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Monday, September 15, 2014

Recipe: Indonesian Tomato Sauce (Balado)


This is a tomato-based sauce that's traditionally called Balado Sauce in Indonesia. The difference between this and the western tomato sauce is that this one uses a very fragrant leaf called the kaffir lime leaves (used a lot in Thai cooking) and a touch of ground coriander. This sauce can be poured over eggs, meats, fish, tofu, tempeh, anything really. And it is so delicious eaten with hot rice. You can make it as mild or as spicy as you like. The burst of flavors will really open up your taste buds and I can never get enough when I eat this. I always end up eating a lot more than I should. But, hey, most of it is cooked tomatoes and studies have suggested that our bodies can better absorb the nutrients better with cooked tomatoes, compared to raw, especially the antioxidant properties of it. 

Ingredients

1 big tomato, slice small and thinly (for faster cooking)
2 small shallots, slice small
red chili, optional
4 kaffir lime leaves (available in Asian supermarket or Amazon)
1/4 tsp ground coriander
a pinch of natural sweetener (I use sucanat)
salt to taste
water

Directions

Sautee shallots, chili, and kaffir lime leaves until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cover the pan until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add a bit of water so it's not too dry. Add the coriander, sugar and salt to taste. That's it!

Now you can enjoy it with eggs or any kinds of cooked meat, in my picture below, I poured it on stir-fried anchovies - leftover from making the seaweed and anchovies soup.


Bon appétit!


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