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Have a taste of unique local foods
Suryatini N. Ganie, Contributor, Jakarta
"Doing" Indonesia and touring towns on larger islands like Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Bali and Sulawesi, you may be curious to taste some of the local foods.
Our archipelago has numerous local specialties which are famous in other regions, but unfortunately unknown to those passing through. Well, let us "do" some places.
Sumatra has been since days gone by one of the ports of call for foreign envoys, and therefore many foods have foreign overtones.
The kari Aceh, now one of the signature foods of the region, combined with taste enhancers like lemon grass, is not the same as curries in their place of origin India.
To ease the hot taste one can have a sip of a cucumber drink called Ii boh timon, made of peeled, finely scraped or cubed local cucumber, water, sugar and lime juice and a lot of ice cubes.
In the hilly regions of Brastagi near Medan there are numerous interesting and healthy fruits. Take the markisa (passiflora edulis), which grows abundantly in North Sumatra.
Today the fruit is made into refreshing, quality syrups, mostly served at festive events. The green-orange colored jeruk Medan is worth trying. So is the Chinese overtoned noodle dish mi Medan and the sweet bika ambon Medan.
The fermented dough is mostly added with tuak, a strong drink of Tapanuli and the result is a beehive-like soft cake.
Jakarta needs an explanation of its own because of its various styles of food. A must is the nasi uduk which is made differently in some areas and eaten as a breakfast, like the nasi uduk Slipi with a touch of cinnamon.
Going to Bogor, a green city with the world famous Botanical Garden, just have a taste of the asinan bogor, a variety of vegetables in a sweet, sour and rather hot brine. Special round and crispy reddish krupuk mi is crushed over the vegetables.
Bandung, the capital of West Java, is a worthwhile culinary visit. Its specialties are the soupy soto dishes and a crisply fried oncom made from the sediment of tofu. Bandung's tofu is also a remarkable bite especially when eaten with hot chili or made into light soups.
Going eastward to Central Java there are the telur asin, salted duck eggs in Brebes, a northern coastal town, which is considered the best because the brine is made with seawater.
In Kalimantan, we stop in Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan with its floating market. Worth to taste is the soto Banjar and the bika kentang, a sweet made from potatoes. Not to be forgotten are the rattan shoots, prepared into a sourish dish.
Visiting West Kalimantan's capital Pontianak is one of the most exiting experiences because there you can walk across the equator at midnight, as my hostess and I did.
After the visit to the equator we did an early morning tasting of some local foods, among others the gangsa with a variety of flavors, from sour to sweet and pungent hot.
In Bali, champignons or straw mushrooms are numerous and the Balinese make a steamed dish of it called pepes jamur. Don't forget the nasi Bali should you have the chance to visit the Island of the Gods, but one must have a good appetite because though Balinese are mostly slender, they like to eat a lot of their traditional fare.
Next stop is Makassar. Have the sate Makassar and sop konro, a soup made of ribs and don't forget their sambal, hot and appetizing.
Last is Maluku. So much to see and to enjoy the hospitality of the locals. Their sweet koyabu is simple but satisfying. A big tour but still only a small bite of the archipelago's delicacies!
RECIPES
1. NASI UDUK SLIPI (Java)
Ingredients:
1 kg rice, soaked half an hour, drained
800 ml water, for boiling the rice
2 nutmeg, 20 g, pounded, 20 g
A stalk cinnamon, 15 cm
2 stalks lemon grass, each 25 cm, bruised
3 salam leaves
600 ml coconut milk
2 tsp salt, 4g (or to taste)
Sambal:
2 red chilies, 20 g
150 g fried peanuts
1 tsp fried trassi, 3 g
1 tsp salt, 4 g (or to taste)
1 tsp brown sugar, 5 g
1 tbs limau lime juice, 10 ml
50 ml boiled water
Cruditees:
3 cucumbers, peeled, sliced, 450 g
3 tomatoes, sliced, 300 g
Kemangi leaves
5 tbs crisply fried shallots slices, for topping
Method:
1. Steam rice with nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon grass, salam leaves for 25 minutes over medium flame.
2. Bring coconut milk and salt to the boil while stirring. Add steamed rice and mix well. Continue steaming over medium flame until tender.
3. Sambal: make a paste of red chilies, fried peanuts, trassi, salt and brown sugar. Add limau lime juice and water.
4. Serve the nasi uduk with the sambal, cucumber, tomatoes, kemangi leaves and top with crisply fried shallots slices.
Make 10 servings.
2. GANGSA (West Kalimantan)
Ingredients:
250 g beef, cut into rather large cubes
600 ml water, for boiling
2 cloves garlic, 10 g
5 g lesser galangal
2 tsp coriander
A slice of fresh turmeric, pounded, 15 g
1/2 tsp trassi
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
4 red chilies, seeds discarded, finely cut, 40 g
2 tbs tamarind juice, 20 ml
2 tbs cooking oil, 20 ml
Method:
1. Boil beef until tender, take from flame.
2. Make a paste of garlic, galangal, coriander, turmeric, trassi and salt.
3. Add paste to the boiled beef, add chilies, tamarind juice and cooking oil.
4. Cook until broth is absorbed and the dish a bit oily.
Makes: 3 servings.
3. KOYABU (Maluku)
A sweet snack from the Spice Islands
Ingredients:
1 kg singkong (cassava), peeled, grated
1/2 rather young coconut flesh, grated
1 tbs butter or margarine, 20 g
250 g brown sugar, finely sliced
1 tsp salt or to taste
2 screwpine leaves, slantingly cut
Method:
1. Mix cassava, grated coconut and salt.
2. Arrange a layer on the buttered bottom of a suitable form.
3. Cover evenly with brown sugar. Put another layer of cassava evenly on the layer of brown sugar and arrange some of the screwpine leaves on it.
4. Put brown sugar over it and arrange screwpine leaves on the last layer.
Makes: 4-5 servings.
4. PEPES JAMUR (Bali)
Grilled straw mushrooms Bali style
Ingredients:
250 g straw mushrooms, cleaned, finely sliced
5 red chilies, washed thoroughly, seeds discarded, 50 g
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tbs lime juice, 20 ml
2 tbs cooking oil, 20 ml
Banana leaves, for wrapping
Charcoal for grilling
Method:
1. Individually wrap mushrooms in pieces of banana leaves. Secure with toothpicks.
2. Grill over hot charcoal until done, set aside.
3. Make a paste of chilies, salt and add lime juice and cooking oil.
4. Serving style: open banana leaf wrappings, put mushrooms on a serving plate and pour sambal over it.
Makes: 3 servings.
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