Begedil / Perkedil / Fried Potato Patties

Oh happiness! We had some potatoes sitting around and I had recently read a recipe on how to make these oh-so-delicious begedils and thought, why not? The ingredients are simple enough- potato, shallots, spring onion, salt and oil for frying. You can add some mince beef to make it extra tasty but I was too lazy to get some and didn't want to waste any meat in case my experiment went wrong.

Made 8 small patties with this recipe.

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 shallots, sliced thinly
1 stalk of spring onion, sliced thinly
oil for frying
salt to taste
1 egg

Method:
Fry shallots in oil till golden brown. Remove from oil and fry potato slices till golden brown. Once potatoes are cooked, remove and mash. Add shallots, spring onion and salt. Mix well.

Roll into patties, coat with egg, fry till golden brown.

One tip I have to prevent too much splatter when frying is to dry the potato slices / shallots on a paper towel. Less water = less splat.

Our New Setup

We've got a new set up for watering our plants. The last time we went for a 2 week trip to London, we tried to buy those gel ball things and cover our pots with them. Didn't work too well and we came home to three pots of very dried basil plants.

The recent trip to Indonesia was only four days, and we tried a new method to keep our plants watered. What we did was to set our pots in a shallow basin and fill it with water, and let the soil absorb the water. It was a gamble but when we came back, not only were our plants still alive, they actually looked happier!

We decided to keep this system of watering the plants but now we had to worry about whether mosquitoes would breed. +3 then suggested keeping tiny fish in the water to eat any mosquito larvae/eggs, and the fish would also fertilise the water to give our plants added nutrients.

He also suggested adding plants in the water to provide oxygen for the fish (I think).

Finally got some fish and plants and the set up is perfect. The fish were a little stressed at first and kept trying to jump out of the basin, but they calmed down and were much happier after we added the plants to the water.

Plus we have breakfast at the table and can also throw in some bread crumbs for the fishies. Hehehe.

I'm so happy we have this set up and it makes me really thankful to have a partner like +3 who does these projects with me. As my sister rightly said, this guy's a keeper!

Booked!

Wah, I really am quite efficient. We managed to secure someone to conduct the solemnization for our wedding. Yippie!

It's interesting what people look for in a solemnizer. There are tonnes of wedding forums where people discuss all sorts of random stuff relating to the planning of their wedding. One of the more interesting things I read was of a bride-to-be (who is probably married already) who wanted her solemnizer to have a grandfatherly look. Heehee.

Anyway, I am happy that we managed to confirm our solemnizer (one with a grandfatherly look too haha). One less thing to check off the list!

Efficiency Is My New Middle Name

Hur hur I'm quite stoked that we managed to confirm a venue for the wedding within a week. We managed to find a place that was conveniently located, had gorgeous architecture and within budget (ok we bust the budget by a couple of hundred bucks but considering most other places were either fully booked or way exceeded our budget, we were happy to confirm our booking).

Next to finalise the guest list, and find someone to conduct the solemnizations. Things are moving along!

Venue Hunting

I forgot how much trouble it is to find a venue for an event that is within budget, to my liking and also available on the date I want. Lol.

Been emailing a number of places and still looking for a wedding venue. Eeks!

Aaaand We Have A Date!

For our ROM, that is. +3's eldest sister got back to us with some auspicious dates, and the best date for us is perfect! My brother and family will be in town, +3's second sister will also be in town, and it falls on a weekend (so I don't need to take leave hur hur). Too bad my sister and BIL will already be back in the US. :(

Anyway, we're thinking of a small do with family and close friends only. Easier to plan and more intimate and hopefully, enjoyable. Amazing how everything is falling into place.

 

Meeting The In Laws

We're back from our trip to visit +3's hometown! It was a great trip, better than what +3 expected, and I'm glad to report that my future MIL is a super friendly and nice lady, and I got her chop and approval. Yippie!

We took a flight to Bandung, and met +3's BIL who happened to be at the airport waiting for someone else. +3's mom was waiting for us at the cafe across the road. Made our way to +3's eldest sister's place and chatted there for a while. +3's mom and sis had to settle some errands, so we were left with the car and driver and made our way to get some snacks.

First stop was Batagor Riri, where we ate batagor and siomay - local Indonesian friend snacks. Glugged down 4 bottles of Teh Botol as well, hehe. Had a couple more hours to kill after, so we asked the driver to take us to the factory outlet (which Bandung is supposedly famous for) and we did a bit of shopping and got some really cute outfits for baby Ivy.

Went back to pick up +3's mom and made our way to his hometown. It's a 3-4 hour drive, and we stopped halfway at Asep Stroberi for lunch. It used to be a place where one could pick strawberries (I think) but then now it's a restaurant with a gorgeous view of rice fields.

Lunch was delicious. We had ayam bakar (grilled chicken), gepok (another name for empal) and tempeh mendoan (tempeh fried with flour). So yummy.

Finally arrived at his home in the evening. The sun had set and it was already dark. Was introduced to his cousin (who stays there as well), had a tour of the first floor of the house, and sipped on some bandrek. Bandrek is a spiced ginger drink, which is served hot with some condensed milk and coconut flesh. It's such a warming drink, which is perfect for the cool evenings that Tasikmalaya has. We sat in the garden terrace and just chatted till it was time to go to bed.

The next morning, +3's mom got some bubur ayam (chicken porridge) from the street vendor down the road. There is something about local street food that just tastes so much yummier than the stuff you get in sterile restaurants. Got to walk around the town with +3 and it was nice to hear stories of his experiences growing up. We drove down to +3's dad's grave after and paid our respect.

Lunch was at another restaurant which had several ponds containing various fish and prawns. The fish were caught straight from the pond and prepared to order. We had ikan bakar and ikan goreng (grilled and fried fish) both so fresh and tasty.

Headed home and took a tour of the rest of the house, had a nap, and woke up to discover that his mom had bought beef sate and rojak, and also prepared a pork dish (one of +3's favourites). We had dinner in the garden terrace again and also a round of bandrek. Slurp.

We were heading back to Bandung the next day, so visited an aunt and then went to have some mie from one of the shops not too nearby. We had to take a trishaw and +3's mom and I squeezed into one. Eeks. I need to lose weight. (Or just say I have child bearing hips.) Lol.

Just as the car arrived, +3's mom's friend sent some grilled ube (sweet potato) so we dabao-ed some and took it back to Bandung with us. The drive back was really long (5 hours!) because of the poor traffic.

Got to the hotel, starving, and took a bite of the grilled ube. OMG. I'm sure the taste of the ube was enhanced because I was so hungry, but I honestly think that it was the BEST ube I have ever had. I might write another blog post about it. Too bad I didn't take pictures! Was too busy stuffing it in my mouth. Hehe.

Walked a couple of streets down to get sate kambing (goat satay) and martabak and then back to the hotel to rest after a long and tiring journey. Met his sis and the family the next morning for lunch and then made our way to the airport and back home to Singapore.

It was a really great trip, and we came back with a sense of relief (no objections from the family!) and happy that everything went smoothly. Now to prepare for his mom's trip to Singapore to visit my parents! :D