Hello dear friends,
I thought in this month's letter I would focus on Indonesian food.
Before we start I wanted to let you know that there are still some available places in my course about digital illustration both offline in Budapest and online at the end of this month and at the beginning of July. You can read every detail in Hungarian. (If you don’t speak Hungarian and would like to join let me know and we can find out something)
I decided to write and draw about some meals that are really easy to make, and I prepare them really oftentimes at home. Especially when it seems the fridge is empty/ I don't have the motivation to cook/ I don't have time, and it's even faster than ordering anything from outside. Thus I can warmly recommend you to try them. I won't be really precise with the description because I usually make it with random quantities. These recipes are not the traditional ones and I wanted to give effortless versions of these meals. I learned them in Indonesia during those 2 years when I lived there.
The first 2 are basically rice and egg. These 2 ingredients are really popular and made in hundreds of different ways in Indonesia. You can always survive with them.
Lets's start with the simplest one. It's called ‘nasi telur’. It's basically cooked rice and fried egg. I don't know how about your fried egg practice but I learned in Indonesia that you can fry 2 sides of the egg (and I like it much better). Fun fact: Indonesian fried egg which is fried only on one side called 'mata sapi' which means cow's eye.
At this point, we have to talk about sambal which is the key element of every food. It's basically chili sauce and you can make it in billions of ways. My personal favorite is sambal ‘bawang tomat’, which is made from chili, onion, garlic, and tomato. You can add ‘lalapan’ which is a simple Indonesian vegetable salad that’s served as a side. It’s always eaten with sambal and adds freshness and nutrition to a meal.
If you eat something you also have to have a drink. In Indonesia, it's typically ice tea which is made from green tea with jasmine.
A Second option to cook for a rushy day is a vegetarian nasi goreng(fried rice) which is made from very similar ingredients. This is the perfect meal from leftover food. If you have some rice in the fridge made 1 or 2 days earlier you just have to heat it with oil and stir fry it with some other ingredients. Once the rice got warm you can add egg and any kind of chopped vegetable: pepper, carrot, cabbage, or anything that you can find in the fridge. After the vegetables are ready but still crunchy you can add soy sauce, It's usually made with the sweet one (‘kecap manis’) but I can recommend any other kind of soy sauce. After you mixed everything it's done, super easy! If you want to try the Indonesian way add some krupuk to the meal. Krupuk is a group of Asian crackers that are typically made with starch, you can replace it with any kind of crispy crackers or chips.
My third option is ‘mie jamur’ noodles with mushrooms. You can use any kind of mushroom, after you cleaned it and made it sliced you can put it in a wok or pan without oil, cook it until it gets dry, and put it aside. Cook the rice noodle (takes 5 minutes) and when it's ready heat up some oil and add the mushrooms, noodles (with some juice from cooking), and any kind of vegetables (carrot slices for example). Add salt and optional spices and finally flavor it with some soy sauce. Indonesians save the juice from the food in a smaller bowl so when you eat you can decide how much juice you can add to your meal.
If you’re interested in the names of Indonesian fruits and vegetables please take a look at this beautiful illustration HERE made by Vivien Sárkány and follow her work.
I hope you liked the recipes and you will try them. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me and let me know if you would like to see more illustrated recipes from me.
Sending Love
Ágnes
Some words about me
Hi, I’m Ágnes, a passionate illustrator and animated filmmaker from Hungary.
I'm obsessed with colorful drawings, funny characters, and nature-inspired illustrations. My work fields include editorial illustration, children’s book illustration, brand illustration, animated film, and gifs. Besides commissions, I teach animation and illustration.