Posts Tagged ‘food’

So here I am, alone sitting in the deli’s corner in Menteng Central, mining my own business, which is really, and essentially consist of my diet coke, and sandwich.

In a sense, it’s  a heaven, a run away time, where I can do my own things, thinking only my own being and care nothing of the world and the works around it. And quite frankly, I rarely found my self alone, at least lately.

Usually, when I ‘m not hanging out (or spending quality time) with my girl, I’m always in a company of my mates, and doing nothing useful in particular, like taking a swing in the driving range, chatted on the coffee shop or walking around the mall aimlessly.

But situation changed, and I with some of us caught or occupied in the busy world of trying to make a living, I found my self quite lonely in so many occasion, which suffice to say, its neither fun nor enjoyable.

So here I am, again, alone, typing this sort of grumble, while flashing off my new MacBook Air.

If there is any consolation, well at least my sandwich is crisps and my coke is ice cold.

If people said that Jakarta is a mixing pot of Indonesian’s diverse cultures, then there is one food that can represent the mix better than any other food.

Hail the esteemed noodle (bakmie). No Jakartans will ever argue that along with Nasi Padang, Bubur (Porridge) and Soto, noodle is one food that comes in abundantly great variety. There is almost one comes from each Indonesia’s provinces in additional of other that comes with a cutting edge look.

Historically a direct descendant of the Chinese Noodle Soup, the Indonesian variety version was much more diverse in terms of noodle type, topping and the seasoning, thanks the centuries of acculturation with the local taste. On top of your head, you can easily name Mie Aceh, Mie Ayam Medan, Mie Ayam Palembang, etc.

Let’s recalled the Jakarta’s great three noodle vendors, the Bakmi GM, Naga and Gang Kelinci, all started from the rather insecure spot at city centre slum, and grew larger in to million dollars business and franchises. Though the three vendors deploy pretty similar form of Bak Mie and soup, you can always bet that there are people who prefer one better against the other.

Today, Jakarta noodle library are as diverse and as exciting as the international wine list. Quick Sunday drive to area like Kelapa Gading, will expose you to several famous noodle vendor such as Bakmie Tan (with its fish fried cake), A Loy, A Sui,  or A Haw, all comes with their own interpretation of how a bowl (or in same case a plate) of noodle supposed to be, and served along a bowl of chicken soup, and various topping (from chicken only, to mixed chicken-pork).

Order a glass of cold Liang tea (Herbs tea) and some fried wonton, and you will have your self a perfect Sunday brunch.

Any discussion about which one is the best will usually incite a prolonged and heated argument, without any conclusion. The content of discussion will usually revolving around the texture and shape of the noodle (thick, thin, wide, rubbery, soggy, soft, curly), the taste of the noodle it self (flat, salty, salty sweet, fish, prawnishy or simply tasty), the soup (tasty or not tasty) and the topping (chicken, pork, wonton, beef balls or porky materials). Price and place is usually discussed at the very last, or never entered the discussion at all)

At the end, as for the variety it involved along the ingredients in between, and like any other cuisine, it is a very subjective judgment. Good things that no body every fallen victim from this sort of discussion.

As for me, I like the Bakmie Tan’s fried thin fish cake, and Aloy’s Palembang noodles. But for the beef balls ultimate experience, A Guan at Lao Tse is the best. What about you ?

Post from Jakarta Chronicle.

So it was Sunday late morning, your girl was out somewhere, and none of you friends were available, you were hungry, there were some ingredients in the fridge, but you were not quite keen to go the kitchen yet, what’s the option ?

Quite a few really, for one you you skipped and jumped right away to the several cafes and restaurant around the city, ready to throw some western breaky which by nature should consist of eggs, toast, bacon, and orange juice later washed throughy with a slightly bitter yet aromatically splendor coffee. Or…or like what I did just then, drive slowly around the neighbourhood, cruising for some gerobak food stall.

My target that morning – or rather early afternoon, was a Ketoprak vendor at Jalan Tebet Timur Dalam 2, just near the bus stop.  I have the name for vendor, calling it Ketoprak XL, because the guy have a side job of selling mobile phone voucher, and the first time I spotted him weeks ago he wore an XL shirt.

You see, like most Jakartan who grew snacking whatever the street vendor who walks around in front of your door step offered, I am very fond of this local food, cause eating it will not only satisfy my craving with the food or matter of making my tummy full and happy, but also incite a childhood memory, bring a certain warmness and sense of happiness. Well you know what I mean.

Anyway, luck was with me that day, the Ketoprak XL was there, already one customer waiting. A mere 10 minutes later, a plate of Ketoprak Sedang (not too spicy) complete with boiled egg and cut cucumber was ready to be savoured, and savoured it was.

Having completely awed and enchanted with after taste, not to mention a satisfied tummy, I crave for some desert. Alas not a vendor in sight, and so my sight rested to gorengan (fried stuff) vendor just 10 walks away, quickly ordered two fried tempeh, and two fried ubi (sweet potato).

Walking nonchalant as if I have all the time in world, I moved slowly to the warkop nearby, got a bottle of ice tea, and really took my time in finishing my tempe and ubi, occasionally sipping the ice tea.  

As I walking back to my car, I calculated the expenses I just paid, Rp.8000,- for the Ketoprak, Rp.2000,- for the Gorengan, and another Rp.3000 for the ice tea. 

The sun was searing above my head, and I could almost imagine I tucked my self in to blanket, in my cool bed room, as soon as I finished a long, hot and steamy shower. Not bad for a lazy Sunday.

For whatever reason, I felt craving for aglio olio this morning. Naturally, spaghetti aglio olio is my quick win solution for my after work hunger. It’s quick, can be made in more a dozen variation, cheap and pretty brainless. The procedure is easy, and its only by series of unfortunate events you can make it wrong.

So today, I found that my craving for this particular meal, despite the nature of holiday what would allow me to do more elaborate recipe, was a bit odd.

And so after a really quick cold shower (habits derived from years of “mandi pake gayung”) I drove to Oakwood’s Ranch Market to get the supplies. Fortunately, I’ve got pretty much everything stocked in my kitchen, so my brief shop this morning only resulted in baguette, diced garlic , and 200 grams of sliced chicken breast. Other then that these are my ensemble.

The Ingredient
200 g of sliced chicken breast
2 spoons of diced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Fish Sauce
Salt and Pepper

The Pasta

• Cook the pasta al dente (boil the water, put the pasta in, don’t break just twist and release, wait as recommended by the pack). There is no need to put salt or oil into the boiling water.
• When it cooked, dry the water it
• Heat up a frying pan, when its hot, set the fire to mid, pour a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil.
• Throw in a full spoon of diced garlic.
• Soon after you can smell the unique sweet smell of garlic in the olive, and the color turned yellowish quickly
• Throw all the pasta in, give, a good toss
• Heat up the fire, and give another rounds of toss. The idea is to make sure that all parts of the spaghetti get in touch with the garlic and oil as quick as possible
• Throw 3 pinches of salt, give another round of toss
• By now, your pasta should be looked all oily. Turn the heat off, garnish with fresh parsley (or dried one)

Cooked spaghetti, see how the oil glitters under the light ?

The Topping
To be completely frank with you, the topping can be anything of your choice. For this particular I used slided boneless chicken breast, because its cheap and easy to cook

• Start by pan fried the chicken sliced in low heat, until it gets the mid brown cooked on each sides
• If the pan get to water because of the oil from the chicken, throw the oil out, until it reasonably dry, and add slight amount of cooking oil/
• Add one full spoon of garlic, followed by several squirts of fish sauce
• Stir fried very quickly, ensure that you don’t get the garlic burned or fried

Cooked Chicken, notice the brown-ish tone ?

Garnish
- Readied the cooked pasta on the plate
- Put on the chicken as topping
- Sprinkle some fresh (or dried parsley)
- Add some chili flakes (my favorite is shrimp flavored)

Bon Appetit  !!!

Spaghetti Aglio Olio original take

Spaghetti Aglio Olio as garnished by Fery with added pickled garlic !

As planned, my Sunday goes uneventful. Well other than completing Royal Pains season one featuring, the irresistibly hot, superbly gorgeous, brunette of all time, Jill Flint. I spent my time pretty much drowsing on the bed, and treat me self with a series of high fat, high cholesterol, low fiber diets and snacks, especially, the mouthwatering, home cooked hearty breakfast of three eggs over easy, three beef sausages, a slop of baked beans in tomatoes, and cuts of baguettes. Nothing fancy, no chili sauces, just salt, pepper, and butter.

My own english breakfast, eggs over easy, sausages, baked beans and freshly baked breads. I wish I could have beef bacon too...Yummmm

Hearty breakfast for a lazy Sunday indeed. See you on Monday folks.