I love cooking! I am not shy in admitting it. I love the process of planning a meal, finding new flavours, talking with shop sellers and traders, finding new varieties of food. I enjoy learning about new cultures through talking to people about food.

Spending time in  northern Thailand has allowed me to develop my food palate. Fresh vegetables, and spices are some of the most important ingredients. I love going to food markets when they open very early in the morning, while most people are still sleeping. It feels like another world and gives me a sense of excitement and calm.

I get a lot of satisfaction and inner peace from the process of planning and executing a menu. I usually spend a long time researching certain dishes, learning from other chefs, fine tuning my skills and then go for it! I get lost in the enjoyment of focusing on cooking a dish.

One of my favorite dish is “ Tempeh Arik Kering “ or Spicy and Sweet Soybean Cake.. I tried to find a smooth mixed of herbs thats I can find in local market. Sometimes we added pine nuts and small salted fish along with the tempeh.

To make this tempeh with sweet soy sauce, we need :

– Tempeh ( Soybean Cake )

– Pine Nuts ( optional)

– Small Salted Fish ( Teri – optional )

Herbs and Spices :

– Kaffir lime leaves

– Galanggal

– Lemongrass

– Red Chillies

– Palm or Brown Sugar or Sweet Soy Sauce

– Fried Red Shallots

– Fried Garlic

– Vegetable oil for frying.

Procedure :

1. Cutting the tempeh into small boxes. And fried with oil in mid lower flame until brown and crispy.

2. Mixed all the herbs together until cooked and reduce halfway. Then put the crispy Tempeh

Bon Appétit!

By Eka