Non-wedding Sate Padang

There are all kinds of satays in Indonesia, but one of my favorites (besides the regular chicken and peanut sauce) is Sate Padang, a spicy and exciting dish from the city of Padang in the province of West Sumatra.

I have gone to many weddings in my life, and in most weddings, catering will serve Sate Padang. I don't know why, but there ya go. It's a guest's favorite, I guess. And that is why I always associate sate padang to be a wedding dish.

Thankfully, though, now I don't have to wait to be invited to someone's reception to have this delicacy because I found a spot in Gunung Sahari's Golden Truly which sells really delicious sate padang. Spicy and savory, with a choice of lontong or potato chips covered in sate padang sauce, it makes for the perfect lunch meal.

I don't know how to describe this dish. The diced beef are boiled and marinated in spices which are too complicated for me to describe, and then the satay are all covered by mouth-watering gravy made of turmeric, garlic, coriander, galangal roots, curry powder, cumin, and broth made of internal organs (offal).

When I see the distinctive yellow color of the gravy, my stomach immediately growls, asking for sate padang to get in my belly.

Nasi Box; it's what's for lunch

When you are in Indonesia and your boss tells you that at 10AM there will be a meeting at so and so Ministry (and this is speaking from personal experience), you can be 95% sure that you will end up being at the meeting until noon and that lunch will be provided in the form of "nasi box."

Nasi means rice. We all know what box means. Put together, nasi box means "bento." It's basically Indonesia's version of a lunch in a box or sometimes dinner in a box.

This is the go-to type of meal for most of Indonesia's ministries and each ministry would have a favorite nasi box catering/restaurant it likes to order from. My directorate really prefers a Padang food nasi box called Wahid II, which is actually quite tasty.

There was a directorate once where I attended a meeting and the lunch box was hokka hokka bento, which is my least favorite of all the nasi boxes out there not only because I think "hokben" tastes like crap inside a foam tupperware, but it also banks on a gigantic portion of rice unbalanced by a tiny two-pieces of fried shrimp or chicken. Not really the healthiest of lunch or dinner meals.

I went to the Ministry of Defence once for a very long meeting, and that place gave all the attendees a huge box of D'Cost, a seafood chain.

Reliance on nasi box, though, can get a little overboard, in my opinion. Sometimes the catering people would just come and drop off the boxes, and we wouldn't know whose boxes they belong to so no one takes them. By the time we figure out that it's for us, the food inside is probably on the way to becoming rotten. And hence my stomach problems throughout 2011 when all I had every single day was nasi box (because I was at work 24/7... seemingly).

But getting nasi box certainly beats missing lunch because of a meeting, and nasi boxes saves me a lot of money. So there's the plus side.

The day when sacrifices are made

It's a little difficult to describe Idul Adha because I don't celebrate this Muslim holiday. I guess the background would be the story of Abraham and how he was told by God to sacrifice his first-born. In the Islamic version, the first-born is Ishmael. Well, Abraham was about to do it until a divine voice intervened, told him to stop, and sacrifice a goat in his first-born's place. The point is he was about to make the ultimate sacrifice for God.

Well, Idul Adha is a celebration of this story, but instead of first-borns, the Muslim population sacrifice cows and goats instead.

Indonesia being mostly made-up of Muslims, also follows the tradition of sacrificing and giving the meat to the poor. On idul adha, loud shrieking horror noises of terrified goats and cows can be heard throughout the entire neighborhood, but it's all for a good cause.

I've never actually seen the rituals, because I probably would faint, but my brother has when he was still in elementary school. He said it made him nauseated and he wouldn't want to witness such a thing ever again.

Funny enough, tomorrow is the 15th of October, which is both my birthday and this year's Idul Adha. I was born in the year of the goat, according to the Chinese zodiac..... I can't help but feel a little freaked out at the symbolism and coincidence of it all. Hope my neck won't get a chill tomorrow.

Sedap Malam restaurant opened nearby

One of my favorite seafood restaurants in Jakarta is Sedap Malam, which means "delicious night." That sounds a bit kinky, but then again, seafood is supposed to be sumptuous and tempting. The original restaurant is located on Batu Tulis Raya street, the area behind the Presidential palace.

I used to go there with my parents and we would order the sweet black pepper sauce crab.

Now a chain has opened near where I live, which means I don't have to go too far to have some delicious seafood. = 

Garlic shrimp

That's kangkung (Chinese spinach / morning glory) on top

Coconut and orange punch

The famous crab with sweet black pepper sauce

Bean sprouts

Ny. Suharti's fried chicken

One of my favorite Indonesian fried chicken chains is Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti. Ayam goreng means fried chicken. Ny = Mrs. Suharti is a name. So it's Mrs. Suharti's fried chicken.

Ny. Suharti's fried chicken has been a favorite of my family since as long as I can remember. This fried chicken establishment was owned by a husband-and-wife named Sachlan (the husband) and Suharti (the wife), but unfortunately, after around 30 years of harmonious business together, another woman got in the way, dissolving not only the marriage, but also the business.

Now there are two versions of the Ny. Suharti brand. One is owned by the former husband, the logo is in the picture below. The logo is two chickens with an S in the middle. 

The husband's restaurant

The one owned by Mrs. Suharti also uses the two chickens, but it is reinforced by the addition of her photo in the logo so that people can differentiate which restaurants belong to the former husband and which to the former wife.

The taste of both restaurants' chickens are the same, though. They both use ayam kampung (free-range chicken), and the chicken is topped with the most delicious kremes (crunchy fried topping).

That lady is calling my name "Miss Lyanna, your chicken is ready!"

I have never actually tried Ny. Suharti's other dishes. That's how much I love their fried chicken, but I heard the fried fish is also good.

And let me give you an advice. The best way to eat this is the Indonesian way: by using YOUR HANDS. NO FORKS, NO SPOONS, NO KNIVES. Just use your right hand to grab the rice, shape it into a small pyramid, put a small piece of chicken, mix in a little chili paste, and shove the thing with your thumb inside your mouth.

It might look complicated and dirty at first, but the taste of food in your hands coming into your mouth feels so much more satisfying than tasting silver hitting your tongue.

crunchy deliciousness

the sweet chili paste (sambal)

Have it with rice and a little bit of veggie

I had Turkish ice cream at Gandaria City Mall

I don't know why, but I've seen a lot of Turkish ice cream lately wherever I go. Okay, not wherever I go, but in a lot of the places I visit, I would see Turkish ice cream vendors somewhere in the corner of my eye. I remember one stand of Turkish ice cream in Bangkok while I was walking around the Asiatique Riverfront's night market.

Anyway, the chance came up to try it at Gandaria City Mall, Jakarta, and I decided to get the strawberry flavor.

I didn't really enjoy the taste of the ice cream itself. Thought it was pretty bland, to be honest. It is stickier and more malleable than other ice creams. You kinda have to put it in your mouth and chew it a bit, which was difficult to do as I was walking around the mall.

Ah well, not everything is gonna be to everyone's taste. I probably won't try another Turkish ice cream until I get to Turkey to taste the real thing. Maybe it would be 100% better over there.

In New York, I tasted dog food

This isn't really a review about food. But it is just an anecdote from the recent past when I used to live in New York City. 

I went to the local Petco and looked at the different arrays of dog cookies displayed in the center of the store. Then one of the employees of the store, named Iris, came up to me and said "can I help you with anything?"

"I'm just looking for some cookies for my dog."

So she picked up one of the cookies and proceeded to shove it in her mouth and eat the entire thing. In my astonishment, I stupidly told her that she was eating dog cookies. She said "I would never give my dog anything that I wouldn't want to eat. So I taste everything that my dog eats."

And then she told me to try one. Amazingly, I did, and you know what, it tasted like a regular vanilla cookie.

A few weeks later, I went to a friend's house and she said "hey, I just bought new organic dog food for Rocco. Here, take a look."

She brought out a ziplock bag with kibbles in them, and in an automatic reflex, I took one and put it in my mouth.

I thought I was doing the normal thing, until I saw my friend's horrified face.

And her cookies tasted like bad chicken. Yuck. 

My friend made Malatang from scratch

In my desperation to recapture the taste of China that I so miss since I left last July, my friends tried to recreate Malatang (麻辣烫) at home by following a simple recipe from the internet, which unfortunately I did not jot down. So I can't tell you the precise ingredients and measurements of what actually went into the stock, but it turned out to be very spicy and delicious, even though the taste wasn't quite at the level of the malatang I used to have on the streets of Xiamen.

First we went to Food Hall at Plaza Indonesia for the ingredients. We bought lots of meatballs and seafood meatballs, tofu, mushrooms, and vegetables. For the broth itself, we bought pork and chicken bones, garlic, star anise, ginger, powder chili, sichuan peppercorns (numbing goodness). And that's about it.

We did not put any MSG into the stock, because I HATE MSG!!!!!!

We made the stock and then added the other stuff in. I liked it. Next time, I would add more garlic and ginger to the mix and try to get some chili pepper with sesame oil in it. Maybe that would do the trick a bit.

In Thailand I ate guava by the beach

What do I love to eat by the beach? Fresh guava with dried chili pepper powder and sugar. Sounds like a weird combination, but there is something special about sour, crunchy and watery mixed with sweet and spicy all at the same time. I love the confusing sensation in my mouth.

In China I ate: Cong You Bing (葱油饼)

Ok, Cong You Bing (葱油饼）actually means onion bread, which sounds kinda weird, because the bread isn't made of onions. Actually, Cong You Bing is a round flat dough that is fried with a filling of scallions. There are other versions of this fried dough. The halal restaurant near my school in Jimei would also serve Niu Rou Bing (牛肉饼）- aka dough with beef filling and Huluobo bing (胡萝卜) - aka dough with carrot filling.

My preference was the beef, but the most popular version that one can find everywhere I guess is the scallion. This would be my snack on the way home from the flea market nearby when I didn't know what else to eat. I could always go to the Qingzhen (清圳）- halal - restaurant and order this delicious goody.

In China I ate: kaorou (烤肉)

Kaorou is basically barbecue, but in China, a bunch of spices are used like cumin, pepper, sesame seeds, etc. The vendors would usually fry all the ingredients we've chosen and then put them on the grill.

My friend said that having too much barbecue can be bad for you because, well, we all know about charcoal and what happens to your lungs and stomach. 

Anyway, aside from the unhealthy part of Kaorou, I dig it very much. It's cheap, good, and filling.

In Xiamen, China, I ate at Kaliwang (咖哩王) restaurant

There is a restaurant near my school in Jimei called Kaliwang. It means curry king. I liked going there because the fried chicken tastes similar to Indonesian fried chicken, which satisfied my home food cravings.

The owners of the restaurant are total hippies. They play loud rock music in the evenings, sit around and drink beer all night, smoke a lot, make fun of passersby, and so on. They also have a white cat named Obama who likes to sleep on the tables while customers eat. 

Obama lounging around on the table next to ours.

The owner of this restaurant (who is also the chef) is a hippy.

In Xiamen, China, I ate at Zhen Xiang Dao He Xiang Fan (真香道荷香饭) restaurant

When I lived in Jimei district, Xiamen city, I would often go to Zhen Xiang Dao He Xiang Fan (真香道荷香饭) restaurant. I guess that would translate to "really fragrant, fragrant lotus" meals....

I've always wondered which region of China did the type of cooking of this restaurant come from. Well, I looked all over the internet and only found one description, the restaurant's own ad, which says that it serves typical Fujian cooking where rice and ingredients are steamed all together on top of lotus leaves. The restaurant also specializes in hot plates. 

I don't know what the locals think of this place. I never bothered to ask, but I personally liked it.

On my first night in Phuket, I ate....

On my first night in Phuket, my friend and I went to a quiet street stall and ordered Pad Thai, fried spring rolls, fried sausage, and a bowl of sweet and spicy flat noodles.

We actually had just arrived at 8PM and were really hungry. My friend, who used to live in Thailand, ordered the food for me, so I didn't have to think so hard. They turned out great.

Then my friend called the vendor lady to our table and told her that I had something to say. I then said "aroy." It means "delicious." Very appropriate!

In China I ate: Jimihua (鸡米花)

Yes, this particular post is dedicated to Jimihua (鸡米花), or better known throughout the English-speaking world as popcorn chicken. I know they aren't fancy and they aren't even that special, but you see, I was on a scholarship in Jimei, Xiamen, and the end of the first semester came around.

In China, the lunar new year aka Chinese new year aka Chun Jie (春节) aka spring festival in either mid-January or mid-February, is a super long one-month event where everyone, especially students, get a month's worth of vacation. It is THE holiday, and everyone goes on a pilgrimage from the place where they work or go to school to travel back to their hometowns.

I was one of those expats who got to experience the utter loneliness of Chun Jie, as I didn't have a hometown to go back to, and Jimei was pretty much deserted. Imagine a ghost town where hardly any shops and restaurants are open, where there are no night markets, street stalls, etc. That was what I experienced for a month.

As someone who was on a scholarship, I fully relied on my monthly stipend. But as it was Chun Jie and everyone disappeared from town, my donors kind of forgot to send me and my friends our February allowance. We were left with hardly any money. I was lucky I still had 500RMB on me, but my other friends went with a lot less. 

This put me in an awful conundrum. I needed to eat, but also needed to spend the least amount of money as possible in order to survive. So what I did was cook my own soups during the day, and then at night go to one of those Chinese wannabe KFCs like CNHLS or DKG, and order Jimihua.

Why wannabe KFCs as my first-choice rescue restaurant, you ask? Because it was the only cheap source of protein that was available and OPEN during Chun Jie. Well, the McDonald's and actual KFC were open, but those are extremely expensive. A burger in the real chains could cost as much as 30RMB. That's just for the burger.

Meanwhile, a meal at a fake KFC (burger, drink, and fries/jimihua/chicken skewers/small chicken wrap) would be around 12 to 14RMB. Not bad for a starving student. A bag of jimihua would just cost 4RMB. It was a bargain.

So this post is dedicated to all the wannabe KFCs in Jimei, especially CNHLS, because they kept me alive for an entire month on Chun Jie.

Thank you!

In China, I ate: Youtiao (油条)

During my stay in China, I would usually go to class a half hour early just so that I could sit alone in the classroom and enjoy one youtiao (油条) and a cup of warm soy milk. That would be my daily breakfast.

I know that youtiao is prevalent all over the world now, but I was really happy to have had it in its country of origin. 

In Indonesia, where I come from, youtiao is called cakwe (taken from the hokkien name for youtiao = "yu charkway"). They are simply just fried salty dough strips. In my home country, we would usually have youtiao as a side dish for chicken porridge. Or sometimes we would eat them as a snack with a vinegar and chopped chili pepper sauce.

In China, people would also have youtiao as a side dish for porridge. But what I loved the most was that youtiao would be eaten for breakfast as an accompaniment for warm soy milk. 

Soy milk (especially warm one) is not readily available in street stalls in Indonesia because we are more accustomed to drinking cow's milk, and I don't see many cakwe vendors either. So I really enjoyed the Chinese way of eating youtiao, and that is one of the things I have missed the most from China.

In China, I ate: Minced Beef Noodles

I went to Zhongshan road in Xiamen once and was so hungry that I begged my friend to stop at the nearest restaurant and sit down for a meal.

Well we actually stopped right at a Chinese muslim restaurant (they are called qingzhen 清真 over there). If you see those characters, then the restaurant serves halal food. 

I ordered the first dish I saw on the menu, which was plain noodles with minced beef topped by a tomato sauce. I believe the dish is called Ban or Pan Lamian. I still to this day have no idea how to spell it in Chinese characters, as I've only had it once. 

This dish tastes very similar to spaghetti bolognese, except that the greens are from scallions, not from Italian herbs. Of course, the noodles aren't pasta, but well, when you are desperately hungry, anything will do.

So if you are in China and are craving spaghetti bolognese, go to a qingzhen restaurant. Order this cheaper alternative. Usually a large plate would be 11RMB. A smaller plate 9RMB. 

In China I ate: duck porridge (鸭肉粥)

There is a restaurant near my school (Huaqiao University, Department of Chinese Language and Culture - 华侨大学华文学院) which specializes in duck meat and gruel. Yep, that's about it. 

If you are ever in the district of Jimei, Xiamen city, Fujian province, and want a light but delicious meal in the middle of the night, rather than going to McDonald's, try this much more satisfying alternative.

From my school, which is right in front of Longzhou pond (龙舟池), go to Shigu road (石鼓路) all the way until you reach McDonald's to your right.

My school location (look for I):

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McDonald's location (look for A):

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Once you see McDonald's, cross the street and turn right on Jiyuan road... I have no idea what the hanzis for Jiyuan road are. Not too far from the intersection is the restaurant, called Bai Cheng Da Tong Yarou Zhou (百成大同 - 鸭肉粥). This restaurant only serves duck meat and other duck parts.... Well, actually it does have squid, but I tried it and that one wasn't good.

All the ingredients are laid out at the front counter and we choose whatever we want to put inside the porridge. Prices per item range from 1 RMB to 5 RMB. I usually put in one duck egg, one  tofu, duck breast, and have youtiao (salty fried dough strips) on the side. It never costs me more than 8.5 RMB. Cheap and satisfying, I always come here when I am craving something to eat. They are open from 7AM until 2AM, a rarity in Jimei.

The owners, a lady and her daughter, apparently used to live in Singapore. So, hello, neighbor! ^_^

Find more pictures of this place on the foursquare site.