Kerupuk

When you go to an Indonesian restaurant, don’t be surprised to see a plate of kerupuk on your table.

Kerupuk (pronounced as kahroopook) is a deep fried cracker to be eaten with your meal. It is usually made from tapioca flour mixed with other ingredients such as prawn or fish, which are the most common ones.

However in Indonesia, there are so many varieties of kerupuk that there is even kerupuk made from dried cow skin!

Kerupuk is such a common product in Indonesia that for those die-hard fans, they cannot have a meal without it.
I remember a friend of mine who, when studying abroad, ate chips as a replacement  for kerupuk with his meal just so that he can have some “crunch”.

Kerupuk can also be eaten separately; just add a bit of sambal on top of it and it becomes a delicious snack :)

Cake Fads in 2012

2012 saw 2 cakes popping up in the Jakarta scene: Red Velvet cake and Rainbow cake. When they first appeared, people were willing to que for hours in order to try these cakes.




Both of these cakes are originally from America, if I'm not mistaken. Red Velvet cake is named after its red velvety appearance while Rainbow cake has layers inside according to the colours of the rainbow.

 

I'm not a food lover so I wasn't that intrigued to try the cakes. After the ques were no longer in sight, I tried the famous rainbow cake made by the The Goods Dept cafe. I must say it was nice, but for a slice which costed me Rp. 60,000 (equal to 3 times lunch at KFC), I think trying it that one time is enough :) 

Nowadays, almost all cake shops or cafes in Jakarta have these cakes available. But of course, the level of "deliciousness" will be different :)

Source pic: Red Velvet cake http://anakjajan.com/2012/02/13/red-velvet-cake-jakarta/ 
Source pic: Rainbow cake http://culinarybonanza.blogspot.com/2012/05/lunch-promo-and-rainbow-cake-at-goods.html

Bubble Tea

Source pic: Wikipedia

A happening drink lately in Jakarta is Bubble Tea. This drink is by no means a traditional Indonesian drink, it actually comes from Taiwan. This drink is also not entirely new, two famous bubble tea brands "Quickly" and "Hop Hop" have been in Indonesia for years now. But recently, various bubble tea brands have been popping up across malls in Jakarta.

I must say, I'm a fan of bubble tea ever since I tried this drink when I was still attending college abroad. But current bubble tea stalls have made the act of buying bubble tea an "art" as you can customize your drink starting from choosing the flavour, to the type of topping, the temperature of the drink and even its sweetness level.

So how many bubble tea brands are there now in Jakarta? Here are just a few useful links I loved reading (now these bloggers are true bubble tea fans):

http://thefoodgazette.blogspot.com/2012/04/bubble-tea-bars-compared.html

http://only1ivy.blogspot.com/2012/06/bubble-tea-fever-in-jakarta-which-one.html

http://ohmygoodfood.blogspot.com/2012/09/bubble-tea-in-jakarta.html

Indonesia's best dishes

I stumbled across an interesting article yesterday on cnngo.com where CNNGo readers voted Rendang as the most delicious food in the world. 

Rendang

Rendang is a meat dish originally from West Sumatra. The meat is slowly cooked for hours in a mixture of coconut milk and other spices. You can find it easily across Indonesia (and even in Singapore and Malaysia!), especially when you go to a Rumah Makan Padang (Padang food restaurant).

Interestingly, CNNGo then made another article featuring 40 of Indonesia's best dishes and also suggested restaurants to try them when in Indonesia. Very useful as an introduction to Indonesian cuisine!

All pics from CNNGo.com 

Bakso

Satay

Ayam goreng sambal

Soto

Discounts on the Net

Do you agree or disagree: It never hurts to be thrifty :)

If you agree, you may want to check out this website: http://www.livingsocial.co.id

This used to be a site called DealKeren, however it has change management I guess. This site offers discounts for mainly restaurants but there are also offers related to well-being and travel.

I have used it a couple of times and it worked out well. Just a tip though, you really need to think before buying. It is easy to be tempted to buy things you don't need or more vouchers than you actually need.

There are other similar sites as well. However I haven't tried them out yet:
http://www.evoucher.co.id
http://www.ogahrugi.com
http://www.diskonheboh.com
http://www.disdus.com 

http://www.akupluskamu.com

And this site is dedicated to travel offers: http://www.valadoo.com

Spend wisely!

Bone Marrow soup

I tried this quirky food during my stay in Medan. My cousins asked whether I like bone marrow soup and I replied "Yes!" even though I had never tried one but I said that because I do like to suck the bone marrow after eating fried chicken. I thought it would be something similar.

They brought me to "Sop Sumsum Langsa" which is quite famous for its bone marrow soup. Even Bondan Winarno, an Indonesian culinary expert, recommended this place in one of his articles.

When the soup actually came, I was quite surprise to see this huge bone on my plate. The bone is from a cow's leg because the bone marrow is plenty and easier to process.

The way you eat it is by "slurping" the bone marrow using the straw.

Because it was not what I expected, it did take some time for me to get over the psychological barrier of slurping white gooey stuff out of a cow's leg. With every slurp, I couldn't stop thinking how this must be high in cholesterol! So I didn't enjoy it that much, but it was quite an experience. If you get the chance, please try it!

Indonesia = tea nation?

I once had a Philipino colleague, and every time we went out for lunch, she always ordered Coke or Pepsi, while the rest of us ordered "teh tawar" (sugarless tea) or "es teh manis" (sweet ice tea).

She never could get used to the idea of washing down a meal with tea, while in Indonesia it is a common thing. The tea is not served in small tea cups, they are usually served in tall glasses/mugs.

I guess you can say that tea in Indonesia is like softdrink to Americans.

There are many ready-to-drink (RTD) tea products. The major one is Tehbotol, from the Indonesian company Sosro. It is also the first bottled tea in the market. Actually, the name "Tehbotol" literally translates into bottled tea. Their slogan is : "Apapun makanannya, minumnya Tehbotol Sosro", meaning "Whatever your meal is, your drink is Tehbotol"....which actually sums up pretty nicely how Indonesians view tea in general as part of their meal. However, this is usually when dining outside. When at home, water is still the main drink.

RTD teas in Indonesia is dominated by black teas. Recently, many of the black tea manufacturers also launch green tea versions and flavoured tea.

Even Coca-Cola capitalizes on this by manufacturing Frestea. I don't think they sell this brand anywhere else in the world.

Besides different types and brands, the manufacturers of RTD tea also give consumers the choice to choose from different packaging formats : you have the glass bottle version (RGB), tetra pack (carton), PET (plastic), can and cup.

So...do you think it's justifiable to say that Indonesia is a "tea nation"?

Note : I always thought of Tehbotol as being black tea, but after writing this entry, I read in their website, that actually Tehbotol is made of green tea. Does anyone have any info?

Rambutan - the "hairy" fruit

I recently read in the newspaper that Barack Obama misses several Indonesian delicacies : Nasi goreng, Bakso and Rambutan. Well, he better hurry up because it is currently the harvest season for rambutan!

Rambutan is a fruit the size of a golf ball. The skin is "hairy", thus its name "rambutan" (rambut=hair). When it is ripe, the skin's colour turns from green to red. It then has a very sweet taste. However, there is a kind of rambutan that is known for its sweet taste eventhough it is still yellowish : Rambutan Rapia.

Luckily, I have a Rambutan Rapia tree in my backyard and since it is rambutan season, today we were plucking away!

Left : Hanging on the trees; Right : Hitting the branches with a bamboo stick so that the fruit falls down

Rambutan rapia has thicker hair compared to other types of rambutan

To eat the fruit, you must open the skin. Opening the skin can be done just by using your hands

J.Co Donuts

After writing about Indonesia's local burger, this time I want to introduce Indonesia's local donut : J.Co.

J.Co Donuts & Coffee is owned by Johnny Andrean.
Johnny Andrean is an Indonesian hairstylist, renowned for his beauty salon chain (named after himself) : "Johnny Andrean".

He first went into the food industry in 2003 by opening BreadTalk, a Singaporean bakery franchise, in Jakarta. The franchise proved to be a success with long lines of people wanting to buy the bread. This became a talked about phenomenon.

After the success of BreadTalk, Johnny Andrean eventually opened the first J.Co outlet in June 2005. This was not just something he did in the spur of BreadTalk's success (although I do think that naturally he was a bit influenced, you can see by the open kitchen concept J.Co adopts, similar to BreadTalk's). Before launching the donuts, he did extensive research to get the delicious J.Co taste and decide on the flavors. And the results paid off.

J.Co Donuts now has outlets not only in Indonesia, but also in Malaysia & Singapore.

Personal Note :

I think J.Co tastes better than Dunkin Donuts. It is more light & the dough is more soft. Dunkin has a more thick taste to it. Another advantage of J.Co to Dunkin is that J.Co has more variety. Dunkin, being the only donut company at the time, may have gotten lazy thus when J.Co came with many flavors that suited the Indonesian tongue, it became a breath of fresh-air.

Nowadays, J.Co seems to have topped Dunkin as the number one donut company in Indonesia. I was anxious to see how J.Co would do after Krispy Kreme eventually entered the Indonesian market in 2006. But it turns out that J.Co Donuts are still popular. I have tried Krispy Kreme and I think it tastes too sweet. I guess I wasn't the only one thinking this, because eventually Krispy Kreme came out with new flavors that were promoted as "less sweet".

For more info on J.Co donuts, please go to their website : http://www.jcodonuts.com/

Blenger Burger

Address : Jalan Lamandau IV, Blok M

With all the commotion of Burger King re-opening in Jakarta, I'd like to ask you : Have you ever tried Jakarta's own local grilled-burger? Have you ever even heard of any?

If you answered no, please try "Blenger Burger", located in the Blok M area (which so happens to be conveniently near my house :) ). This burger is quite famous. Considering you can already buy one for around Rp. 10.000,-, it is very value for money. The size is quite big with lettuce, kyuri & onion to add more flavour + .... melted cheese (my favorite...yummyyy...). Besides burger, there is also a choice of hotdogs & juice to quench your thirst.

The only downside is that there are only a few tables to sit down, making this burger best enjoyed if taken home.

Word of Caution :

Blenger Burger opens a bit late : from 12.00 (noon), except Fridays when it opens after the Friday Moslem prayer (13.30).