Indonesia
Working on Lebaran Menu
Despite the fixed date, each family has its own taste when talking about what’s on the table for Lebaran. Ketupat, chicken opor and liver potato chili fries are maybe among the easiest to find. Yet, there are many Supermom out there choose to put different, equally delicious menu such as rendang, stew, or squid pepes. This means, our preps for Lebaran are different across family customs.
Diana Febrianto, a mother of three who runs a home catering, says to be overwhelmed by the Lebaran menu every year. She tries to keep up with her husband and children’s taste which turns out to be different. Her husband is an architect, and he loves spicy meals. On the other side, each of their three daughters also ask for something different. “The kids say they earn it because they can do full fasting,” says Diana. All that and preparing potluck of red soup and fruit salad to take for gathering at her parents in law’s.
To minimize this kitchen trouble, actually prepping for Lebaran can be performed one at a time, Supermom. Especially when we are approaching the big day where most of us work alone without any house maid who probably takes leave to mudik. Try these tips to help out.
- All the cookies should be done one week in advance. Kastangel, rainbow cookies and the likes are good choice because they don’t get old. What about cake and tart? You may want to prepare everything two days in advance.
- Try to finish the kitchen shopping at least five days before the big day. You do know what happens to both modern and traditional market when approaching the big day? Crowd! That’s why it’s wise to finish the kitchen prepping earlier. Even meat and chicken can be purchased and prepared five days ahead. After all, storing and warming rendang makes it more spicy and delicious, right?
- Any meal with coconut milk like chicken opor, curry and gulai can be prepred three days before Lebaran. When all the warmth of the meal is gone, remove the meat and chicken and put into dry container and store in the freezer. Put the soup into separate container and store in the fridge. When the serving day comes, join them together and warm the meal up. The soup won’t get old and the meat don’t crumbled like when we heat it up repeatedly. Don’t forget to sprinkle some fried onion.
- We can also have half the dry menu like liver potato chili fries prepped four days before the big day. Prepare all ingredients, wash them clean and cut or slice up and store in a sealed container in the fridge. The cooking spices must go to separate container. This way when you cook them, the sambal goring is still fresh and you won’t be troubled by small activities like mashing and slicing.
- Three days before Lebaran is safe for ketupat. Store in the fridge and heat up a couple hours before serve.
Now, we still have time to clean up and making sure everything is ready for Ied Pray in the yard. Happy Ied ul Fitr, Superfamily!
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK PHOTOS
