(My version of the Indonesian street food Siomay Bandung)
Food cravings drove me to be extra creative lately. Especially since the latest strong desire and taste I had were for authentic Indonesian dishes! Example number one, Siomay Bandung: steamed seafood dumplings drizzled with peanut sauce (Bandung is the city of origin of the dish) .
Back when I was little in Surabaya, the seller of siomay would pedal his bike, that had a small wooden box attached to the back to carry a steamer full of siomay and the sauces, all over the neighborhood in late afternoon. Street food hawkers, in my family’s neighborhood, seemed to have their own particular schedule: bakery and bread in the morning, fruit salad (rujak) in the afternoon, siomay and meatballs later in the afternoon, while satay, fried rice, fried noodle, would come at night. The siomay man would call out, “May, Siomay…” while sounding his bicycle horn over and over. I’d recognize that sound immediately and ran toward the terrace to call and stop him in front of our house. A big chunk of my childhood memories is filled with lots of good eats!
There are tons of recipes out there to create this dish from scratch. But I was far too hungry for it and couldn’t, wouldn’t, be patient enough to do so. Entered an idea, a simpler way to prepare Siomay Bandung with pleasing result.
Here’s how I do my version. We’ll need:
- A dozen fish meat balls (frozen section, Asian grocery store)
- A packet of shrimp dumplings (frozen section, Asian grocery store)
- A dozen of fried tofu balls (vegetable section, Asian grocery store)
- Three tablespoon of sweet soy sauce (Indonesian food product section, Asian grocery store)
- Two tablespoon of chili sauce (Indonesian food product section, Asian grocery store)
- ½ cup of peanut sauce with garlic, ginger, and lemongrass (Brand: House of Tsang , Bangkok Peanut Sauce, Dipping Sauce. Found at Kroger).
- Juice from ½ of lime
- 1 tablespoon of canola oil
- A handful of frozen green beans
Steps:
- Set steaming pan above the pot filled halfway with water. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat.
- Place fish meat balls, shrimp dumplings, tofu balls, green beans on the steamer and drizzle them with canola oil.
- Cover the pan and steam for about 8-10 minutes to thaw and warm up (they are precooked)
- Cut them up to smaller pieces.
- Mix all of the sauces and lime juice in a bowl.
- Serve the pieces on a plate and drizzle with the sauce.
Selamat Makan! (Enjoy your meal!)
Have a great weekend!
Tiny Chili Pepper 