Monday 11 March 2013

Guest post by Aggy: Five Indonesian Food to Die For


Lubię chodzić do restauracji, by próbować dań z różnych krajów. Takich, gdzie już byłam i przez smakowanie smaków, powiedzmy włoskich, na chwilę przenieść się do restauracji, gdzie nasz znajomy zabrał nas na najlepszą w naszym życiu pizzę. Albo do kuchni krajów, gdzie jeszcze nie byliśmy, ale mamy ogromną ochotę pojechać. 

Dzisiejszy post jest postem gościnnym napisanym przez Aggy z Dream Explore Wander (nie wiem czy pamiętacie, jakiś czas temu napisałam posta gościnnego o Bukareszcie właśnie na post Aggy), która przedstawia nam najlepsze i najbardziej typowe dania swojego kraju, Indonezji. Ostrzeżenie: posta najlepiej przeczytać po posiłku, czytanie „na głoda” może skończyć się napadem ataku głodu.

Every once in a while I like to go to a restaurants that specialise in a cuisine of some more or less exotic country. If it is a country I already visited, my eating, let’s say something Italian, I can imagine for a while I’m in Italy where our friend from Roma took us to a place where we had the best pizza in our life! Or we go to the places to have some meal from a country we dream of going.

Today's post is a guest post written by Aggy from Dream Explore Wander (you may remember her, as some time ago I wrote a guest post about Bucharest that is available on her blog). She shows us the best and most typical dishes from her country, Indonesia. Be warned: it’s better not to read the post before eating, as you may end up very hungry.  


 Five Indonesian Food to Die For


Indonesia. Many boast about the undoubtedly beautiful islands, the clear blue sky, the stunning beaches, the lush forests and its natures and of course the hot, tropical weather. However for me, there is nothing I love more than its food. Yes, I am a proud foodie, and I am also proud to say that my home country has the most delicious food in the whole world. 

I was born in the town of Yogyakarta, which is located in the Java island, the most populous island in Indonesia. Almost all my life I have been accustomed to Javanese cuisines and other cuisines coming from other islands which has become a favourite in our island. I don’t think one blog post is enough to describe my love for Indonesian food, but here are five favourite Indonesian food which I highly recommend you to try when you visit my home country!

Satai
The “proper” or I’d like to say the more “posh” way to say this cuisine is satai, but us locals like to call it sate - check out the “ai” replaced by “e”. It sounds more down-to-earth when you pronounce it like that. Sate is basically meat put in a skewer and grilled, the best sate are known to be grilled traditionally over hot charcoal. There many kinds of sate: chicken, beef, mushroom, fish, lamb, pork - you name it, we’ve got it! But my two favourite sate are the classic chicken and mushroom. The chicken or mushroom are usually marinated before the grilling process, take a bite from a sate and you will see that it’s bursting with flavours. Chicken sate is best served with peanut sauce with a drizzle of sweet, dark soy sauce. The mushroom sate is served the same. Both sate is best eaten with fresh cut chilli (if you’re a fan of chilli like me) and shallots. 


Gado-Gado and Lotek
You’d be amazed how easy it is to be a vegetarian in Indonesia. Exotic fruits and vegetable are easily found in local markets, we are huge fan of soya beans too. Gado-gado and lotek are one of those quick dishes, you can say it’s our McDonalds since they are so easy to make and considered to be a fast food. It’s definitely a healthy lunch/dinner option when you’re in a rush. Both almost has the same ingredients: spinach, green beans, bean sprouts, tofu, cabbage served with peanut sauce (yes, we are a fan of peanut sauce). The difference is in the sauce, although both have the same based ingredients, in gado-gado the sauce has extra coconut milk. The serving of the sauce is also different, in gado-gado the sauce is put on top of the vegetables whereas in lotek the sauce is mixed together. In gado-gado they also put boiled egg, potatoes, cucumber and tomatoes.

Soto
This is a famous dish in Indonesia which you can easily get in Java. Like sate, there are different kind of soto even for a classic chicken soto, there can be many version. Soto is hot, refreshing soup. The one I like most is chicken soto with clear chicken broth filled with pieces of shredded chicken, cabbage, bean sprouts and rice. The key ingredient is the broth, we say that if the broth is good then the whole soup is undoubtedly delicious. Soto is usually eaten with side dishes like fried tempe (soyabean), tofu and quail egg sate. It’s so simple and delicious.


Bakso
Bakso is also a type of soup, and is a popular street “snack”. Bakso is made from meatballs, usually made from beef, served with hot beef broth garnished with spring onion and fried shallots. You can have fried meatballs, pangsit (Indonesian crispy wonton) and tofu with it too if you prefer.  It is sometimes considered as snack because it’s light food. People tend to add rice or noodles when they want to have it as lunch. It’s one of those food that you eat when catching up with the girls or just having a good gossip.


Gudeg
I have to tell you about gudeg. The people of Yogyakarta are known for their sweet tooth, we even put a little bit of sweetness into our savoury meal and gudeg is one of them. When you go to a gudeg stall, you will find a lot of dishes and a portion of gudeg is a combination of it all. Usually you will find brown egg, brown tempe and brown tofu - all brown because they have all been cooked with dark, sweet soya sauce and other spices thus the brown colour. There is also krecek in gudeg which is beef skin cooked in red, spicy sauce. The main ingredient of gudeg is jack fruit. The young jack fruit is also brown-coloured as it has been steamed with palm sugar before leaving a soft, sweet taste. Gudeg can vary in different cities in Indonesia, but the sweet type is most popular in Yogyakarta. My town is known as a gudeg city and is known to have the best ones!

And there you have it the five Indonesian food to die for. Of course all food are best eaten with krupuk which is crackers, very popular in Indonesia. For me, without krupuk something is missing when I’m eating. The most famous krupuk is made from shrimp and has the most scrumptious taste. There are different krupuk for different meals, but that would be another post :)

Have I made you drool and pack your bags to Indonesia yet? I hope I have. 



Zachęcam do zaglądania na bloga Aggy, która niedawno zaczęła nową serię postów poświęconych jedzeniu- Dewlicious. Tu macie linki do jej bloga, twitter i facebooka. A jeśli macie ochotę napisać gościnnego posta dla mnie o jedzeniu, proszę o kontakt.

If you liked the guest post, here are all the link you need to follow Aggy’s blog: blog, twitter and facebook fan page. She’s recently started her own food-related post series- Dewlicious. And if you feel like writing a guest, food-related post for me, please feel free to contact me. 




1 comment:

Amanda said...

Everything sounds so delicious! I just got back from a business trip in Indonesia and the food was amazing. I tried Satai from a cart in Jakarta and it was excellent. I wanted to make some at home but there are no stores in my area that have the ingredients. I found some of the ingredients at www.indofoodstore.com. Check it out!

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Monday 11 March 2013

Guest post by Aggy: Five Indonesian Food to Die For


Lubię chodzić do restauracji, by próbować dań z różnych krajów. Takich, gdzie już byłam i przez smakowanie smaków, powiedzmy włoskich, na chwilę przenieść się do restauracji, gdzie nasz znajomy zabrał nas na najlepszą w naszym życiu pizzę. Albo do kuchni krajów, gdzie jeszcze nie byliśmy, ale mamy ogromną ochotę pojechać. 

Dzisiejszy post jest postem gościnnym napisanym przez Aggy z Dream Explore Wander (nie wiem czy pamiętacie, jakiś czas temu napisałam posta gościnnego o Bukareszcie właśnie na post Aggy), która przedstawia nam najlepsze i najbardziej typowe dania swojego kraju, Indonezji. Ostrzeżenie: posta najlepiej przeczytać po posiłku, czytanie „na głoda” może skończyć się napadem ataku głodu.

Every once in a while I like to go to a restaurants that specialise in a cuisine of some more or less exotic country. If it is a country I already visited, my eating, let’s say something Italian, I can imagine for a while I’m in Italy where our friend from Roma took us to a place where we had the best pizza in our life! Or we go to the places to have some meal from a country we dream of going.

Today's post is a guest post written by Aggy from Dream Explore Wander (you may remember her, as some time ago I wrote a guest post about Bucharest that is available on her blog). She shows us the best and most typical dishes from her country, Indonesia. Be warned: it’s better not to read the post before eating, as you may end up very hungry.  


 Five Indonesian Food to Die For


Indonesia. Many boast about the undoubtedly beautiful islands, the clear blue sky, the stunning beaches, the lush forests and its natures and of course the hot, tropical weather. However for me, there is nothing I love more than its food. Yes, I am a proud foodie, and I am also proud to say that my home country has the most delicious food in the whole world. 

I was born in the town of Yogyakarta, which is located in the Java island, the most populous island in Indonesia. Almost all my life I have been accustomed to Javanese cuisines and other cuisines coming from other islands which has become a favourite in our island. I don’t think one blog post is enough to describe my love for Indonesian food, but here are five favourite Indonesian food which I highly recommend you to try when you visit my home country!

Satai
The “proper” or I’d like to say the more “posh” way to say this cuisine is satai, but us locals like to call it sate - check out the “ai” replaced by “e”. It sounds more down-to-earth when you pronounce it like that. Sate is basically meat put in a skewer and grilled, the best sate are known to be grilled traditionally over hot charcoal. There many kinds of sate: chicken, beef, mushroom, fish, lamb, pork - you name it, we’ve got it! But my two favourite sate are the classic chicken and mushroom. The chicken or mushroom are usually marinated before the grilling process, take a bite from a sate and you will see that it’s bursting with flavours. Chicken sate is best served with peanut sauce with a drizzle of sweet, dark soy sauce. The mushroom sate is served the same. Both sate is best eaten with fresh cut chilli (if you’re a fan of chilli like me) and shallots. 


Gado-Gado and Lotek
You’d be amazed how easy it is to be a vegetarian in Indonesia. Exotic fruits and vegetable are easily found in local markets, we are huge fan of soya beans too. Gado-gado and lotek are one of those quick dishes, you can say it’s our McDonalds since they are so easy to make and considered to be a fast food. It’s definitely a healthy lunch/dinner option when you’re in a rush. Both almost has the same ingredients: spinach, green beans, bean sprouts, tofu, cabbage served with peanut sauce (yes, we are a fan of peanut sauce). The difference is in the sauce, although both have the same based ingredients, in gado-gado the sauce has extra coconut milk. The serving of the sauce is also different, in gado-gado the sauce is put on top of the vegetables whereas in lotek the sauce is mixed together. In gado-gado they also put boiled egg, potatoes, cucumber and tomatoes.

Soto
This is a famous dish in Indonesia which you can easily get in Java. Like sate, there are different kind of soto even for a classic chicken soto, there can be many version. Soto is hot, refreshing soup. The one I like most is chicken soto with clear chicken broth filled with pieces of shredded chicken, cabbage, bean sprouts and rice. The key ingredient is the broth, we say that if the broth is good then the whole soup is undoubtedly delicious. Soto is usually eaten with side dishes like fried tempe (soyabean), tofu and quail egg sate. It’s so simple and delicious.


Bakso
Bakso is also a type of soup, and is a popular street “snack”. Bakso is made from meatballs, usually made from beef, served with hot beef broth garnished with spring onion and fried shallots. You can have fried meatballs, pangsit (Indonesian crispy wonton) and tofu with it too if you prefer.  It is sometimes considered as snack because it’s light food. People tend to add rice or noodles when they want to have it as lunch. It’s one of those food that you eat when catching up with the girls or just having a good gossip.


Gudeg
I have to tell you about gudeg. The people of Yogyakarta are known for their sweet tooth, we even put a little bit of sweetness into our savoury meal and gudeg is one of them. When you go to a gudeg stall, you will find a lot of dishes and a portion of gudeg is a combination of it all. Usually you will find brown egg, brown tempe and brown tofu - all brown because they have all been cooked with dark, sweet soya sauce and other spices thus the brown colour. There is also krecek in gudeg which is beef skin cooked in red, spicy sauce. The main ingredient of gudeg is jack fruit. The young jack fruit is also brown-coloured as it has been steamed with palm sugar before leaving a soft, sweet taste. Gudeg can vary in different cities in Indonesia, but the sweet type is most popular in Yogyakarta. My town is known as a gudeg city and is known to have the best ones!

And there you have it the five Indonesian food to die for. Of course all food are best eaten with krupuk which is crackers, very popular in Indonesia. For me, without krupuk something is missing when I’m eating. The most famous krupuk is made from shrimp and has the most scrumptious taste. There are different krupuk for different meals, but that would be another post :)

Have I made you drool and pack your bags to Indonesia yet? I hope I have. 



Zachęcam do zaglądania na bloga Aggy, która niedawno zaczęła nową serię postów poświęconych jedzeniu- Dewlicious. Tu macie linki do jej bloga, twitter i facebooka. A jeśli macie ochotę napisać gościnnego posta dla mnie o jedzeniu, proszę o kontakt.

If you liked the guest post, here are all the link you need to follow Aggy’s blog: blog, twitter and facebook fan page. She’s recently started her own food-related post series- Dewlicious. And if you feel like writing a guest, food-related post for me, please feel free to contact me. 




1 comment:

Amanda said...

Everything sounds so delicious! I just got back from a business trip in Indonesia and the food was amazing. I tried Satai from a cart in Jakarta and it was excellent. I wanted to make some at home but there are no stores in my area that have the ingredients. I found some of the ingredients at www.indofoodstore.com. Check it out!

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