Other uses of Ketjap Manis

While wandering the sauce/cooking wines aisle of my local Asian market last weekend, I happened upon a 1-liter bottle of Ketjap (aka Kecap) Manis. Since the price was $2.89 for the bottle, I felt like I had stumbled across a find. I've used ketjap manis when making Indonesian satays in the past -- most often, to be honest, I've had to gin up something to approximate it since I don't find it that often -- but a liter of the stuff is quite a bonanza. Does anyone have any other ideas on what I can use it for? I am wondering, for example, whether it might useful in making something like pad see iew, or if there are any traditional Indonesian dishes that include it.

[luckyfatima]

The high sugar content and umami flavor make kecap manis a great ingredient for marinades and dipping sauces. It combines with spicy and sour flavors well in dipping sauce. You can also pour it into broths for soup/stew. When I do South East Asian inspired chicken thigh on the grill, I drizzle a very light lashing of kecap manis on the chicken before serving.

[paulj]

I think of it as a mix of soy sauce and molasses.

[scubadoo97]

My exact description.

[Veggo]

It is good on grilled chicken, lathered on 5 minutes before it is finished grilling. I can hardly find it in the states and I have been too lazy to order it.

[rw253]

I found mine at an Asian grocery next door to the Farmer's Market in KC. I've never seen it anywhere else, though.

[rw253]

I bought this thinking it was traditional soy sauce. Boy, was I surprised. After researching it further, I decided to use it in a marinade for some beef round I had on hand and discovered a great component for future use.

The beef round was approximately 2-inches thick and was cut against the grain into slices approximately 3/4-inch thick.

My marinade consisted of:

1 cup Welch's Grape juice
1/4 cup ABC Sweet Soy Sauce, Kecap Manis
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup Worchestershire Sauce
3 fresh garlic cloves, minced.
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
8-10 medium fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
3 capfuls Mesquite Liquid Smoke
3 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

The beef was then allowed to marinate overnight.

After careful grilling, the beef was wonderfully juicy and had a sweet quality that was well-balanced by the savoriness of the other ingredients.

Ketjap is often used as a condiment, for instance, drizzled over soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup). It can also be used in babi ketjap (marinate pork chunks in ketjap, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, salt, and pepper; then fry in oil, with marinade). It is also used in sate sauce (peanut sauce).

Selamat Makan! (bon appetit)

Thank you/Dank U, Melissa. The pork sounds great. I used some ketjap manis last night to marinate a chicken breast before making pad thai, and it was a very nice addition to the dish.

The recipes at the following links all use ketjap manis:

www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/ indonesian/00/rec0045.html
www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/ indonesian/00/rec0028.html
www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/ indonesian/00/rec0008.html
www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/ indonesian/bahmi-goreng2.html
www.recipesource.com/fgv/rice/01/rec0137.html
http://www.indochef.com/page38.html
http://www.indochef.com/page23.html
http://www.indochef.com/page21.html
http://www.indochef.com/page25.html
http://www.indochef.com/page24.html
http://www.indochef.com/page22.html
http://www.indochef.com/page37.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/484
http://www.recipezaar.com/65246
http://www.recipezaar.com/70078
http://www.recipezaar.com/63129
http://www.recipezaar.com/68653
http://www.recipezaar.com/77798
http://www.recipezaar.com/64577
http://www.recipezaar.com/38536
http://www.recipezaar.com/1581
http://www.recipezaar.com/42436
http://www.recipezaar.com/40070

it's great on scrambled eggs, second only to sweet chili sauce.

Sweet Chili Sauce, a la Maggi's? I use that on eggs, and cold sandwiches of meatloaf, roast beef, roast lamb ... I think just about everything leftover is better with Maggi's Sweet and Hot Chili Sauce. Maybe ketjap manis will begin to broaden my horizons further!

Thank you, Nancy. You are a true fountain of information!