Cooking Ingredients

Celery

Celery (daun seledri), common name for a biennial herb of the parsley family, a native of Europe but now
widely grown throughout the world. The stalks, about 30 to 76 cm (about 12 to 30 in) high in cultivated varieties, are eaten, raw or cooked, as a vegetable or salad. When allowed to grow naturally, the stalks are greenish in color and slightly bitter in taste. They are often blanched during the last stages of their growth by preventing access of sunlight except to the leaves; this process removes the color and the bitter taste, but also some of the vitamins. If allowed to grow a second year, celery sends up flower stalks about 61 to 91 cm (about 24 to 36 in) tall with small white flowers in umbels. The dried fruit of celery is used as a condiment alone under the name of celery seed or ground and mixed with salt under the name of celery salt. Celery seed is also used in pharmacy as a sedative or to disguise the flavor of other drugs.

Chili

Chilies (Lombok) Several types of chilli pepper are used with the amount of heat increasing as the size diminishes. Green chillies are the unripe fruit, and have a flavour different from ripe red chillies. Fresh, finger-length red chillies are the most commonly used in some dishes, especially in Sumatra. Dried chillies should be torn into pieces and soaked in hot water to soften
before grinding or blending. Hottest of all chillies are the tiny fiery bird’s-eye chillies (cabe rawit). To reduce the heat of the dish while retaining the flavour, remove some or all of the seeds. Be careful to wash your hands throughly after handling chillies as the oil can burn your eyes and skin. You may even like to wear rubber gloves.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon (Kayu Manis) is yellowish brown and has a distinctive fragrant aroma and a sweetish, pungent taste.
It has been used since early times as a spice in many culinary preparations, and it is also used in some medicines. The aromatic qualities of cinnamon result from a volatile oil, oil of cinnamon, that may be extracted from the bark by distillation. The oil varies in color from yellow to cherry red; the yellow is used in scenting soap and flavoring candy.

Clove

Clove (Cengkeh), common name for a tropical tree of the myrtle family, and for its dried flower buds.
The clove tree is a small-to medium-size evergreen; native to the Moluccas, eastern Indonesia, it is now cultivated elsewhere in the Tropics. The flowers are small and produced in great profusion in clusters. The leaves, flowers, and bark are aromatic. The ripe fruit resembles an olive in shape but is smaller. It is dark red and is sometimes sold in a dried state under the name mother clove; in this form it has an aroma and flavor similar to those of clove but much weaker. The flower buds are gathered and dried by exposure to the smoke of wood fire and to the rays of the sun. Cloves are used extensively as a condiment and flavoring in many types of cookery.

Oil is obtained from cloves by repeated distilling. In dentistry this oil is used as an anesthetic and sometimes as an antiseptic.
It is also used in perfumes and soaps.

Coconut

Coconut (Kelapa) are widely used in Indonesia, not just in cooking but also for palm sugar, alcohol, housing, utensils, and
charcoal. The grated flesh of the coconut is frequently added to food; it is also squeezed with water to make coconut milk.

To make fresh coconut milk, put the flesh of 1 fresh grated ripe coconut into a bowl and add ½ cup of lukewarm water. Squeeze
and knead the coconut thoroughly for 1 minute, then squeeze handful by handful, straining into a bowl to obtain thick coconut milk. Repeat the process with another 2 ½ cups of water to obtain thin coconut milk.

Coconut milk can be deep frozen, thaw and stir thoroughly before use. The best substitute for fresh coconut milk to be used with
vegetables, seafood, meat and for sauces is instant coconut powder, sometimes sold under the name ‘santan’. Combine this with warm water as directed on the packet. For the richer, creamier flavor required for dessert and cakes, use tinned coconut cream.

Coriander

Coriander (Ketumbar), common name for an annual herb of the parsley family that grows to a height of about
30 to 90 cm (about 12 to 36 in). The lower leaves are divided into fine, threadlike partitions; the white and pink flowers grow in small, loose clusters. Native to Europe and Asia Minor, coriander has become naturalized in the United States. It is cultivated for its fruit, the dried seeds of which, also called coriander, are used as a spice in a wide variety of foods, and for its pungent leaves, called cilantro, a basic ingredient in Latin American and Asian cooking. Oil that is extracted from the seed is used in the preparation of liqueurs and is a medicine for abdominal discomfort.

Cumin

Cumin (Jinten), also cummin, common name for a dwarf annual plant. Cumin is native to the Middle East and
is widely cultivated for its seedlike fruit, which resembles caraway seeds in taste. Cumin is used to flavor curries, soups, and meats. The plant attains a height of about 15 cm (about 6 in) and has a branching stem that bears small, white or pinkish flowers.

Fennel

Fennel (Jinten Manis), common name for a perennial plant, characterized chiefly by its aromatic leaves and seeds. Fennel
grows from about 61 to 122 cm (about 24 to 48 in) in height and has small yellow flowers. The common fennel is cultivated in both Europe and America. Its leaves and seeds are used for flavoring. Another variety, called variously Florence fennel, sweet fennel, Italian fennel, or Cretan fennel, is cultivated in southern Europe. The bases of the leafstalks of Florence fennel are greatly enlarged and form a bulbous structure, which is bleached by earthing and then eaten raw or cooked. The seed of Florence fennel is used widely in Italy as an aromatic condiment and as a medicine.