recipes and conversations with my Indonesian friends, letter #3

Hi dears,

Picture this: you’re hanging out with your celebrity crush on their front stoop. It’s sunny and you’re drinking frosty IPAs, talking about tropical plants and former lives, and you’re just glad to not be rotting away in your own home for once. Well, that was meee! I finally got to have a long chat with Indonesian chef Siska Silitonga (or, as many dotingly call her, ‘Queen Siska’), a creative firecracker in the world of cookery, whose apron strings I’ve been chasing for years now.

I had showed up with a pen behind my ear and a list of questions I thought would be so very important to ask, and I left having barely touched on any of them, yet feeling startlingly inspired to have a tumble with some fresh ingredients.

Since 2015, Chef Siska has run a California-inspired Indonesian food pop-up and catering business in San Francisco called ChiliCali which has cultivated a dedicated following of devotees. She also sells Good Foods Award-winning jarred red sambal that you can buy online or through Good Eggs, Andronico’s, and The Epicurean Trader. Siska’s fare reflects her personality — fresh and sassy and loving.

And the big news that has only just been announced, like, hours ago (I had no clue): Chef Siska is opening a fast casual restaurant this summer in Redwood City, called Warung Siska. I cry!! As I’ve mentioned before, Indonesian food and culture is vastly under-represented in the Bay Area, so each time someone steps up with a dish to share, launches a pop-up, or *gasp* opens a restaurant, it feels like a communal win. Chef Siska is a guiding light for many of us in trusting that ‘success’ will follow close behind where the heart calls.

“My ultimate goal is to raise awareness of Indonesian food all over the US. How can I pass on my knowledge?” said Siska, who would also like to be a mentor for others following a similar path. Mondays at the new restaurant are planned to offer space for pop-ups.

In the kitchen, Siska draws on many inspirations — the people she’s cooked with and places she’s lived — but what really shapes her dishes on the daily is whatever is locally in abundance. She buys her galangal, lemongrass, and Makrut lime leaves from the farmer’s market. Her chillis are sourced from Sonoma and she makes her own freakin’ terasi (fermented shrimp paste) using local shrimp. That’s a special and potent kind of bravery.

“Immigrant food means using what’s available and making it your own. It’s just here, part of the culture,” says Siska.

Her use of ingredients is a refreshing approach to thinking about what makes food ‘authentic’. Sure, farm-to-table isn’t anything new (still good news, I’d argue, if equitably accessible), but her dance with the seasons to highlight a cuisine rooted in a place very far away requires imagination and flexibility. I think authenticity can mean you acknowledge those who’ve shaped you and continue the food ways that feel personal, while still allowing innovation and personal artistry when it feels right. Why spend twice as much on imported vegetables when you can have juicy, seasonal asparagus from your local farmer friend?

A little backstory on Siska:

Chef Siska was raised in Jakarta –– Indonesia’s capital and a nexus of many culinary influences –– to Batak parents (the Batak are made up of several close-knit ethnic groups primarily located in North Sumatra.) Her mama, Clara Sitompul, catered for a living and paid her angsty teenage daughter to help in the kitchen. Siska didn’t think much of it at the time, –– she just wanted cash to have fun with her friends –– but this was the first place she began to deeply understand Indonesian cooking.

At age 18, as a solidarity move with her Chinese-Indonesian friends who were facing persecution during immense upheaval in the late '90s, Siska moved to Beijing to study Mandarin. Eventually, her fluency in Mandarin brought her to the US where she studied journalism and never left. Through all of this, cooking had become a steadying thread for her, and six years ago it finally felt right to fully take the plunge.

Chef Siska relies heavily on what her partner, fisherman and chef Geoff Reed (the wiz behind Ichido SF) catches that week. Depending on the season you may see shovel-head guitarfish, ridgeback prawns, or stingray (!!). The day we spoke she had served halibut fish stew in a creamy Padang sauce (Sumatran cuisine that’s now popular in much of Indonesia), and sambal plecing –– fresh steamed vegetables and spicy shrimp sambal –– with fresh local asparagus instead of traditionally used water spinach. Siska also loves making Balinese dishes, like ayam betutu (spiced steamed and roasted whole chicken), a recipe she is sharing with us today (see below).

“You can be Indonesian, dude, but can you embrace where you are and be happy with what you get? Indonesian food is always going to be embedded in me – it’s in my everything – but what they have at the farmer’s market and the stores, that’s what inspires me. Let’s not force things. If you cannot get certain ingredients, let it go.” 

A message from the chef: Warung Siska is now hiring for FOH and BOH, so if you are interested, send an email to info@chilicali.com.

Next month we’re talking about pandan — that elusive, vanilla-sunbathing-in-a-field-of-fresh-grass ingredient. I’ll cover the what/where/hows and leave you with a ~special recipe~ to try. Hint, it’s sweet, salty, creamy, green, and perfection on a hot day. I’m ready for you, summer.

Also, Selamat Hari Raya / Happy Eid to all who celebrate! 🎉 I hope you got to safely break fast and party with at least a few friends and family this year. My WhatsApp family message threads are full of celebration emojis right now and I love it.

As always, feel free to drop me a line. I love hearing from you.

xo and selamat makan,

Melati

Yes, I’m here to present you with … another chicken recipe. I didn’t plan it this way, but when life hands you beautifully marinated chicken you just need to eat it! Please, eat it. I marinated mine for a whole day and ate it with lots of rice and sambal. Then I made a delicious broth from the carcass and felt like I had won twice over. I suggest you do the same.

INGREDIENTS

• 100g baseh genap (Balinese spice paste — see recipe below)

• 1 whole chicken

• 20g tamarind juice

• 50g spinach

• 2 banana leaves for wrapping and steaming

• 10g white pepper

• 10g salt

• 4 toothpicks

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rub whole chicken with tamarind juice and season with salt and pepper. Let sit for 1 hour.

2. Blanch spinach and blend with the Balinese paste (paste prep directions below.)

3. Stuff the mixture into the chicken and secure it with toothpicks.

4. Rub the chicken with the remaining ground Balinese paste.

5. Wrap the chicken with banana leaves and tie with a string.

6. Steam the chicken in a steamer for about 1 hour. After about 45 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

7. Remove the chicken from heat, remove from banana leaf, put in the oven for another 30-40 min or until meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.

8. Cut before serving.

BALINESE SPICE PASTE

INGREDIENTS

• 100g shallot, peeled and sliced

• 50g garlic, peeled and sliced

• 40g ginger, sliced

• 40g galangal, peeled and sliced

• 20g fresh turmeric, sliced

• 20g aromatic ginger (kencur)

• 5 bird’s eye chilis

• 20g coriander seed

• 20g black peppercorn

• 2 pinches fresh nutmeg

• 3 pieces lemongrass, chopped

• 40g candlenut (kemiri), can substitute with macadamia nut

• 8 cloves

• 1 tsp terasi (dried shrimp paste), roasted. Can substitute with Thai fish sauce

• 2 Indonesian bay leaves (salam leaf)

• 50ml coconut oil

• 10g salt

PASTE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients, except salam leaf and coconut oil, in a mortar stone or blender and grind coarsely.

2. Place in heavy saucepan coconut oil, add salam leaf and all remaining ingredients, cook over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until all water is evaporated and the marinade changes to golden color.

Selamat makan! Happy eating!

If you make the recipe, hashtag #threesaltedfish so I can see!