While I am writing this, I feel beyond happy. Urapan is my favourite vegetable dishes, because of freshness and the complexity. I was sad after arrive here, when I feel really missing home and not able to re-create this dishes. This dishes really remind me of my childhood moment. Urapan it self is mix blanch vegetable then blend together with coconut flake sambal, originally we used fresh shredded medium age coconut, and then shred it. There is several type of coconut that we are using to cook. First are young coconut, usually we used it to cook sweet and blend as dessert ingredient, second are medium coconut some are used for savoury recipe some are for sweet recipe, then there are old age coconut that very good to be shred and press to get the coconut milk, the milk from old age coconut would be thick, sweet and oily if you cook it in long slow cook.

I remember, I was sitting in the kitchen with my grandmother and my mother, they were preparing for “Selamatan”, it was occasion that we cook a lot of dishes for our neighbour to celebrate something, usually for birthday or similar celebration. They will cook most traditional dishes, heritage recipe that pass from generation to generation, I really miss that time, My grandmother was the first person who taught me how to cook, I think it was when I still 6-7 years old, during routine visit to her house.

So this dishes is like sweet memories to me, I also remember during my twenties, I frequent visit Bali, and ate this dishes a lot, so this dishes also remind me sitting in the beautiful beaches of Bali, Ohh Memories *haha.

The idea to recreate this dishes just pop up few day ago, when I want to make a dessert from shredded coconut and have a difficulties to find the right coconut. And then slip in my mind how if I used dried coconut flake instead? my heart are beating during mixing the sambal and after I steam the sambal, taste the result, wow, it was like I want to jumping along *haha, the rest was just I need a lot more rice. By the way, I enjoy this vegetable with rice and semur (Indonesian stew) and it was easy to forget the rest, lets digging.

Here I really want to share the recipe

RICE WITH BLANCHING VEGETABLE SEASON WITH COCONUT FLAKE SAMBAL – NASI URAPAN

INGREDIENT

Coconut flake sambal

• 2 red chilli (seed out if you don’t like it spicy)
• 2 bird eye chilli (just if you want)
• 1 medium size French shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2-3cm kencur ( I know, it will be difficult to find this spice, this spice look like turmeric but different in taste, it taste so fresh and warm, here is the link Kaempferia galanga , but if you can’t find it, just leave it)
• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves ( put it more if you don’t find kencur)
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (leave it if you are vegan)
• 1 tsp salt
• 11/2 tsp brown sugar or 2 table spoon hard palm sugar
• 80 gram dried coconut flake

Blanch vegetable

• 6-7 leaves of cabbage, chop it rough
• 2 carrot, slice it Julienne
• 2 handfull of bean sprout
• If you have snake bean, hard leaves spinach or water spinach, you can add them. You can choose the vegetable as your preference as long as it can hold the shape and crunchiness after it blanching.
• 1/2 tsp salt for blanching the veggies
• big bowl of very cold water ( you can put an ice cube if necessary)

HOW TO

1. For the sambal, blend all ingredient except the coconut flake,  in pestle and mortar roughly.
2. After the sambal well mixed, put inside the coconut flake until well combined, there  are two option you could used, for keep it simple, put the coconut flake sambal in small bowl then steam it or you can wrap it in banana leaves then steam it. Traditionally we steam it in wrap banana leaves for the infuse fragrance aroma.
3. In medium heat, put a steamer, and after the water of the steamer are boiling put the sambal in. Cook it for at least 20 minute.
4. Put the sambal from the steamer and let it cool.
5. Blanch Veggies, blanch meaning you put the veggies in shock heat then quickly cooling it down. The method of this cooking will be maintain the colour, the crunchiness, texture and the most important are keep veggies nutrition.
6. In pot of boiling water, put inside the veggies, season the water with a bit of salt,  While you quickly prepare big bowl of cold water. Cook the veggies for 3-4 minute then quickly move to the big bowl of cold water. Drain the veggies afterward.
7. Mix the vegetable and put in few table spoon of coconut flake sambal, mix them well like you mixing a salad.
8. The dishes are ready to enjoy.