I know it’s been a while since I have posted any entries and that is down to business trips in foreign climes. Recently I was sent to Indonesia and thought I would take the opportunity to try a few of the local dishes. I also happened to be alone on this business trip so thought it would make the perfect blog entry!
One thing I did notice is that it is super easy to feel comfortable alone when you are a tourist. The locals are staring at you from the moment you get off the plane and walk around their city so a single woman eating alone is just something to add to the strange things foreigners do. Or at least that is what I told myself. In any event I doubt I will ever go to Bandung again. It took 4.5 hours to travel the 130km distance from Jakarta to Bandung in a taxi and that was not even in rush hour! Lucky for me I have a very strong constitution and just happened to be dehydrated after my long flight from Europe.
Anyway on the last day of my two day business trip in Indonesia, I decided to try Nasi Goreng. Apparently I am in very good company as this is reputedly President Obama’s favourite dish when he visits Indonesia.
It is a sensory delight and a myriad of flavours and textures. It is crunchy given the peanut cracker that gave such a loud crack when I bit into it that I quickly ran my tongue around my teeth to check nothing was broken. Then there is the pounded beef that looks like angel dust, the chicken and lamb skewers doused in a slightly preppery satay sauce. However the bang is really left for the last discovery of the chicken fried rice which was a mixture of chicken and chillis mixed to perfection. I daren’t taste the chilli sauce. There was enough heat in the rice and satay sauce for me.
It took me a good hour to get through the plate of food you see in the left hand side of the screen. I wanted to savour ever facet of Indonesian cuisine present on my plate. One word of warning though if you are allergic to peanuts, Indonesian cuisine would be hell on a plate. Everything contains peanuts!
I had no room for dessert. I had conquered the dish and was content to drink my star fruit juice, apparently good for high blood pressure. With all the heat from the chillis in my dish, I think my heart was grateful of the starfruit juice which was slightly sweet, slightly sour. I highly recommend the President’s favourite Indonesian dish!
Jesus, I love Nasi Goreng!!