MARKETS : A World of Bumbus, Sambals, Krupuk and Speculaas

Ann’s Dutch Imports, 4357 Tujunga Ave., Studio City, (818) 985-5551. Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sitting by the crisp blue and white gingham-curtained windows in the tiny cafe area at Ann’s Dutch Imports, you have a good view of the sleepy two-block Tujunga Avenue commercial district where the shop has quietly been doing business for 19 years. It seems far away from the clamor and wall-to-wall mini malls of nearby Ventura Boulevard.

Ann Weerts opened the shop in 1972 to provide her fellow transplanted Hollanders with goods from the old country. The shelves are filled with speculaas, Holland rusks, breakfast spice cakes and other imported Dutch specialties. A huge collection of blue Delft china is on display; there are row after row of platters, tea sets, costumed figurines and decorative tiles painted with Van Ruisdael-like scenes of the Dutch countryside.

The entire back wall, stocked with exotic spices, sambals and Dutch-style Indonesian convenience foods, reminds you that some of the best food in Holland has been adopted from its former colony, Indonesia. Every tourist guidebook to Amsterdam recommends at least as many places to eat rijsttafel-- the famous Dutch multi-dish interpretation of an Indonesian feast--as it does Dutch cafes and restaurants. Three hundred and fifty years of Dutch presence in Indonesia and the thousands of Indonesian immigrants living in the Netherlands have made this cuisine--which is about as different from Dutch traditional cooking as anyone could imagine--an integral part of Holland’s table, just as pizza and spaghetti have become American foods.

Even the snacks served in Ann’s deli demonstrate the way Indonesian influences have permeated Dutch cuisine. Pasteities is a turnover filled with clear noodles, a little meat and some vegetables mildly seasoned with Indonesian spices. There are other Indonesian-style snacks among the wonderful Dutch sandwiches of Westphalian or Black Forest ham with Edam cheese.

Maria, a salesperson at Ann’s who hails from Indonesia, is quick to point out that the prepared dishes from the cold case and freezer are Dutch-Indonesian, rather than true Indonesian. “They’re not nearly as heavily seasoned--especially with chiles,” she says.

Ann’s longtime customers may be Dutch, Dutch-Indonesian or straight from the islands, and they stock up on frozen dishes such as besengek kip, a chicken curry in coconut milk. But while the Indonesian customers are more likely to buy basic ingredients--fish paste, candle nuts, the sweet soy sauce called kecap manis-- Dutch cooks head for the bumbus.

These prepared spice pastes, made in Holland, are the base for many Indonesian dishes. Their American counterparts would be spaghetti-sauce mix, taco spice blend, salad dressing seasoning mix and teriyaki marinade. Ann’s sells about 40 different bumbus, with which everything from sates and soups to salads and Indonesian style fried rice may quickly be assembled.

Along with the bumbus, Ann’s large collection of sambals and rice accompaniments, such as crispy shrimp chips and deep fried slivered onions, make putting together a complicated rijsttafel meal child’s play.

SHOPPING LIST:

Bumbus

Of Ann’s 40 or so bumbus, I’ve selected a range that illustrates the many ways these spice pastes and spice mixtures are used. The most common variety seasons meat, chicken, fish or vegetables cooked in coconut milk. But bumbus can also be used for such other dishes as:

Bumbu pecel: Pecel, a salad made of cooked vegetables (which will vary from region to region), is dressed with a peanut-based sauce that calls for pounding quantities of garlic, chilies and spices and then mixing the paste with tamarind water. All these dressing ingredients are blended into the bumbu, which you mix with boiling water. A tiny packet of chili powder is included so the dressing’s spiciness can be adjusted to taste. Maria advised me to stir constantly, adding the hot water a little at a time, to get a smooth dressing (this point is not indicated in the package directions).

Bumbu gado gado: Most Indonesian food aficionados know the more familiar salad gado gado. Like pecel, it has a peanut-based dressing, but one with slightly different seasonings.

Bumbu sate: Peanut sauce for sate (miniature kebabs) has less tamarind and its own blend of seasonings. It too is made simply by adding hot water to the bumbu.

Bumbu rawon: Rawon, a spicy beef soup, can be assembled quickly by simmering cooked brisket and the bumbu in beef broth for 15 minutes.

Bumbu mi goreng: Mi goreng, Indonesia’s favorite stir-fried wheat noodle dish, is a sort of Indonesian-style chow mein. To make it, you saute meat or chicken in the melted bumbu, toss with cooked noodles, and garnish the mixture with strips of omelet and ham (Ann’s Westphalian is a good choice for this).

Bumbu laxa: Laxa (or laksa ) consists of rice noodles swimming in a coconut milk sauce, garnished with chicken. You make it by adding the bumbu to broth, coconut milk and chicken and simmering. Serve it over cooked rice vermicelli. Laxa should be accompanied with lime wedges and sambal badjak (see below). Crispy fried onions and krupuk (below under sambals and rice condiments) may garnish the dish.

Bumbu babi Penang: This is a sauce for marinated roast pork. Directions are given for marinating and roasting a loin of pork. Then you mix the bumbu with water and simmer it to make a sauce.

Bumbu lempur: Lempur, sticky rice rolls stuffed with seasoned chicken or meat, are sold here ready-made. Should you want to make your own, directions are given for cooking the sticky rice in coconut milk (both sold here) and forming the lempur rolls. You use bumbu lempur to season the filling.

Nasi kuning: For this dish you cook plain rice with coconut milk and bumbu nasi kuning. Garnish the finished rice with cucumber slices, crispy fried onions and one of the sambals below.

Other bumbus: Many bumbus are combined with coconut milk and meat, fish, shrimp, tofu or vegetables to make stews or curry-like dishes. Bumbu rendang is the base for the popular rijsttafel staple, beef rendang. With bumbu oblock oblock you use string beans and beef. Bumbu kerrie bengala and either shrimp or beef becomes Bengal-style curry. Bumbu rujak (roedjak) calls for chicken and bumbu mangoot for fresh mackerel. Vegetarians may want to substitute vegetables, tofu or tempe for any of the meat in these dishes.

Sambals and Rice Condiments

Many people assume that sambal is simply a name for red-hot chile sauce. While most sambals do contain a fair amount of chiles, other flavorings may be added and some sambals aren’t hot at all. Sambal goreng implies something fried and may be any highly flavored mixture to accompany rice and other dishes. Look for the sambals and other condiments in jars and packages along the back wall and in the cooler and freezer cases.

Sambal goreng udang: Dried shrimp, fried potato strings, chili and salt are tossed together to make a sprinkle-on type sambal.

Serundeng: Another sprinkle-on garnish, serundeng is composed of whole peanuts, dry coconut, sugar, salt and spices fried together.

Crisp fried onion slivers (bawang goreng): Making this garnish from scratch is tricky and time-consuming, but Ann’s sells ready-fried onions that will last for several months in a tightly closed jar in the refrigerator--you can re-crisp them if necessary in a slow oven. They are a must for a rijsttafel: Serve rice and any of the dishes made with the bumbus above, and accompany them with several sambals, bawang goreng and other crisp garnishes such as krupuk.

Krupuk and crisps: Ann’s sells several varieties of “crisps.” Most are made from rice or tapioca flour and dried shrimp or fish. The shrimp-flavored krupuk udang come pre-fried in potato chip-style packaging or as flat disks which puff up when you deep fry them. Krupuk warna warni are colored crackers made from noodle-like strips of tapioca flour formed into a lacy disk. Emping belinjo are crackers made with ground melinjo nuts. Cassava crackers come flavored with leeks and chili.

Sambals: Here are just a few of Ann’s sambals . Sambal ulek (oelek): a paste of crushed fresh red chilies, is probably the most well known of the spicy sambals. For sambal bedjak, officially known as sambal goreng bedjak, ground chiles are fried with onions and garlic. Sambal gandaria is fresh ground chilies combined with a sour green berry-like tree fruit and seasonings, while sambal manis ( manis meaning sweet) is a sweet-hot chile-based sambal. Sambal taoco (taotjo) uses green chilies, onions, garlic and galingal root; sambal trasi combines chilies with shrimp paste; and sambal pete (or peteh) is chiles mixed with pungent, bean-like pete seeds.

In the freezer look for fried sambals: Sambal goreng boontjes, a dish of string beans in chili sauce, and sambal goreng tempe, a condiment of crumbled tempe in a sweet hot seasoning base.

Pickles: Not quite sambals but used the same way are pickles (acar, also spelled atjar). Along the back wall in jars is acar lombok ijo (idjo)-- pickled green chiles and onions in mustard sauce. In the cooler case is freshly made acar campur (tjampur), a salad-like sweet pickle mix of cucumbers, cauliflower and carrots in mustard sauce.

Basic Indonesian Ingredients

Among Ann’s collection of spices are these essential and hard to find items for Indonesian cooking.

Kecap manis (also spelled ketjap manis ): This major staple in Indonesian--especially Javanese--cooking is soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar. It is used for everything from a marinade ingredient to a table condiment, Ann’s carries brands made in Holland, Indonesia and right here in Temple City. These come in two varieties, regular and a sweeter style.

Trasi: This smelly roasted shrimp paste (also spelled terasi ) is to Indonesian cooking what fish sauces such as nam pla and nuoc mam are to Thai and Vietnamese food: Technically, you can leave it out, but your dishes won’t taste authentic. (Take heart, though--its pungent aroma dissipates as it cooks). Fortunately trasi is now packaged in small individually wrapped squares, so you don’t have to worry about unwrapped portions perfuming the entire larder.

Kemiri nuts: Also called candle nuts, these are similar to the oily macadamia nut. They are crushed and used to thicken many Indonesian sauces.

Daun salam: This herb is often called Indonesian bay leaf, and it is used the same way as bay, though the two leaves are not related.

Lengkuas: You will also see this product, which is called galingal in English, labeled laos root. Sliced, dried lengkuas is preferred for soups while the ground form is used in curries.

Tamarind paste: A convenience food--it eliminates the mess of working with whole tamarind pods. You just soak it in water and pass it through a sieve.

Santen: Indonesian coconut milk comes canned, frozen (the best-tasting) and dried. You add water to the powdered variety.

Tempe: These cakes are made from boiled soybeans which are allowed to ferment slightly, giving a yeasty flavor and soft chewy texture. Tempe (also spelled tempeh) is high in protein and used extensively in vegetarian dishes. Look for it in the freezer.

Dutch-Indonesian Prepared Foods

These ready-to-eat-foods are found in the cooler and freezer at the back of the store.

Besengek kip: Chicken in coconut milk and spices.

Sayur campur (or sajur tjampur) : Tempe, tofu and vegetables cooked in spicy coconut milk sauce.

Tahu taoco (taotjo) : Tofu in bean-paste sauce and spices.

Sajur lodeh: Vegetables in spicy coconut milk sauce.

Lempur: A snack made of sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and stuffed either with seasoned shredded chicken or beef.

Dutch Specialties

Croquettes: Either chicken or beef is combined with a thick cream sauce, formed into logs or cones and lightly coated with egg and crumbs, then deep fried. You can get these in the deli section or frozen.

Bitterballen: smaller versions of croquettes, shaped like ping-pong balls. They are sold frozen.

Breakfast spice cakes: Ginger cakes and spiced cakes made from rye flour are a Dutch morning staple. Ann’s carries a number of brands each with several varieties. I bought Barkhuis brand ginger cake, lightly studded with dried fruits; the same maker produces a raisin and a plain version. Geni Weerts, the shop’s manager, recommended Bolletje brand spice cake. Her Dutch customers buy it because they believe it promotes regularity.

Frisian ginger cake and spice cake: These northern Dutch specialties contain no oil or shortening and are only lightly sweetened--much healthier than doughnuts. They are kept in the cooler case.

Speculaas: Ample shelf space is devoted to many brands and types of speculaas, Holland’s favorite gingerbread cookie. There are plain speculaas cut in fanciful shapes and speculaas with nuts or an almond filling.

Herrings: Lightly salt-cured herrings, one of Holland’s great delights, are sold by vendors from carts on the streets of Amsterdam. Order a herring and it will be filleted as you watch then sprinkled with minced raw onion. Most people down them on the spot. Ann’s carries the filleted herrings vacuum-packed in plastic. Smoked herrings are equally popular, sold frozen whole and vacuum packed in plastic.

Smoked eel: is another favorite nibble often consumed with jenever, a drink similar to Scandinavian aquavit. The shop sells smoked eels ready to eat and vacuum-packed.

Licorice: I was surprised to find nearly a whole gondola devoted to various types of licorice. Dutch licorice goes way beyond the usual gum-drop and chewy stick varieties common here. The flavors range from exceedingly salty to sweet and include every nuance between. Shaped in endless variety, some are packaged stylishly and others are simply poured into simple plastic bags.

Dutch Cheeses

Gouda: This popular red wax-covered creamy smooth melting and eating cheese with a high butterfat content is available in most supermarkets, but Ann’s carries an imported version that comes in several uncommon styles. The young cheeses are mild and buttery. A sharper version (called medium) is aged longer and has a taste closer to mild Cheddar. Finally the aged version, the sharpest-tasting, makes a fine grating cheese, Another style is the spiced Gouda flavored with caraway seeds or cumin.

Boerenkaas: Also called farmer’s style Gouda, this is denser in texture and fuller in flavor. It comes in huge wheels. Ann’s sells mild (young), medium and aged, like regular Gouda.

Leiden (or leyden): This sharp, somewhat salty cheese, made from skimmed milk and butter milk, originated in the city of Leiden. Ann’s also sells it at three stages of ripeness.

RECIPES

Serve this along with at least one coconut milk-based dish, rice and a sambal.

INDONESIAN-STYLE DRY-FRIED SWEET SPICED BEEF

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

1 pound thinly sliced lean beef, cut into 2-inch squares

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed

1 teaspoon finely grated ginger root

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon trasi, nam pla, nuoc mam or other Asian fish sauce, optional

2 tablespoons oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups unsalted beef broth

Soak tamarind paste in 1/4 cup water, stirring occasionally to thin, smooth puree. Strain and remove any seeds.

Mix beef, hot pepper sauce, coriander, cumin, ginger, brown sugar, salt and trasi in large bowl. Cover beef slices well with marinade. Marinate 1 hour or longer.

Heat oil in skillet or wok and stir-fry onion until light brown. Add beef and marinade and fry beef on both sides until just browned. Add broth and tamarind water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover pan and simmer 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to cook beef over low heat until liquid has evaporated. Makes 4 servings.

NASI GORENG (Indonesian Fried Rice)

1 tablespoon seeded red chile, minced

2 tablespoons chopped ripe tomato

3 tablespoons peanut oil

4 shallots, minced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 cup small shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 boneless chicken breast, diced

4 cups cooked rice

2 tablespoons kecap manis (sweetened soy sauce)

Salt

6 large eggs, fried, optional

3 tablespoons crisp fried onions

Prepared krupuk udang (shrimp crisps)

Sambals of your choice

Mix chile and tomato, crush to coarse paste and set aside.

Heat oil in wok or large skillet and fry shallots and garlic over moderate heat until translucent and tender. Add shrimp and chicken and stir-fry just until opaque. Add chile-tomato mixture and stir-fry about 1 minute longer.

Add rice, tossing ingredients together with 2 cooking spoons. Add kecap manis and stir-fry 3 minutes more, separating rice into individual grains. Season to taste with salt.

Top each serving with fried egg and crisp fried onions. Garnish with krupuk and sambals. Makes 6 servings.