the last 6 months in indonesia, as well as my time in mexico, is what im basing my new 'happy food' theory on. it simply states that the general happiness of a people is less based on economy, military strength, or wealth as much as it is based on a cheap, accesible overload of amazing food!
indonesian food has origins from many cultures including chinese, indian, dutch, and arab... its hard to categorize indonesian food because it varies so much, not only from island to island, but from city to city! its extremely regional and things that all indonesian food seems to have in common are rice, garlic, shallots, and CHILE. lots of chile...
literally every street corner in every town has people with makeshift 'warungs' or foodstalls, filling the air with amazing sounds and smells of chile, onions, simmering broths and sizzling meats.. selling a variety of made to order meals from the staples like nasi goreng (indo fried rice) and bakso (soup made with meatballs) to off the wall things like grilled chicken intestines and goat brain soup.. all of it is amazing and between 50 cents and 1.50 US... another thing i enjoy about it, from a cook's point of view is that all the ingredients, especially outside of big cities, are grown and raised very locally and with little or no profit enhancing poisons (i.e. pesticide, steroids, hormones, ect...) the farmers make their trips to the town markets every morning and the cows have beautiful brown coats, a far cry from the cattle 'factories' that i saw spread out across texas and oklahoma that nearly turned me vegetarian, and i LOVE meat...
SAMBAL: the staple ingredient in indonesian food (aside from rice) is chile.. small red or green, these chiles are extremely spicy and usually come in the form of sambal. sambal can be made thousands of different ways which vary from cook to cook.. a basic sambal would be made fresh by hand with a mortar and pestle and contain raw chile, garlic, some form of fermented prawn paste, salt and citrus.LONGTON BELAP (SPICY SOUP WITH STEAMED RICE, BEAN SPROUTS, AND TEMPE..)
only found in surabaya (i think) this soup contains longton (rice over-steamed in banana leaves) bean sprouts, fried fermented soy whey (tempe), tofu, and crispy shallots.. in a semi sweet broth with a very very spicy deep brown sambal.. not bad for 70 cents!!
RUJAK CINGUR (BRAISED COW NOSE IN A SPICY PEANUT SAUCE)
rujak cingur is another surabaya classic with its roots coming from madura.. a typical rujak vender would be an elderly woman who mixes a massive amount of ingredients in a large shallow mortar and pestle and grinds them to order.. this sauce mixture contains, fried peanuts, chile, patisse (sour fermented prawn liquidy thingy?), salt, sugar, and about 10 other ingredients that i dont know.. the sauce is poured over bean sprouts, steamed rice cakes, cow nose, and tofu.. there are few things on earth that can bring this kinda smile to my face for 50cents!
SATE GAMBING (GOAT SATE)
this famous madurese dish is almost always sold alongside 'gule' (next photo), and rice.. the sauce is similar to the rujak above and served with sambal and raw shallots.. the sate themselves contains various cuts of goat meat which are grilled, usually over slow-burning coconut shells which are continuously fanned by the man selling them... i say man because ive never seen a woman 'manning' the grill! the universal tradition of men standing there grilling meat may just be as old as mankind itself and probably dates back as far as 400,000 years when we first mastered fire!!!
GULE (SOUP MADE WITH GOAT INNARDS)
found in east java and madura alongside sate is gule.. it is a semi sweet, but still savory broth made from (i think!) coconut water, lemongrass, tumeric, cinnamon, chile, garlic, and goat bones...
the meat varies and is usually offal (innards)
somewhere in the separation of our european roots, we americans have lost a love of innards (except in hotdogs of course) but in the last ten years there has been a huge resurgence in fine dining restaurants throughout nyc, chicago and sf.. which is great to see and as a cook one of the first things you come to love and appreciate is cooking and eating offal.. anyone can put salt and pepper on a ribeye and grill it and it will taste amazing, but i give much respect to those who can make a 5 star meal out of lamb brains or pig cheeks!!
the meat varies and is usually offal (innards)
somewhere in the separation of our european roots, we americans have lost a love of innards (except in hotdogs of course) but in the last ten years there has been a huge resurgence in fine dining restaurants throughout nyc, chicago and sf.. which is great to see and as a cook one of the first things you come to love and appreciate is cooking and eating offal.. anyone can put salt and pepper on a ribeye and grill it and it will taste amazing, but i give much respect to those who can make a 5 star meal out of lamb brains or pig cheeks!!
BAKSO (MEATBALL SOUP)
perhaps the most universal dish, served in variations all over indonesia.. a typical bakso will contain a meat broth poured over finely ground meatballs made by hand by the man selling them.. the soup will typically have glass noodles, kecap (a thick sweet soy sauce pronounced like 'ketchup') and tomato paste.. and of course with sambal, one can expect to pay around 50-80 cents per serving...
MIE AYAM (NOODLES AND CHICKEN)
not too different from basic bakso setups, this is made from freshly made noodles quickly boiled in a chicken broth and served with sawi (spelling? a leafy green veg) crispy krupuk (fried things made originally from fish?!) sambal and kecap.. wonderful meal for 60 cents...
BABI GORENG (STIR FRIED PORK)
apologies to all my muslim friends but in bali (a hindu island) amazing pork can be found in abundance.. i previously highlighted 'babi guling' balinese roast pig which is one of my favorite meals on earth.. here pork is stir fried with vegetables in a sweet spicy sauce not unlike the american version of chinese food.. i likey!
KARE GAMBING (SPICY SOUP WITH GOAT BRAINS, INTESTINES AND OTHER SOUL NOURISHING THINGS...)
one of my favorite meals in east java, this spicy soup has a meaty rich broth and lots of perfectly stewed goat guts which give the soup a variety of textures and flavours.. this soup is notably spicy and requires a well adapted stomach, not for beginners to the indo dining scene.. slightly expensive, it costs around a buck..
SOTO BANJAR (BANJARMASSIN SOUP)
banjarmassin is a city in indonesian borneo which my good friend husny's mom comes from.. this is one of many amazing meals in her repertoire and includes boiled eggs, longton, crispy shallots and a fried potato cake in a chicken broth.. amazingly gratifying meal..
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