An Indonesian Treat

If you think the Philippines is composed of too many islands, think Indonesia. They have twice as much islands, making them the largest archipelago in the world. If you think the Philippines has too many dialects (100++), think Indonesia. They have 500++.

But when it comes to food, we share the same staple. Much like all other asian countries, we can't last a day without serving rice on the table. Today, I wish to share with you our wonderful meal at Indonesian Restaurant in Center City, Philadelphia. Ayeen and Jimmy treated us to a unique and memorable experience of what Indonesian Cuisine is all about. Jimmy is Indonesian and he is a chef. So there goes all the right reasons why this meal was superb!

Like Indonesians, we Filipinos like to use soy sauce, coconut, ginger, and red chili pepper. But I think they like to use peanuts more than we do. Above is a unique salad, Ayeen and I have been raving about even after the meal. It's called Gado Gado. It's tofu, bean sprouts, egg, cabbage, and cucumber in peanut sauce dressing. I think the dressing made all the difference in this salad. The creamy, nutty taste of the peanut sauce made everything on the plate addictive. The crunch of krupuk (shrimp crackers) was a nice contrast to all that creaminess. We shared one big plate of the salad yet no one seemed to want to touch that spoonful of sambal on the same plate!

More dishes came pouring in. We had chicken, lamb, and pork Sate or Satay with peanut sauce. Take a look on what I read in the menu:

• Sate Babi (5 tusuk)
• Sate Kambing (5 tusuk)
  

If you're observant enough, you might have noticed that Tagalog (or Filipino) shares a few similar words with Indonesian (or better yet, Balinese? Javanese? Ok, let's stop there. There's 500 of them, remember?)

Babi (Indonesian) = Baboy (Tagalog/Filipino) = Pig (English)
Kambing (Indonesian) = Kambing (Tagalog/Filipino) = Goat (English)
Tusuk (Indonesian) = Tusok (Tagalog/Filipino) = Skewer (English)

Ok, moving on to the next dish....

Nasi Goreng is fried rice. Above is fried rice with some noodles and veggies. Another appetizer is Tahu Berontak, which is tofu filled with bean sprouts and bamboo shoots, then dipped in a batter, then deep fried till golden brown. Cap Jai Special is like the Filipino-Chinese Chopseuy. It is a medley of vegetables and meat, but only more soupy.

Every mouthful of these dishes tasted just right. I hardly considered adding any more table salt on any of these because they tasted somehow familiar and comforting.

Above is Ayam Goreng Kalasan, an interesting variation of Fried Chicken. I remember this very well because I have never heard of marinating chicken in coconut water!

Time for dessert. We had three! We got spoiled by Jimmy and Ayeen. Wheee!

Es Soda Gembira is sparkling water with raspberry syrup and condensed milk. What's not to like about this drink, eh? It was a good choice.

Angslei is mung beans (monggo beans), tapioca pearls, and shredded pearl in coconut milk, served warm. I like this very much because I like monggo. I remember how my mom used to make monggo and milk for me, as a snack -- my childhood favorite. And since this (Angslei) was served warm, I felt warm inside. Pun intended.

The last dessert was Es Shanghai which had tropical fruits and shredded jelly on crushed ice and milk. Very much similar to our Halo-halo.

The last photo (far right) is the interior of the restaurant. The only descriptive words I could think of are: earthy, brown, and polished.

Trying out new cuisine never fails to excite the neurons in my brain. More than just the new (or familiar) tastes, I feel empowered to see the world through food. If you are already an adventurous eater, good for you. If not, well.. you're missing a lot. I am glad to have friends Jimmy and Ayeen who enjoy food as much as I do!

It's a Jerk, jerk!

Have you had Jamaican food before? If you're like me, the closest thing you might have had was a Jamaican Patty sold in food stalls in the malls of Manila. It costs about 45 pesos a piece (if my memory serves me right).

Ayeen took us to Jamaican Jerk Hut in Center City, Philadelphia. (I wrote two entries about Philadelphia here and here.) Above was my Jerk Chicken Platter and I had it all to myself. You think it looks like a lot? Yes, it really is a lot of chicken for my small tummy. (Yeah, right!) Well, it really is a lot too spicy for my taste. But hey, I was there to experience what Jamaican Jerk is all about. So, bring it on!

I knew that Jamaican food is very spicy. I've seen Bobby Flay's throwdown with a popular Jamaican chef on Food Network. They use habanero chili peppers in Jerks! Yikes! I say yikes because habanero is one of the spiciest on the planet (unless, ofcourse, you're from another planet).

"Jerk" actually refers to a pungent blend of spices rubbed into meat before roasting or grilling. Thus the color of my chicken. It was so dark that it looks like it was marinated in soy sauce. So I said to myself, "It's a Jerk, jerk!"

The slices of fried plantains (or saging na saba) was an excellent contrast to all that heat going on. The poached shreds of cabbage cleansed my palate. I am so glad there was rice. It made the chicken bearable to eat. Wooho! Hot! Hot!


My bottle of Jamaican Cream Soda truly served its purpose of putting out the fire on my tongue. I like the Cream Soda. Cream soda is another name for root beer. But this one is a colorless root beer. Sweet!

But you know what? I recently found a bottle of the Jamaican Cream Soda on the shelves of the Filipino grocer I regularly go to here in Illinois. Ofcourse, it costed a lot less.

Cheers to more Jamaican food! I want more!

Finally, a Funnel cake

This is a funnel cake. The first time I saw one was in the streets of Evanston during its Summer Street Fair. They called it Fried Coke. Huh?! We asked what it was and the lady said it's just funnel cake but they used Coke instead of water. Hmmm... okay. It costed $8.00 so I ordered for a more filling Polish sausage with sauerkraut instead.



Finally, I had a taste of the funnel cake in Atlantic City. My friend sweet_sentiments has a sweet tooth and she never leaves Atlantic City without having her funnel cake fix.

It's simply a batter of the basic flour-eggs-milk-baking powder mixture. All combined and poured into hot oil. It's deep-fried and mightily sprinkled with powdered sugar. Healthy? Ofcourse not! Good? Yup. The funnel cake is popularly sold in carnivals or street fairs... just like its sinful cousins cotton candy, and ice cream.

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Update:
I just realized I should have looked for saltwater taffy while I was in Atlantic City! I first heard of it from Ross in Friends. Yes, the TV comedy series. Then I've been seeing it in the Food Network. Hmmm... another item to add in my //To Try list.

Throw Me Away

The old saute pan is now in where it belongs -- the garbage bin. Yes, that's right. I threw away the 10-year-old hand-me-down pan last night. Would you believe it used to be a friend's boyfriend's college Turkish roommate's everyday pan? (Ok, feel free to read that last sentence again. Hehe!)

I just bought my first brand new saute pan last night!!! (It's very shiny! Wheee!)

I got it 50% less at TJ Maxx light night. Just $25. (There goes my TJ Maxx moment.) Not bad for a, ahemm, Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless Steel. I am still smiling as I write this.

So what's the first thing I made on it? Fried rice for today's breakfast! First, I scrambled some eggs that I would add into my fried rice. As I poured the beaten eggs into the pan, I noticed an even cooking of the egg. Whoah! I'm impressed! With the old pan, it's the middle part that gets cooked first (the part that's right on top of the flame). I took the scrambled eggs out of the pan and added oil to brown sliced hotdogs. I added minced garlic and they all browned at the same time no matter where I put them around the pan! Yey! Cold two-day-old rice in. Green peas in. Scrambled eggs in. Seasonings in. Now my first meal with my Cuisinart is ready!


As I enjoy every mouthful of my fried rice, I remember the badly scratched bottom of the old pan with its black coating peeling off of it. Ewww! I shudder at the thought of whatever harmful chemicals we might have been eating because of it.

Now, I feel great that I threw away that old pan.