New York City Review: Minangasli

Minangasli
8610 Whitney Avenue
(Elmhurst, Queens)

718-429-8207

The last time I ate Indonesian food was back in 2007 when I went to Bali, and I was CRAVING some Indonesian flavors.  Just thinking about Nasi Padang or sop buntut made my mouth water.  An Indonesian taxi driver I spoke to one day told me that Minangasli or Mie Jakarta in Elmhurst, Queens, were the best places to go to.  

Minanasli was a tiny eatery with maybe five tables.  The food took quite a while but the wait was worth the while.  I never really ate gado gado growing up but I decided to order it because my friend loves peanuts.  When I ate it I wondered why I always refused to eat it whenever my mum ordered it.  The sop buntut tasted just like how I had imagined, with that familiar and nostalgic taste of the fried shallots.  The first time I ever ate oxtail was in an Indonesian restaurant called Sanur in Singapore and since then I love it! For my friend I ordered the beef rendang (a braised beef dish) because it's a typical Indonesian dish. For myself, I ordered the ayam goreng (fried chicken) with green chili sauce.  The fried egg with sambal was exactly the flavor combination I was craving and the curry sauce for the braised kale was delicious and comforting.  The skin on the fried chicken was perfectly crispy!


The food was overall extremely spicy (it has been a while since the last time something made my lips feel tingly like that) and definitely satisfied my craving for Indonesian food.

Gado Gado: shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, green beans and tofu with a peanut sauce and fried egg

 Sop Buntut: oxtail soup

 Ayam Goreng: fried chicken with a green chili sauce, fried egg, braised kale and sambal

Dinner for my friends: oxtail, tripe, quinoa & goat cheesecake

 
Follow @USERNAME



This night's menu was local cheese from the Hudson Valley region, pickled asparagus, oxtail soup, quinoa salad, tripe alla romana with garbanzo beans, and goat cheesecake.  I had just gone to the Hudson Valley Food & Wine Festival where I purchased the cheese (a camembert type and farmer's cheese) and pickled asparagus (a real hit).

Tillen Farms green and white asparagus

 Oxtail soup is undoubtedly one of my favorite soups.  Some people don't like the fatty, slightly くせのある(gamey) oxtail meat but I think it makes a very flavorful broth and as we say in Japanese, ほっぺたが落ちそうになる(literally means "my cheeks nearly fall off" because it's so tender and melts in your mouth).  I added carrots, turnips and tomato to this soup.

Braised tripe is one of my favorite dishes as well.  I simmered this for a good 3-4 hours until super tender.  Plac the tripe in water and bring it to a boil, then drain it, and repeat the process at least two more times.  Cut it into strips and toss it in some olive oil with a crushed garlic.  Add a generous splash of white wine and reduce it, add canned crushed whole tomatoes and season with salt and black pepper.  Simmer until tender and adjust seasoning as desired.  Soak and cook chickpeas beforehand and add when done.

 Healthy quinoa salad with zucchini, eggplant, onion and yellow pepper

 Mario Batali's lemon goat cheesecake from the Babbo cookbook.  I will scan the recipe and upload it as soon as I get the chance.  I made the mistake of buying the logs of Coach Farm goat cheese so I had clumps of rind in the cake.  I still liked the cake, especially with the lemon syrup, but I don't think people who don't really liked goat cheese would be able to handle it.

Aya's Kitchen: Spicy Oxtail Pho

I decided to make sop buntut (Indonesian oxtail soup) one day but I realized I had pho noodles in my cupboard so diverted the plan and made a spicy oxtail pho instead. Now it's not anything authentic but the flavor profile was definitely there (based on what I've eaten in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh). I made the oxtail stock with oxtail, onion, spring onion, star anise, garlic and leeks. It simmered for a good two hours, and then I seasoned it with nam pla (fish sauce), salt, white pepper, chili powder and nam phrik pao (Thai roasted chili paste). I was trying to create something close to bun bo hue, which is a spicy beef and pork knuckle soup with bun noodles. I didn't have bun so I used pho instead. I still remember when I first had bun bo hue at this Vietnamese restaurant at the Esplanade when it first opened. It quickly became one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, and when I went to Ho Chi Minh, I ate it three times. I wasn't quite sure what all the meat was but I didn't care. Anyway, I garnished this with a lime wedge, bean sprouts, sliced white onion, cilantro, spring onion and oxtail meat. It was pretty close to being a bun bo hue and it was definitely satisfying!