The Jakarta Culinary Festival 2012 (JCF 2012) as we wrote in a previous post here stay true to its Indonesian roots. On October  6^th  ,day 3 of the festival, we could hardly wait to get our seat at the Culinary Stars Cooking Stage for Chef Rinrin Marinka’s cooking demo - Binte Biluhuta. 

At Omar Niode Foundation we regularly consume binte biluhuta; hence our earlier post Waxy Corn on the Cob has a recipe of this traditional corn soup from Gorontalo.  

We were eager to see how a celebrity chef interprets binte biluhuta. Trying to understand Rinrin’s interpretation of a dish would not be complete without appreciating her background.

Chef-cum-fashion designer

Rinrin Marinka was educated as a fashion designer in Sydney, Australia but continued to complete the Grand Diploma of French Cuisine and Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu, Sydney.  Although Rinrin has appeared in many TV shows, her claim to national fame was a role as one of Indonesia Master Chef judges that began in 2011.

Le Cordon Bleu paid homage to Rinrin on its April 2012 News with an Alumni Story titled  Le Cordon Bleu Celebrity Chef.  The school penned this statement:

Her passion for cooking and her culture led to many attempts to create a synergy between east and west cuisines - quality and artistic fusion menus. She has since built up an impressive portfolio in Indonesia appearing in numerous commercials and TV shows, being profiled in multiple magazines and newspapers, and guest starring at cooking events.

Le Cordon Bleu would like to praise Rinrin for exceeding in her passion, wishing her the best for her TV show and all future endeavours.

Fantastic Cooking

Last year to the delight of her many fans, Fantastic Cooking bersama Chef Rinrin Marinka hit Indonesian bookstores.

 In this 17 X 21 cm cookbook she presented 30 recipes the results of her traveling combined with years of serving dishes for family and friends. Practicality is the key to her book, along with taste and presentation.  The 72 pages book in Bahasa Indonesia has 8 snacks, 12 main dish (fish, seafood, meat, poultry) and 9 sweet dessert recipes.

At the Jakarta Culinary Festival Marinka tirelessly posed with fans for photos and signed her book: Always look with your love.

 JCF 2012 cooking show

Rinrin began her performance at the Culinaty Stars Cooking Stage at JCF 2012 by saying: “Binte biluhuta is a traditional corn soup from Gorontalo. People who are tired after a long drive from Manado to Gorontalo (note: an eight-hour drive) will get their second wind after consuming binte biluhuta.”

Assisted by Nina, a former Indonesian master chef contestant Rinrin skillfully prepared the ingredients, cooked, and kept reminding the 150 people in the audience about food hygiene and kitchen safety.

Rinrin also emphasized the importance of presentation. "Indonesian food," she said, "is fantastic but we rarely care about the presentation." Like a fashion designer directing her models, Ririn put binte biluhuta in a small bowl, put it on top of a rectangular plate, added a scallop, a fried wonton and a shrimp on the side, and tried different positions for best presentation.

We were thoroughly impressed. Binte biluhuta, a delicious home food, looked different presented in a dainty soup bowl lined with delicacies like in fine dining establishments. Colors pleasing to the eyes and the aroma seemed to invite the audience to try the dish.

Chef Rinrin Marinka’s interpretation of binte biluhuta has made it into a dish presentable to international audience.  We are very grateful for what Le Cordon Bleu said her attempt to create quality and artistic fusion menus. Tastewise, since we are so used to the traditional binte biluhuta with grated coconut, more corn flavor and bigger portion, we needed a few minutes to have the new sensation sink in.

While some audience posed for pictures with Rinrin, we asked her permission to have the binte biluhuta recipe posted on this blog which she generously gave us.

Binte Biluhuta Recipe -  a la Chef Marinka

INGREDIENTS

BINTE (CORN):

5 scallops

3 large prawn, clean & remove shell

1 cup sweet corn kernels

Basil leaves to taste

2 large cayenne pepper, diagonally sliced

1 spring onion, diagonally sliced

3 shallots, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Sugar to taste

Fried shallot to taste for garnish

1 lime

WONTON

10 wonton wrappers

100 gr salmon fillet, cut in small cubes

1 cup basil leaves, finely chopped

3 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

salt to taste

pepper to taste

sugar to taste

METHOD

Binte 

1. Simmer water, add corn kernel, cook until done.
2. Add salt, pepper and sugar.
3. Saute shallot, garlic and spring onion until aroma is released. Add scallops and shrimps until half-cooked. Set aside in a bowl.
4. Sprinkle basil leaves, cayenne pepper and boiled corn soup in the bowl
5. Add lime juice and sprinkle fried shallots
6. Ready to serve

 Wonton

1. Mix salmon, shallot, garlic, basil leaves, salt, pepper and sugar thoroughly
2. Place mixture into each wonton wrappers
3. Prepare pan and heat oil to fry. Fry until golden
4. Ready to serve with binte

 Chef Note:

The original recipe uses grated coconut that you can sprinkle or add to taste.

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Images: Dian Anggraini