Coconut and Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen
SynopsisPlot
With more than 80 traditional and vibrant recipes that have been passed down through the generations, you will discover dishes such as Nasi goreng, Beef rendang, Chilli prawn satay and Pandan cake, alongside a variety of recipes for sambals: fragrant, spicy relishes that are undoubtedly the heart and soul of every meal.
Story
About this book
Coconut and Sambal is a cookbook by Lara Lee focused on Indonesian home cooking. The collection contains over eighty recipes drawn from traditions passed across generations, covering everyday staples and celebration dishes alike. Readers will find preparations for well-known foods such as nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), beef rendang (a slow-cooked spiced meat dish originating from West Sumatra), chilli prawn satay, and pandan cake, a soft sponge flavoured with the fragrant pandan leaf common across Southeast Asia.
A central thread running through the book is sambal, the broad family of chilli-based relishes that appear at nearly every Indonesian meal. Sambals vary widely by region and household, ranging from raw crushed preparations to slow-fried pastes built on shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and local chillies. The book presents several sambal recipes, treating them as essential companions rather than optional side dishes.
Indonesia spans more than seventeen thousand islands, and its food traditions reflect that geography. Coconut milk, palm sugar, turmeric, galangal, and lemongrass recur throughout these recipes, linking them to the tropical ingredients available across the archipelago. The book organizes these ingredients and techniques for cooks working outside Indonesia, explaining sourcing and substitution where needed.
