Bloomsbury Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen

I have tens of cookbooks but this books has become one of my favourite 3!

I've loved reading Lara's cookbook because of her recipes and how she tells the story behind each dish. I literally read it at night like a storybook! As an Indonesian living in the UK, I've LOVED trying out her recipes (in the pictures attached we've made Ayam Betutu, Nasi Uduk, Sambal Matah, Jagung Bakar and Coconut Pannacotta). She also has alternatives if you're a vegan, vegetarian or if you prefer to roast or shallow-fry things rather than deep-fry (as lots of Indonesian street foods are deep fried). Another thing to point out is that Lara lists out ingredients which are easier to find if you don't live in Asia so don't be scared of the exotic inggedients she uses as she's explained perfect alternatives for us homecooks. I'm so very proud of this cookbook that I'm buying another one for my boyfriend's aunt. Hopefully through this cookbook, more and more people will be e 10 10 not detecting would buy again then truexposed to our cuisine and the great dishes we offer.

There are so many reasons why I love this book. My top 5 are below.1) The author is authentic. The stories of her journeys and experiences that accompany her recipes makes the cookbook stand up on it's own as a book. It differentiates from many others that are simply a list of recipes. You can hear her speaking to you as you read her stories, which makes the book even more compelling.2) You can obtain the ingredients! So many times I've made an attempt at an interesting recipe and I could not buy the ingredients that made the recipe, resulting in failed dishes and another cookbook left on the shelf. You don't have to be back packing around Indonesia to gather the critical ingredients before you start - they are in the supermarkets.3) The author explains how to make the ingredients that are foundations of many recipes when they're not available to buy themselves.4) Everything I have cooked so far works brilliantly, each delivering a great result without disappointment. That's fantastic considering how many recipes are here. My favourite at the moment is the kwetiau (pork and prawn rice noodles).5) I love the set menu idea's at the end of the book, making it simple to put on a vegan or vegetarian dinner - or simply just to have a menu where all the dishes complement each other perfectly. Takes out the thinking of creating a menu if you're new to Indonesian cooking.It's simply a great book, brings Indonesia into my kitchen in a modern, up-to-date and dare I say hip way that's just awesome. This book is setting a very high bar. Off now to make Nasi Goreng for lunch!

I sent this back. I’ve spent some time in Indonesia and love the food so I was really looking forward to making some of my favourite dishes at home. Unfortunately, the recipes in here feel a bit like an expat version of Indonesian food. They just lack finesse. Think meat piled in meat piled on noodles. The photography is also off key - to hip London designer for my liking- and so it isn’t especially a pleasure to browse either.

I've been visiting Indonesia since the 1980s and have been married to an Indonesian for over 20 years; so while we were intrigued to read of a new cookbook covering Indonesian cuisine we were also inclined to cast a very critical and reasonably well-informed eye over it. We have been pleasantly surprised and deeply impressed by 'Coconut and Sambal' though - the book is meticulously researched, beautifully produced and radiates a genuine passion for the country and its food. Added to which, Lara Lee has the happy knack (which sadly is not universal among recipe book authors) of writing clear recipes which even an amateur like me can follow without any difficulty. I have held off writing a review until I had a chance to try something in the kitchen by way of a 'road test', but today we made chicken satay with peanut sauce which was superb, and tasted properly Indonesian despite being made in a British kitchen with ingredients bought at UK supermarkets. The only slight criticism (and it is very slight) is that next time we'll use crunchy peanut butter rather than smooth, as the texture of the sauce could have been improved, even if the flavour was delicious. 'Coconut and Sambal' promises to supplant Sri Owen's book, which we've had and used for years.

I have cooked several dishes from this book already and I only received it yesterday. The sambals and peanut sauce are the best I've made. The photography is slightly off-putting by today's standards and does not do the book justice. For once your own dishes may turn out to be better looking than the pictures. Other than that I am excited and delighted by this book.