Celebrating Street Food In Indonesia

Celebrating Street Food In Indonesia

Celebrating Street Food In Indonesia by Will Meyrick

FOOD CULTURE | INDONESIA

Published in NOW! Bali – October 2018

When we think of  “street food”, the image that most often comes to mind is the street foods of Thailand and Vietnam, where the food served on and from the street is from established, menu based, street located stations that will prepare a dish to the customers order from a range of specialities. Food trucks, streetside stalls set up with multiple styles of grills, stir frying, steaming and boiling components. 

Here in Indonesia ‘street food’ operates on a whole other level, street food is both static and mobile, the best alignment to Thai Street Food would actually be Warung food and the street food, the kaki limas, the push carts are more like mobile snack vendors. 

Will Meyrick in Denpasar 2019

Will Meyrick In Denpasar, Bali

A “KAKI LIMA”

WITH RINRIN MARINKA

WOMAN SELLING SATAY

Much of the cart food is fried foods “Gorengan” ayam goreng, tempe goreng, tahu isi, that customers buy on the go, they don’t have stools or tables around them. Bakso carts do travel though , rolling through neighbourhoods serving out their meal-in-a-bowl soups to customers that eat standing at the cart, handing back the bowl when they have finished.

It’s the Warungs that are really serving what could best be described as street food and their story is one that gives a clear, cultural understanding of the archipelago and the Southern China Sea trade routes in its telling

a typical Indonesian warung

In Bali many will have been introduced to the warungs through the Padang and Minangkabau style establishments that serve daily dishes from large bowls arranged on shelves in front of a window, often protected from the heat and dust of the street and flies by a gauze curtain.

Here whole small fish, chunks of beef, bowls of deep red sauces and bright green sambals along with bite sized parcels of stuffed tofu and stringy, deep green kang kung sit at room temperature waiting to be served around a steaming mound of rice. This is the home cooking of coastal and mountain West Sumatra.

The Minangkabau warungs were established originally to feed the generations of young men who, according to cultural tradition, leave their homes to make their way in the world and marry out , thus ensuring the continued extension of their tribe.

Warungs provide for vast numbers of ‘homesick’ and help them maintain links with their traditions through the provision of ‘home’ foods. In Medan Northern Sumatra the large community of Tamils celebrate their festivals of Durga Puja, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day and Republic Day with aromatic Biryani dishes, Malabar curries and soft pancake-like dosas.

A Padang Restaurant Shelf

The Afghans and Yemeni’s introduced the cumin flavoured rice of Nasi Kabuli and beautifully grilled goat meats, while the Chinese brought in rice noodles, the dumplings and the Siew Mai dishes, served with peppery, chili fired soups and the Malay diaspora brought with them the delicate karis, or curries, creamy with coconut milk lifted with lemongrass and galangal to keep their communities of traders, itinerant field, plantation and dock workers eating well.

This is what makes Indonesian food so interesting, complex and fascinating because to add to the fabric of this culinary anthropological puzzle insular, indigenous communities contribute their own dishes to the kaleidoscope.

BU SIE ITEK
ORIGIN: ACEH
(MAMA SAN VERSION)

SATE PADANG
ORIGIN: PADANG PANJANG
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSION)

MARTABAK TELOR
ORIGIN: LEBAKSIU TEGAL
(MAMA SAN VERSION)

From the isolation of mountainous Toraja and the bamboo filled meats and spices that takes hours of cooking over smoking coconut husks  to the far flung Eastern Island culture where refrigeration is scarce and food is best prepared daily by the local warung utilising the daily catch and the slim pickings of arid grown corns, greens and chilies and everywhere in between the Indonesian internally displaced rely on Warungs for a connection to their place of birth. 

UDANG WOKU
ORIGIN: MANADO
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSION)

Warungs often appear to have sprung from the private homes of the women who prepare and serve the food of their birth place, and they do this with pride. The style of food preparation in the archipelago , based, as it is, on limited resources, requires preparation time and a commitment  to create the best possible dishes.

DENDENG BALADO
ORIGIN: SUMATRA
(MAMA SAN VERSION)

AYAM TALIWANG
ORIGIN: LOMBOK
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSION)

BETUTU – ORIGIN: BALI
CUMI CUMI KALIO
ORIGIN: PADANG
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSIONS)

The balances of spices, herbs and the long cooking of less than prime cuts of meat in order to use all available ingredients, think chicken feet, short cut rib bones, dried fish or fermented pastes and soy cakes also demand a knowledge and a passion to create so it makes sense that the women, with families to take care of, would open up the front of their homes from where they could serve their loyal customers.

  Ibu-Ibu’s Secrets

And here from a tale of culinary adventure, we move into one that illustrates the character of Indonesia, and certainly its women. In my travels across almost the entire country, I have learned that the women of warungs are highly regarded in their community.

They are revered for their consistent provision of the best tasting foods from ‘home’, they build up their reputation so much so that they run sometimes two or more warungs under strict supervision with only a handful of helpers, often members of the extended family, who keep the valued recipes of the dishes under tight lock and key.

And I am not joking, I once tried to extract some information from a Bukit Tinggi matriarch who demanded I offer her my car in exchange!

There are male warung owners too, but not as many, the previously mentioned Yemini community have male dominated kitchens while many years ago a  Chinese immigrant arriving in Jakarta began a small noodle stall that now has over 20 branches run by the original owner’s family.

A WOMAN COOKING IN BUKIT TINGGI

PEPES IKAN
ORIGIN: WEST JAVA
(SARONG BALINESE VERSION)

RAWON
ORIGIN: MALANG
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSION)

OCTOPUS RENDANG
ORIGIN: PADANG
(HUJAN LOCALE VERSION)

Warungs truly are the grassroots of Indonesia’s culture, they tell the history, they show the tenacity of the island’s women and they illustrate clearly the very real nature of community in a continent that spans from the tips of Malaysia and Singapore to the highlands of Papua and encompasses over 13,000 islands.

My recommendation to anyone at all interested in discovering Indonesia is to spend time in these wonderful places, always look at the ones that are busy, pay no heed to the decor and jump in.

As was told to me many years ago, while you love Indonesia and you love your Indonesian wife until you learn about Indonesia’s food you will never understand either!

Bali: Warung Mira (Khas Buleleng)

Bali: Warung Mira (Khas Buleleng)

Warung Mira
(Khas Buleleng)

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Serving Singaraja-style food, this is one of my favourite warungs in Denpasar. An ice-cold es daluman as soon I sit down at Warung Mira hits the spot. The wobbly forest-green drink is a refreshing mash up of daluman leaf jelly (the leaves are soaked in water and then squeezed, the liquid setting overnight from the natural gelatin) and palm sugar with coconut milk.

  A ‘greatest hits’ of some of Bali’s best regional dishes

A belly filler to soak up the chill that’s to come is a good idea, so the tipat cantok is first up. A Balinese take on gado-gado, the green beans, mung bean sprouts, freshly made tofu, crispy fried garlic and ketupat (soft rice cakes cooked in banana leaf parcels to shape them) are all gently mixed with light peanut sauce. It’s a little sweet, spicy and sour all at once. Just like it should be.

Other accompaniments include a super fresh urap with cassava leaf, green beans and fresh grated coconut, and two types of sates , one being soft, unctuous pork belly, the other being babi lilit, with minced pork. The crispy crackling here is generous and just as crunchy as it should be.

OPEN 8.00AM-6.00PM
Jl. Katrangan No.23, Sumerta, Kec. Denpasar Tim., Kota Denpasar, Bali 80239
+62361251040

Jukut undis (black bean soup) is simple and earthy, the broth having a depth and flavour that is usually saved up for its culinary cousin and Indonesia’s soup star, rawon. Scooping the small red-hued beans from the bottle of the bowl and savouring the grittiness of fresh grated coconut in my mouth, it doesn’t take long to disappear.

The rujak is also a winner. Like a savoury and super spicy fruit salad, rough-cut slices of raw green mango, pineapple, cassava, cucumber and sweet potato are all tossed together in a light dressing of shrimp paste, palm sugar, tamarind and chilli. Bali’s much more rustic take on its more famous and only distantly related Thai cousin, som tum.

Other dishes you should definitely try include the serapah babi of pork belly, served with crunchy crackers, and the perfectly executed soto ayam (chicken soup).

The menu is a veritable ‘greatest hits’ of some of Bali’s best regional dishes, so you can’t really go wrong. Try whatever sounds good and see what your favourites are!

Bali: Babi Guling Grenceng (Bali Tulen)

Bali: Babi Guling Grenceng (Bali Tulen)

Babi Guling Grenceng
(Bali Tulen)

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Another great option for lunch is Babi Guling Gerenceng (just a few metres up the road from Tahu Tipat Gerenceng).

  ‘Lesehan’ style seating on rattan floor mats.

The babi guling is good and offers quite a variety of accompaniments to the traditional slow-roasted pork. The paper-lined basket offers up lots of flavours, with young coconut braised in bumbu gede sitting alongside sausage and fried curly intestines (which I quietly pass on).

Other accompaniments include a super fresh urap with cassava leaf, green beans and fresh grated coconut, and two types of sates , one being soft, unctuous pork belly, the other being babi lilit, with minced pork. The crispy crackling here is generous and just as crunchy as it should be.

OPEN 8.00AM-6.00PM
Jl. Sutomo, Pemecutan Kaja, Kec. Denpasar Utara, Kota Denpasar, Bali 80231

The lawar is served two ways: one with fresh pig’s blood to stain it that tell-tale hue of pink, one without (for hygiene reasons). A little too carnivorous for me, I always get it without, and luckily it’s just as delicious that way.

The peak hours are 11:00am-1:00pm when the lunch rush is on, so come early to avoid disappointment. It’s not the same without that crackling!

Bandung: Mie Kocok Pak Eman Putra

Bandung: Mie Kocok Pak Eman Putra

Mie Kocok
Pak Eman Putra

Warungs SERIES | BANDUNG | JAVA

Located in Jalan Terusan Buah Batu No. 119, Bandung, West Java, knocks out the best bowl of it in the area, so join the locals and make a beeline for their version, which comes in mismatched china bowls and served up with big smiles.

  Bandung: the “Paris of Java” and a foodie capital

I love Bandung it’s like a second home for me as my wife’s family lives there, and mie kocok is like honey to bee for my wife she love the stuff. So over time I have had to love as well,
(unconditionally ) one of the thing that has rubbed of on me is her love for bandung street food some between Chinese and local Sundanese cuisines have merged together and there you have Bandung street food.

Mie kocok is traditional with egg noodle beef skin small amount of beef trimmings from the beef bones that have slowly been simmering in pot for 5hrs to produce this amazing clearing shiny broth with lots of bean sprouts and Asian celery.

OPEN 9.00AM-9.00PM
Jl. Terusan Buah Batu No.119, Kujangsari, Kec. Bandung Kidul, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40287

Bandung: Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

Bandung: Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

Warungs SERIES | BANDUNG | JAVA

One of the busiest place in town, addressed in Jl. Cipaganti No. 75B, Bandung, West Java.

Pak Jangkung is the man behind the meat here. He’s someone that personifies the spirit of Sunda.

  The ribs disappear in minutes.

Beginning his career in the hotel industry in Bali, he started out with the ripper of recipe for ribs, but it was more Jogja-style than Sundanese. He juiced it up a little and it was so good that a warung in Bandung was born off the back of it. Soon you couldn’t get a seat, let alone a table, at his little rib shack, so he did what anyone with a sell-out winning dish might do: he opened a second warung. And then third. Thousands of plates later, he’s now at the helm of his own mini-rib empire in Bandung.

The place is a little dark, there’s not a spare seat in sight. But if the locals will brave a monsoonal downpour to eat the food, you know you’re in the right place. The best part is that the air is filled with one of favourite smells: the heady scent of barbequing meat.

OPEN 12.00PM-8.00PM
Jl. Cipaganti No.75G, Pasteur, Kec. Sukajadi, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40161

THE SCENT OF BARBECUE

FRESH INGREDIENTS

FINGER-LICKING GOOD

Served in big clay bowls, the iga bakar (braised short ribs) arrives sizzling hot, sauce spitting. It’s falling-off-the-bone, finger-licking good. The ribs are dark and caramelised, with the cumin-spiked sweet soy sauce providing the perfect sticky foil to the white pepper and chilli kick. The happy silence of eating something so good that conversation is forgotten in favour of the food. The ribs disappear in minutes.