Food in Indonesia

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Great thread Fred!  Do keep it up please!   

Ubudian wrote:

Great thread Fred!  Do keep it up please!   

I'm going to try to find time to keep it running with new (and some old) photos and videos.
I have one raw vid to edit, and that'll get posted as soon as possible,

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Gimmie that Baaaabi Guling!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaXPEAfhaIk

Only in Bali, and the best in Bali, only in Gianyar Regency.

Did I say YUMMY yet?

I'd love to watch a vegan try to resist this temptation!   

According to Anthony Bourdain…a man who really knows his pork…his experience eating babi guling at Ibu Oka's warung in Ubud was the best pork he's ever had in his life as he declared on his program, No Reservations.

Whoa, coming out from Bourdain, I really should try out that place! Never had the chance to do so!

Well then...on your next trip! 

But, while Ibu Oka's Warung is most famous...all over the Ubud area (as well as other parts of Bali), one can find babi guling.  This is particularly so during the Balinese high holiday of Galungan. 

Enjoy!

Thanks for the info Roy 😊

Sama, sama, (you're very welcome). 

Cheers, and good eating!

What a delicious treats I see here 

I'm craving right now!
Fried rice and baked bananas I'm familiar with but I would love to taste everything else.

Oliver, it took me a bit of thought to realize that you were talking about diving in Amed, and not food in Amed.

I was scratching my head wondering, "where in Amed can one find a good submarine?"  Submarines being a common term in my old culture for "submarine sandwich" and that's something I've yet to encounter here in Bali. 

Cheers!   

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Ah, now on to veggies! 

OK!

I come from the land were veggies have never, ever been either much appreciated, or properly cooked.  Either they are way, way too overcooked, (and pre-digested) as in the famed “greens” of the South, or they came out of a can.

I AGREE!  Here in Indonesia, veggies are a joy, a real delight, and ultra flavorful.  They are fresh, minimally cooked, and utterly rich in both aroma and flavor to the palate. 

I'm the sort who lives to eat, rather than eating to live.  I LOVE good food.  And, since moving here so many years ago, my diet is far, far more healthy than when I lived in the states.  Of that, I have no doubt, (and my periodic blood work attests to that fact).

YES!  Bring on those veggies (and the babi guling too, please) !

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Oh dear!

Nobody I know ever eats pre-made and blended sambal (your post #28).  Well, maybe at McDonalds or Burger King, but never, ever at home.   

On the contrary, here in Bali, that sound you hear in the wee hours of the morning…the chop chop noise, and the obnoxious smell of shrimp paste…that is all part of the daily ritual of making the sambal for the family meals of the day. 

We pride ourselves on an almost endless variety of sambals…each with their own flavor and each with their own level of Scoville units. 

I love them all, but I think my favorite would be sambal matah, which is quite extraordinary here in Bali.  Some photos:

https://www.google.co.id/search?q=samba … C9AQsAQILA

Amigo, you need to come to Bali...if only to have some of my mother in law, or wife's cooking.  You will never be the same again!   

As a quick follow up...

I could be easily convinced into believing that in the big cities of Indonesia (obviously like Jakarta), that it's very difficult to find food at restaurants or warungs that hold to the same quality of what is expected in the traditional Indonesian home.

Once removed from the “hustle and bustle” of the big cities, there is that element of care, taking the time, and having the pride that goes into preparing food. 

In Bali, that care and pride is most evident within family compounds.  And, given that the typical Balinese compound is most often home to several generations, wives, and brothers, (lots of people), the effort required for “home cooking” is readily available. 
Outside of Bali, I highly suspect that what I say also holds as very true…be it Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi…etc., etc.     

For a warung, or restaurant to succeed here in Bali, (assuming they are including locals as part of their target market), their quality…which means their choice of products to be cooked, as well as the method) must be very close, if not the same, as what would be experienced at home.

Ubudian wrote:

I could be easily convinced into believing that in the big cities of Indonesia (obviously like Jakarta), that it's very difficult to find food at restaurants or warungs that hold to the same quality of what is expected in the traditional Indonesian home.

Not so ... ish

Whilst a lot of food is pretty much run of the mill average stuff (and some total rubbish), there are plenty of small places with top quality food available.
It's a 'suck it and see' sort of thing where you have to visit places you like the look of and give them a try.
My unashamed advert for SS is noted because the food in their places is spectacular.

Sure, it's natural to think what you say.  But I'll bet large amounts of money that the average Indonesian living and working in Jakarta…but coming from other areas of Indonesia, would say without hesitation, or a tiny bit of reservation that “there's no place like home.”  And that of course, includes the food.

This opinion is not really my own…although I must say I've never had what I would call a truly memorable meal in Jakarata…but rather from my family members who have at one time lived and worked in Jakarta for a period of time…including my wife.

Check out the Anthony Bourdain episode on Indonesia from the series, No Reservations, (which begins in Jakarta) and ends in Bali. 

But hey, in the end, this is all just opinion (and a matter of taste), no pun intended. 

Anthony Bourdain almost vomited and said that Durian is one of the most disgusting things he'd ever eaten. Proves it's all a matter of personal taste guys. By the way, Jakarta does have some excellent restaurants, as do all cities and towns and probably villages throughout the whole of Indonesia.

“Anthony Bourdain almost vomited and said that Durian is one of the most disgusting things he'd ever eaten.”

   And I couldn't agree with him more!    But that has nothing to do with Indonesian cooking. 

If you watched the episode, then you already know that he declared Bali's babi guling as the absolute, best pork/pig he has ever, ever eaten.  And that man has eaten pork virtually the world over.

Just Google for yourself!  I'm not making this up. 

Elsewhere on this forum...some posts ago, I listed the top ten restaurants in Indonesia.  Nine out of ten where in Bali (one was in Jakarta).  Also, from that same source, three of the top restaurants in all of Asia were here in Bali...and none of them elsewhere in Indonesia. 

Opinion?  Yes indeed, but IMHO, at least a very informed opinion. 

There are some great restaurants in Bali, I always eat well when I am there which is several times a year.

As for pork, never been a big fan of it even when I was little. These days it's for other reasons. But I don't eat fat or gristle and never have done. And pork tends to have a lot of fat in it. That's why I mostly eat chicken and fish dishes. I guess it was pork sausages and all the gristly bits in it and those big tins of processed ham with fat and gristle and jelly around the edges that put me off pork when I was a kid.

Still, I'm sure pork lovers adore babi guling.

Ubudian wrote:

Sure, it's natural to think what you say.  But I'll bet large amounts of money that the average Indonesian living and working in Jakarta…but coming from other areas of Indonesia, would say without hesitation, or a tiny bit of reservation that “there's no place like home.”  And that of course, includes the food.

That's going to be true of many, especially those away from home and their favourite local dishes, but the thread is aimed mostly at expats who might like to see the range of food available in my lovely Indonesia.

I haven't seen much talk about Nasi Padang so far. So I would just like to emphasize how incredibly delicious it is. It is also probably one of the most unhealthy foods in Indonesia as it is made with lots and lots of coconut milk but it is the best.

I've spent a lot of time trying out many of the Nasi Padang restaurants in Bandung and finally decided on the best, which also happens to make the best most delicious and tender rendang.

Any expats who haven't yet tried it, just go for it. you won't be disappointed.

Padang food, sitting on shelves in front of windows, totally exposed to the sun for hours, if not days.

This was the setting of Anthony Bourdains's No Reservations, episode 12 of season 2. 

http://www.tv.com/shows/anthony-bourdai … ia-772245/

Two cameramen shot the episode, one positioned very close to the shelves of food in the window.  Opps!  He knocks into the top shelf, and they all come crashing down.  This is a hilarious episode to watch.

There are well over 500 restaurants or warungs serving food in the Ubud district and tracked by Trip Adisory.  Two of those serve Padang food.  Go figure.