Pressure cooking was first introduced by French physicist Denis Papin. He invented the Steam Digester to reduce the time it takes to cook food. Basically, what the steamer does is squeeze the pressure of the air inside it to increase the boiling point of the water, so the food would cook faster.
Bandeng Presto uses a high pressure cooking technique that was probably introduced during the Dutch colonization in Semarang, Central Java. Bandeng or Milk Fish contains many bones which make it more difficult to eat when cooked with regular pressure. Bandeng Presto is smoked milk fish that is cooked using a high pressure cooker.
Bandeng is a large toothless silver fish that lives in warm parts of the Pacific and Indian oceans and is related to herring and salmon, it is commonly used in Indonesian cuisine. Presto comes from the Italian language “quickly”, but in this case, it refers to the pressure cooker brand “presto” – the first pressure cooker entered the market in Indonesia.
It is easily prepared by frying or baking in the oven and served hot/warm. No additional ingredients are needed. A vacuum-packed smoked milk fish is the most widely used method of preserving Bandeng Presto and is widely sold in Semarang stores. It can be kept for 6 months – 1 year in a cool place without reducing freshness and nutrition.
Ingredients:
* 1 kg (or 3) fresh milkfish, gills and stomach part removed
* 1 tablespoon tapai yeast (fermented black rice), ground
* 2 tablespoons of salt
* 3 tablespoons of tamarind water
* 10 bay leaves
* 10 cm galangal (see: opor ayam), sliced and mashed
* 2 1/2 liters of water
Ground spices:
* 14 red onion cloves
* 7 cloves of garlic
* 4cm of ginger
* 4cm of turmeric
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 150g boiled large red chillies
* 10 small green chilies, boiled
* 8 red onion cloves, boiled
* 4 garlic cloves, boiled
* 1 teaspoon of sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon terasi (shrimp paste), fried
Other ingredients:
* Banana leaves to wrap as needed
* Egg white or flavored flour as needed
Method:
1. Cut the stomach part of the fish. Clean them with water and let them dry.
2. Spread the fish with tapas yeast, salt and tamarind water. Leave them for about 1 hour.
3. Spread the fish with ground spices evenly.
4. Put bay leaves and galangal slices on top of the fish.
5. Wrap with banana leaves so the fish are easy to lift from the pressure cooker.
6. For 1 liter of water in the pressure cooker. Put a strainer on top of the pot.
7. Arrange the wrapped fish on top of the colander.
8. Cook until pot whistles, 30-50 minutes depending on the type of pressure cooker you use.
9. Let the pot cool down with the lid open.
10. Add water again and cook until there is no water left.
11. Take out the fish and let them dry.
Chili Sauce Method
1. Heat the vegetable oil.
2. Sauté ground spices until sauce smells good.
3. Put on a plate and let cool.
Service:
1. Spread the fish with egg white or flavored flour.
2. Fry until golden.
3. Serve with hot sauce.