191 Stuffed Tomato

That looks nice, doesn’t it? I love tomatoes. They match witch loads of other foods. I’m not sure how Indonesian this dish for stuffed tomato is, because the recipe says only to add pepper and salt as seasoning. In the broth goes some kecap (sweet soy sauce), though.

I follow the recipe exactly, but I think it is quite dull in taste. Beb does not specify how hot the oven needs to be, or how much salt and pepper go in. Good that I try this recipe for stuffed tomato first, before you make it at home ;-).

This recipe is enough for 4 people and is done in 45 minutes.

Stuffed Tomato translated from Beb Vuyk’s Groot Indonesisch kookboek, page 181.

Ingredients

4 large firm tomatoes
1/4 kg of minced meat
breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon of butter
1 cup of broth
1 egg

Herbs

1 tablespoon of kecap (soy sauce)
juice of 1 clove of garlic
pepper
salt

Cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds and sprinkle the cavity with salt, pepper and the garlic juice. Mix the minced meat with the spices, use the whole egg. Fill up the tomatoes and let the stuffing pop out a bit. Sprinkle the tomatoes with breadcrumbs and place a piece of butter on top of each tomato.

Warm up the broth (possibly made with a bouillon cube) with the seed pulp and a spoonful of soy sauce (kecap). Sieve and pour into an ovenproof dish. Place the tomatoes in the dish and bake fifteen minutes in the oven.

Looks simple, this list of ingredients, right? For the broth I go for beef. That gives a deeper flavor. Beb doesn’t say how much pepper or salt goes in. I use 1,5 teaspoon of pepper and 1, 5 teaspoon of salt.

The recipe also doesn’t say how the tomatoes should be cut, but the drawing in the book next to it shows the tomatoes are cut from top to bottom. Now the seeds can be scooped out. I add the content immediately into a pan and warm it up.

There they are: 8 empty half tomatoes.

I squeeze a garlic clove and rub the inside of every tomato with it. Now I sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

The meat is seasoned with pepper, salt and an egg.

I almost do not have enough meat for my tomatoes (which are quite large).

Meanwhile, I have the stock on the stove with the seed pulp. The soy sauce can go through. I let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Now I pour it through a sieve into a jug.

Breadcrumbs and butter go on each tomato. I pour the warm broth in between the tomatoes. I’ve preheated the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Beb doesn’t say how hot her oven is. She bakes them for 15 minutes. I think that is too short for mine. My minced meat is done after 25 minutes.

I think this dish is a bit boring. The meat is not really interesting in flavor. I would make the meat more exciting. I think that nutmeg is delicious and also some fresh coriander and chives. If you would like to make this, do not hold back on the herbs! ?

Beb Vuyk, best known for her Groot Indonesisch Kookboek (Great Indonesian Cook Book), was much more than a great cook. She belongs to the most important Dutch-Indonesian (Indo) writers and journalists of her time. Check this out.