sauce, you can also serve a soy sauce with this satay. This is a lower calorie but just as tasty alternative. Especially in combination with gado gado, the soy sauce is recommended.
Ingredients
For 4 people (about 12 satays)
- 2 chicken breasts of about 200 grams each
- 2 teaspoons whole ketoembar seeds (ketoembar is coriander)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of curry
- pepper and salt
- skewers
For the soy sauce
- 2 shallots
- 1 green rawit
- sweet soy sauce
- lemon
Preparation
- Soak the skewers in water.
- Cut the chicken breast into small cubes. Real Indonesian satay is thin and made from small pieces of meat.
- crush the garlic and ketoembar in a mortar.
- Marinate the meat for at least an hour with the garlic, coriander, curry powder and salt and pepper.
- Thread the meat onto the skewers.
- Roast the satays on a grill or on a barbecue. You can also use a grill pan.
For the soy sauce
- Peel and finely chop the shallots.
- wash and cut the rawit very fine.
- Mix the shallots and pepper in a bowl and add soy sauce until the mixture is covered by the soy sauce.
- Add the juice of half a lemon.
Serve the chicken satay with the soy sauce
Nasi merah
In Indonesia “nasi” means rice and “merah” means red. Nasi merah thus means red rice. You see this type of rice more and more in Indonesia in recent years, because here too people become more aware of their health. In contrast to white rice, red rice still contains the skin. Red rice is therefore comparable to brown rice, it still contains all the valuable nutritional value. The difference with brown rice is the taste. Red rice is a fragrant rice from Thailand with a nutty flavor. The rice goes well with an Indonesian rice table.
Ingredients
- For 4 persons
- 300 grams of red rice
Preparation
- Rinse the rice well with water. You do this by putting the rice in a pan and adding water until the rice is well under water. Stir the rice well and drain the water. Repeat until the water is clear in color.
- Fill a pan with rice and water. Add just as much water until the water is one finger above the rice.
- Cook the rice in a closed pan over low heat for about 25 minutes.
- Let the rice rest for 15 in a closed pan and stir well before serving.
