Aceh Noodle

Living far from my hometown sometimes makes me miss its traditional dish. In Indonesia, I come from Aceh (The westernmost point of Indonesia). One of the popular Aceh culinary is Aceh noodle. There are lots of restaurants in Jakarta serving this dish.

I knew that the ingredients to make Aceh noodle are a lot, but I gave it a shot. I went to the Asian Market on Drury street, and found all the main ingredients. Yay! The method was apparently not as complicated as I had imagined, trust me. And how did it turn out? Let's just say, I was thrilled! hehe.. ^_^

Ingredients:

• 200-250 gr egg noodle. It's actually not the right noodle, but it still worked. ;) Alternatively, you can use the fresh noodle sold at Tesco.
• 250 gr beef slices, chopped again in small pieces.
• 1 L beef broth (I'll explain below how to make beef broth by using 2 beef stock pots)
• 1 tomato, chopped in dices
• 1/2 onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• chili. The number of chilies you want to use depends on your preference. For your information, Aceh noodle is famous for its extreme spicy flavor. However, I just use 2 chilies in this recipe. I know I'm not like typical Acehnese (or people from Sumatra Island in general). I prefer mild spicy food. :D
• 2 cm ginger
• 4 candlenuts
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• beansprouts
• cabbage, minced
• 2 onion springs, minced
• 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Make beef broth first: boil 1 L of water (I always put a little bit more, just my habit :P) with 2 beef stock pots. Done, set aside.
2. Put onion, garlic, chilies, ginger, candlenuts, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and cardamom into a food processor with a little bit of water, blend them well.
3. Heat the vegetable oil, add the blended seasoning, stir until it smells good (around 1-2 minutes).
4. Add the beef, stir and cook until its color changes (around 5 minutes).
5. Add the tomato, and then the beef broth.
6. Stir well, turn down the heat to medium, cook until the water slightly reduces.
7. Add the spring onions.
8. Season with pepper, stir well. Keep cooking until the gravy becomes thicker. Don't be too thick, make it to around 70 mL (OK, that's too precise! Use your instinct! :P).
9. Remove from the heat, and the gravy is done. :)

How to serve:

1. Cook the egg noodle in boiling water for around 3 minutes, together with the cabbage.
2. Soak the beansprouts in hot water, set aside.
3. Strain the noodle and the cabbage, and also the beansprouts, set aside.
4. Into the same pan, put some of the gravy we just made, stir for a sec, and then add the noodle, cabbage, and beansprouts that are already boiled (or soaked), stir well for about a minute.
5. Remove from the heat and serve immediately, garnished with fried shallot and emping, if you like. ps: Emping is a cracker made of melinjo. You might not know what melinjo is, but don't worry, I still remember its Latin name. :P It's Gnetum gnemon. :D It's common in Indonesian dish, but don't eat it too much because it can cause artritis gout.

ps:  If it's not salty enough for you, just add some salt to suit your taste.

Enjoy! :9

The Indonesian version: http://dapurdara.blogspot.com/2012/01/mie-aceh.html.