Some people might find organs peculiar and gross, which is why I was a little hesitant to feature organ recipes. But Deyana encouraged me to do so as organs are quite popular in Indonesia. People like them and they are readily available everywhere, whether raw or as ready to eat snacks and delicious dishes. Indonesians don’t think of it as something strange. Organs are just another form of meat, and are a normal thing to eat.
Beef liver and lungs are probably the most popular organs, but others such as tripe, spleen, heart and brain are also used. If you go to a Padang restaurant in Indonesia, chances are, you will find all kinds of organ dishes, cooked in spices and coconut milk. All over Indonesia, different regions have specialties prepared with organs, such as soto betawi from Jakarta which has a mix of different kinds of organs in it, or sambal goreng ati which features beef liver as the main ingredient, along with countless others.
Cooking method
It’s important to know the trick to cooking the organs. To remove the undesired metallic smell, parboil the organ with herbs. Sometimes more than once. Throw away the water used for boiling, and then prepare the meat for the next step in the cooking process.
For this recipe, we are using lung as the main ingredient. Prepare the raw lung by parboiling it and cutting it into smaller pieces, followed by cooking it with spices until most of the liquid evaporates, and then deep frying it. Paru goreng, or fried lung, is quite popular, especially in Java. Lungs are tender and soft, and absorb spice really well. Serve Paru goreng as a side dish to accompany a complete meal of steamed rice, vegetables and sambal. However, this dish is high in cholesterol, so eating it moderately is highly advisable.
Print
Paru Goreng: Deep Fried Beef Lungs
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Beef & Lamb
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Diet: Halal
Description
Paru goreng is a popular dish of deep fried beef lungs, eaten as a side with rice and other dishes. This dish is tedious to prepare, high in cholesterol, but so addictive that it remains a very popular dish in Indonesia.
Ingredients
- 500 gr beef lung
- Water for boiling
- 2 Indonesian bay leaves (daun salam)
- 3 cm galangal, bruised
- 3 cm ginger, bruised
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 8 small shallots, peeled, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 candlenuts
- 3 cm turmeric, peeled, chopped
- 1 tbsp tamarind extract
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup water
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Clean the beef lung thoroughly using running water.
- Place the meat in a cooking pan, cover it with water and boil for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, throw the water used to boil the meat and wash the boiled lung thoroughly. You may repeat this process twice.
- Place the meat in a cooking pan, cover with fresh water, and add bay leaves, galangal, ginger and kaffir lime leaves. Bring it to boil and cook for another 30 minutes. When done, throw the water used to boil, cool the meat and slice according to your preference. Set aside.
- Using a blender or food processor, blend into a fine paste: shallots, garlic, coriander, candlenuts, and turmeric.
- Heat the oil in a wok and saute the spice paste until fragrant, around 3 minutes.
- Add water, the tamarind extract and salt.
- Add the beef lung pieces, mix well with the spices.
- Cover the wok and cook using medium low heat until all the liquid evaporates and the spices absorbed, around 30 minutes.
- When done, cool the meat and deep fry until it turns dark brown, around 3 minutes each side.
Notes
- The blended spices can be substituted with 2 full tbsp bumbu dasar putih.
Keywords: Non-spicy, offal, organs, tamarind
