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Hunters Kitchen ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Lovingly Home Cooked Authentic Indonesian & Peranakan Cuisine

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Thanks to arrangements by Andrew Ong and Benny Se Teo, we enjoyed a most scrumptious feast of Indonesian and Peranakan cuisine graciously hosted by well known home chef Christina Hunter and hubby Nick at their beautiful home in Singapore.

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Known to her friends as Chris, Christina hails from a Peranakan family from Indonesia's Ketapang Regency in West Kalimantan (Borneo) where they run a bird nest business (Pawan River brand). Many of Chris' dishes are from heirloom recipes handed down to her by her grandma and mum.

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Our appetiser was lontong. It was a huge portion - normally that's the size of my lunch ๐Ÿ˜ฎ There's curry chicken (opor ayam), sambal beef shin, fried tofu and vegetables in the overflowing heap. Chris said she already downsized it by serving us a few quail eggs instead of one large chicken egg ๐Ÿ˜‚ That really helped!

But this was so delicious, I emptied my deep plate. I was not the only one.

The dice sized cubes of soft rice cake were smothered under a thick soft blanket of vegetables stewed in coconut milk and spices. The creamy curry tastes sweet with mild heat from spices. The huge heaps of sambal beef shin piled on top added tender-chewy bite, more robust umami, spice and heat to the dish.

So much flavours!

Took up a lot of stomach space but it really did whet our appetites.

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After the lontong appetiser(?๐Ÿค”), we were ready to tackle this sumptuous colourful spread! Revving to go not because we needed any more food but we were hungry from anticipation ๐Ÿคฆ

There's sharing side dishes like oxtail rendang, pucuk ubi masak lemak, and prawn fritters, etc. Then, there's individual Nasi Liwet sets in besek (basket).

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I've never had oxtail rendang before but it's two of my favourite things (oxtail and rendang spices) together.

Stewed in coconut milk and spices for over four hours, the meat and tissue in the oxtail were fall-off-the-bone tender and smooth. Everything was well infused with sweetness and aromatic spice flavours from the spiced stew.

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Gulai pucuk ubi or tapioca leaf cooked in coconut milk, spices, dried shrimp, etc. This is one of my favourite Malay / Indonesian dishes. I always scoop up lots of these leafy greens at nasi campur or nasi padang stalls.

I like the soft-fibrous texture and taste of tapioca leaf which is greatly enhanced by spices and umami savouriness from dried shrimps.

I was scooping up large ladlefuls of this hoping that the roughage will somehow open up space in my stomach ๐Ÿ˜„ The power of wishful positive thinking ๐Ÿ’ช ๐Ÿค”

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We shared the oxtail rendang, prawn fritters, pucuk ubi and each of us had our own Nasi Liwet set in besek basket. To my mind, unschooled in Indonesian cuisine, this reminded me of Javanese Nasi Ambeng feast in a besek basket.

Oh..., eating the food out of a traditional bamboo basket really added to the enjoyment of the treasures inside.

Yeah.., this is a one person serving ๐Ÿ˜…

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At the heart, centre of the basket was Nasi Kuning - bright yellow turmeric rice sans coconut milk (in Chris' rendition). It's like the sun at the centre of the universe.

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Of the several side dishes orbiting around the yellow Nasi Kuning, the most eye catching was the galangal (ginger) fried chicken. Fried to a deep brown-golden outside and topped with fried grated coconut or kerisik kelapa.

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The dark brownish outside was crisp, the meat under was chewy while at the core there was some moistness. The main flavour of savouriness from spices.

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The galangal fried chicken was complemented by fried vegetable fritters, fried vegetables with spices, fried omelette (telur dadar), begedil (fried potato cutlet), fried orek tempeh, sambal chili, fried anchovies, etc. 

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I am grateful for the privilege to enjoy such a delectable feast of authentic Indonesian and Peranakan cuisine, and quietly wished for more rounds of such indulgence at my own home.

As I craved for more, I am so glad that Chris offers her lovingly home cooked dishes on her Instagram hunterskitchensg.

Chris started out entertaining family and friends at home (much like today's session) - they liked her food so much that many encouraged urged her to make them available online.

Now, we all can enjoy her dishes at home simply by direct messaging Chris on Instagram hunterskitchensg. She can customise a feast for you ๐Ÿ‘

Written by Tony Boey on 24 Apr 2021

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