I’ve had one of those nights where dinner snuck up on me. We’ve been out of town in San Francisco over the holiday and we had a pretty empty fridge when we got home. So tonight when my 6 year-old daughter said, “Mom, I’m starving! What’s for dinner?” I sort of panicked. Hmmm. Moldy bread so no PBJ’s. Pasta. Frozen peas. Oatmeal. Eggs. Wait…eggs. That’s it! I decided to make a staple that my mother use to make my siblings and I in a pinch and her mother before her.

My mother Peggy is Dutch Indonesian (as well as French) and was born in Den Haag, Netherlands. Her mother Amy was from East Java, Indonesia.  During WWII she and her siblings were held in a Japanese internment camp and as soon as they were released, they fled to Holland where my mother was born and lived until she was 5 years old. She and her family came to the United States by way of Ellis Island and settled in Mesa, Arizona. As a result I grew up exposed to some seriously delicious cuisine. When asked what Indonesian food is like, the best way I can describe is that it’s sort of a mix between Thai and Indian food. Lots of coconut milk, spices and tons of flavor. One of my favorites being Ketjap Medja a sweet Indonesian soy sauce. It’s tangy and salty like soy sauce but slightly similar to molasses in flavor and texture. It also has hints of brown sugar, garlic and anise. This is what my mother uses in a lot of Indo dishes from peanut sauce to beef rendang and sate. On those rare evenings when my mother was just too tired to make dinner, she would steam some rice, scramble a couple of eggs and drizzle Ketjap Medja on top. It’s the yummiest, simplest meal and it always immediately take me back to my childhood.

If you haven’t had Ketjap Medja yet, I highly encourage you to visit a local Asian market or order some online and try some for yourself. My sister and I have been known to sneak our own into Pho restaurants to add as our own secret seasoning. I’d love to hear how you like it. And to my Indonesian readers, maybe you can help me out…what’s the difference between Ketjap Medja and Ketjap Manis or other varieties I have seen? It it regional, a flavor difference? My mom didn’t really know. She just uses what she grew up with. Here’s what Wikipedia had to say: “In Indonesian cuisine, which is similar to Malay, the term kecap or ketjap refers to savory sauces. Two main types are well known in their cuisine: kecap asin which translates to ‘salty kecap’ in Bahasa Indonesia (a salty soy sauce) and kecap manis or literally ‘sweet kecap’ in Bahasa Indonesia (a sweet soy sauce that is a mixture of soy sauce with brown sugar, molasses, garlic, ginger, anise, coriander and a bay leaf reduced over medium heat until rather syrupy). A third type, kecap ikan, meaning “fish kecap” is fish sauce similar to the Thai ”Nam Pla” or the Philippine ”Patis.” It is not, however, soy-based.”

Here’s a link to buy the brand I grew up eating and still cook with. http://www.olddutchstore.com/ketjap-medja-no-1.html ?

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