Tahu Bacem

Tahu bacem is a traditional meal from Mataraman area, Central of Java. Actually bacem is a way to make the meal stay longer, in this case for tofu and tempeh. They marinated them with spices then cook for sometime. Then you can store them in refrigerator and only fry them when you need it. Central Javanese meal is known with the sweetness in their taste. They like to add palm or brown sugar in their meal. They have many delicious foods such as Gudeg, Ayam Goreng Kalasan, Nasi Liwet, etc.   My mother’s mom is from  Jepara, a small town in Central of Java.  Sort of she ‘inherits’ her taste of cooking until when my mom married to my father and he is more into spicy food than sweet ones. But once a while she still cooks some sweet food.

This Tahu bacem recipe can also used for tempeh.

Category: Side dish/Appetizer

Difficulty: Medium

Preparing time:  45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

– 250 g tahu/tofu, cut into 6 – 8 pieces

– 1 cm of galangal or 1 tablespoon of galangal powder

– 2 Salaam (Indian Bay Leaves) leafs (or substitutes with bay leaves)

– 250 ml thick coconut milk or 250 ml coconut water

– 250 ml water

Spice Paste

– 4 shallots or half medium red onion

– 2 cloves of garlic

– 1 teaspoon of coriander

– 1 teaspoon of tamarind(asem jawa)

– 2 tablespoon of palm sugar/brown sugar

– salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Grind or blend the spice paste.

2. Boil the coconut milk/coconut water together with tofu, galangal, salam leafs, and spice paste. Add the water and continue cooking until the spices and water are absorbed. Then cool them off.

3. Heat up 50 ml oil into deep frying pan and fry the tofu both sides, but don’t do it too much (too dry/crunchy).

4. Serve with green bird’s eyes chillies.