Perkedel Petai
Do you know perkedel or, as they are also called, frikadel? These are Indonesian meatballs. I love to make them because everybody loves meatballs and because we eat less meat, it is fun to make something special of these frikadel. That’s why I make perkedel petai today!
I add sticky beans (petai or peteh beans) to my meatballs. This will make these perkedel extra special.
I use in this recipe besides petai beans also sweet potatoes. This recipe makes about 15 small balls and is ready in 45 minutes.
Perkedel Peteh with sweet potato.
Ingredients
- 1 kg ground beef
- 1 large cooked sweet potato
- 100 grams of peteh beans
- 1 egg
- oil
- two toasted sandwiches or 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Herbs and spices
- 4 tablespoons of chopped onions
- 2 chopped cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
- Cook the potato (in pieces) and make fine with a fork
- Grind onions, garlic, pepper, salt and nutmeg in a mortar (or kitchen machine).
- Cut the petai beans into pieces and grind them briefly (they do not need to be fine).
- Mix in the potato.
- Spoon this through the minced meat
- Add an egg and breadcrumbs and mix (not too long).
- Shape into small balls with a dessert spoon.
- Sauté them in the butter or oil.
Nutmeg
Perkedel usually contains nutmeg. In other frikadel recipes, even from Norway, Danmark or Sweden, nutmeg is an important part. I have written about the origin of nutmeg in meatballs in a book review I’ve written.
You don’t have to use sweet potato (ubi). You can of course go for regular potato. My husband is allergic to potato, which is why I am more likely to choose ubi.
I grind my bumbu but I make it not too fine. I also add the petai beans. I cut them in pieces first, otherwise the whole bean tastes too bitter.
I use a sauce spoon to make the balls the same size. They will be ready in the same amount of time and equally cooked. Even though the balls are not that big, I let them cook for at least 20 minutes on low heat.
The taste is intense yet smooth. The peteh beans taste good and the sweet potato makes everything light and airy. The spicy nutmeg and crunchy onions are also fantastic in this perkedel peteh deluxe.
