Gudeg (Young Jackfruit Stew)

Uh..so, normally I am not big fans of gudeg. It's too sweet of vegetable dish, I think. Though maybe because I grew up accustomed to Sumatran dishes - savory and spicy. Come to think of it, I don't even like jackfruit.

Anyhoo, a pregnant friend of mine was telling me how she has this weird craving for jackfruit. Hmmmm..So, all jackfruit talk and all, to the point we both imagining eating steamy hot rice, with sambal krecek and gudeg. And I don't even like gudeg, but oh well..I guess the way she described it just sound so yummy! So I thought, I'd pair it up with Vik's Birthday's Menu.


What:
- 1 canned young jackfruit (if you can get fresh ones, pleaes do by all means use those instead)
- 1 stalk of lemongrass (sereh/serai), bruised the ends of it.
- 1 bay leaf (daun salam)
- 1/2 can of coconut milk (santan)
- 1 tsp coriander
- 4 shallots
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 inches of galangal (lengkuas)
- 1/2 tsp shrimp paste (terasi)
- black pepper
- 'gula Jawa/gula merah' (it is not palm sugar, but if need be, can be substitute with palm sugar, will have another post about this :)

How:
- If you buy canned version of young jackfruit, drain it and though you can use it right away, I still like to boil it for a bit. I use coconut juice/water to boil it, but it is not at all necessary. Drain.
- Grind all the spices (coriander, shallots, garlic, galangal, shrimp paste, black pepper, gula Jawa) to make a paste.
- Heat oil , add the spice paste, bay leaf, and stalk of lemongrass.
- Add young jackfruit to spice mixture and pour coconut milk. Stir. Let it simmer on lower heat. Stir on and off, until the gravy thicken and the jackfruit turns to very soft.

However, I like certain bite to it, so I didn't let it cook until too mushy. Plus, none of our guests have had gudeg before and I don't want to bank on them liking too soft/mushy 'unknown' vegetable dish. ;)