Tahu Campur from Lamongan

 

 Nowadays, there is very popular among the people of east java and a story behind it.  It was created by an unknown someone who selling Soto Ayam. One day, when he came back from his routine at the field, he found out at home that no food except there were some ingredient such as cabbage, sprout, some tofu, petis, and spices of Soto. Afterward, he thought about how to make a portion of food by using those ingredients. Then, he tried to make the beef stew of Soto, mixing the ingredients, giving a little bit of petis, and pouring the mixing ingredients with the broth of Soto.  Amazingly the taste was very good and he named the food “Tahu Campur”, then his friend suggested selling it tomorrow. In the afternoon, he went to a traditional market to buy the additional ingredient and the spices, but there was no cabbage and he changed the cabbage to lettuce which make the taste much better than before. From the story that is already famous, Tahu Campur or mixed tofu becomes a traditional unique food from Lamongan which have an authentic savory and fresh. However, fresh ingredients, spices soup, and petis are the key to making the originality of Tahu Campur.

Making the originality of “Tahu Campur” we need to give an intention to the fresh ingredient, the seasoning of the beef stew, and the petis. For the ingredient, there are many different kinds of sustention Tahu Campur, but there are some that suggested by me such as lettuce, sprout, white noodles, fried tofu, rice cake (lontong), fritters cassava, and prawn or onion crackers. Afterward, the composition in the seasoning of the soup and the meat is the next intention to determine the savory of the stew beef that commonly used sandung lamur or brisket.  For the seasoning, we should have the grind and crush spices such as garlic, shallot, caraway, sand ginger, coriander, turmeric, paper, ginger, bay leaf, lime leaf, galangal, and lemongrass. In addition, the main point for the thick savory is petis which is commonly used in some kind of cuisine in east java. It is a kind of shrimp paste that has a sweet taste with thick textures and brown tend to be black. So, when all of the ingredients are ready to make the originality of Tahu Campur and we need to be intention again in processing.

The first intention in cooking Tahu Campur is the beef stew which to ensure the taste and how to make the supplementary ingredient such as fritters cassava. First, add the small cut of beef into boiling water in the first pot and cook 15 minutes to throw away the smelly of the broth. In another pot, add the beef that was already cooked before with the boiling water and give some crushed flavor such as the bay leaf, lime leaf, galangal, and lemongrass. Second, pond the spices such as garlic, shallot, caraway, sand ginger, coriander, turmeric, paper, ginger, and sauté the spices in another pan with the oil until the aroma comes out. Add stir-fried flavor into the pot and season with the salt, sugar, and beef broth powder. Third, cook the beef stew in 15 minutes more and when it is done turn off the stove with the closed pot for an hour and the beef stew were ready to serve with another ingredient. In addition, there is an ingredient such as fritters cassava which is the supplementary ingredient. In preparing the fritter's cassava, we need grated cassava and the ground flavor like shallot, garlic, and coriander, salt, sugar, and chicken broth powder. Afterward, mix the grated cassava and ground flavor, shape it in the elongated round in 7 cm and fry until golden brown.

Finally, the last part is serving the Tahu Campur with the ingredient that has already been cut such as fried tofu, lettuce, rice cake, and fritters cassava. Don't forget to turn on the stove to reboil the beef stew with a small fire. Then, add a little petis to the plate, add the cutting ingredient, sprout, and white noodle. Moreover, pour enough the beef stew with the cutting beef and add the crakers. Afterward, the Tahu Campur is ready to enjoy and I usually give some sambal to have more flavor and spicy.