This was other food I ordered in The Kiosk beside soto ayam. Cireng derived from the Sundanese language means aci goreng or fried aci. So it is named cireng because the main ingredient is aci (starch) mixed with flour, water, and seasonings. The snack is chewy and delicious. Although very simple, the snack is preferred by many people. As time goes by, the Sundanese snack is getting more developed. Some people add filling to cireng. There are some flavor such chicken, beef, sausage, meatballs, etc. Cireng Cipaganti is the first one who made cireng with filling, they said.
I brought Ru and Pati to The Kiosk, Dago to had dinner. This restaurant served many kinds of Indonesian cuisine. Ru and I chose soto ayam, a yellow spicy chicken soup with noodles and boiled eggs. It is also served with rice and kerupuk (prawn cracker). Turmeric is added as one of its ingredients to get yellow chicken broth. Actually Indonesia has many varieties of soto, and this is one of them.
Ru and Pati, friends I met when I lived in Komaba International House, Tokyo, came to Bandung on May 5th. That day I accompanied them having one day trip in Bandung. First we visit Tangkuban Perahu, which took about 2 hours from Bandung city. On the way back to Bandung, we had lunch at Saung Bambu Racik Desa at Jl. Setiabudhi. It was my 2nd time there, and I ordered this. Pahe is abbreviation of paket hemat (economical package, I guess :P). It consisted of nasi bakar peda (fish baked rice), chicken, tempe mendoan, lalap (raw vegetable), and sambal. The rice was spicy, but the chicken was sweet. Nice combination. But the portion was too much for me.
Japanese food has become very popular in Indonesia. We can find many sushi, ramen, and other Japanese style restaurants. In Japan, I’ve never eaten ramen because most of them use pork which is not halal for me. On April 27th, some friends and I watched Iron Man 3 at Cihampelas Walk (Ciwalk). After that we had dinner at Daiji Ramen Ciwalk. Since I was not familiar with ramen and it was my first time there, I asked the waitress what the recommended menu was. She said gyuu daiji ramen, then I ordered it. Well, honestly, the taste was a lil bit strange for me. I still prefer cheap kake udon in Japan, hehe. Maybe someday I’ll try other menu.
On April 21st, I joined UKM Gathering program, a program that was held by UKM-ITB to gather UKM’s member and alumni. It’s a kind of reunion for me after never joining UKM’s activities for 3 years when I was in Japan. After that program, some alumni and I had dinner at Bebek Garang restaurant in Jl. Sulanjana, Bandung. Bebek means duck, so it serves duck as the main dishes. I ordered bebek debus + nasi. It is duck grilled with spicy seasoning and served with rice and lalap (raw vegetable). Actually the debus word came from the name of a martial art from Banten. Debus is a form of invulnerability to sharp objects; a supernatural force that provides resistance to sharp objects, beatings, and burns. Maybe they named it bebek debus because of the spiciness of this menu. 😛
The trip from Painan to Padang took several hours since my family drove slowly. 😛 We stopped in a restaurant to have dinner. It was a kind of rumah makan Padang (Padang restaurant), but in West Sumatra we never call a restaurant as rumah makan Padang. Padang restaurant has some different serving style. In this restaurant, after we were seated, we did not have to order. The waiter immediately served the dishes directly to the table. All of the plates of food are laid out in front of us and we only paid for whatever plate we ate from. If you need any additional food, you can simply ask the waiter to bring the food you want. So you do not have to eat all of the foods, unless you are able to, haha. It was also my first time to try gulai kepala ikan (fish head curry). I knew that many people said that it’s really delicious, but I’ve never want to try it before, until that day. And in fact, it’s really good. 😀
Lompong sagu, another food I tried in Pesisir Selatan. Lompong sagu is mainly made from sago, banana, and palm sugar, and also wrapped in banana leaves and grilled on hot charcoal. It’s sweet and really delicious. It’s my first time trying lompong sagu and one wasn’t enough that day, haha. It’s more deliocious when it’s still hot.
Hi, long time no update. Actually I had several food photos but I was too lazy to post them, hehe. Let’s start updating this blog again. On April 13th, my family and I went to my father’s hometown in Kabupaten Pesisir Selatan. We spent one night in my grandmother’s house and then we had short trip to Pantai Carocok and Bukit Langkisau. On the way to Pantai Carocok, we stopped at a stall that sold traditional foods from Pesisir Selatan. Anyway, this is palai bada. Palai bada is made from a kind of ikan teri (anchovy), coconut, and traditional seasoning. It is wrapped in banana leaves and then is grilled on hot charcoal. It’s really tasty.
This fruit reminds me of my childhood. I often bought them when I was in elementary school. In West Sumatra we call them kalimuntiang. I even don’t know what they’re called in bahasa Indonesia. I can only find them in West Sumatra though. My mom said that they could be found in the forest on the hills. I think I can say that they are the “forest fruit” of West Sumatra. 😛 Some friends said that they look like mini manggis (purple mangosteen). But in my opinion, they more like blueberry. However blueberry is sweeter than kalimuntiang.
Yesterday I went to Bukittinggi and ate nasi kapau at Los Lambuang, Pasar Lereng. Los Lambuang (lambuang, lambung = stomach) is an area where you can find many nasi kapau and katupek pical stalls. Nasi kapau is the cuisine of the Minangkabau people, specifically from Kapau, Bukittinggi. The serving style is, after the customer is seated, he or she is asked which dishes they desire. The chosen dishes will be put directly upon the steamed rice or in separate small plates. You only need to ask at least one dish, then you will obtain that dish and other additional dishes such as sayur gulai (vegetable curry), sambal, etc. This time I chose gulai tambunsu. Tambunsu is typical food of Kapau made from beef intestines filled with egg mixture. It’s really delicious. Recommended. 😀
