Asia to Oceania... CJWDT'13 Euphroiania grand tour last stop in Asia, Indonesia! So... when I decided to go to Indonesia, I had two options, Jakarta or Bali!! I mean it would be cool to go to small towns, suburb & country side, but..... I'm a big city boy(laugh), so... Jakarta VS Bali!! According to my research, Bali seems like having more interesting fine-dining restaurants(least for me), but I figured it's quite hard to get around by public transportation + last minutes I knew my friend from Australia is in Jakarta. So.... Aller, Jakarta!
On my first
day, I was little cracked up by huge loooooong(wrong) traffic jam,
even wikipedia warned me(a bitter smile). It took 3-4hrs from
the airport to check-in....I mean I heard "supposed to"
take 45mins + flight from Singapore to Jakarta takes only 1.5hrs.....
Well, welcome to the concrete jangle! Unfortunately no
luck in staging, so just hang out for 6nights with my old friend & Munch'em!!
As I have been Philippine, Malaysia & Singapore, many of
Indonesian dishes seems familiar to me such as Mie goreng, Nasi
campur, Rendang, Lumpia, Rujak, Otak otak, Chendol, e.t.c.... It
made me realize this 2.5 months Asian tour expand my knowledge, my
flavor profile & creativity. Laos, Myanmar, North Korea, Still way to
go to conquer Asia...... India to Japan CJWDT Middle East/Asia tour!!! WILL C soon or later......
Munch N'
Inspiration
Satay: Maybe
I should talk about Nasi goreng, more "national dish of
Indonesia", but mmm.... my inspiration doesn't 'channel'
with Nasi goreng for now(a bitter smile), so the substitution in, Satay! Chicken with
Peanuts sauce, how exciting!!! Well...... I
used to present full new tasting menu(9-12 courses) each months at Baume, and one
dish is called "Nuts house" which is named after the
bar where Baumese regular hang out. It was the
dessert presenting nuts 5 ways. And... now I think I wanna try
it as savory dish. I generally love all kinds of nuts, it always give another dimension into the dish, so I think nuts
should deserve center stage with spotlight!! So.. with 'satay' as one of 4/5 bites would
be..... I say the spoon of peanuts risotto with
chicken floss... I used pork floss in 'China pig' dish and love the flavor, looks and texture. So I want to try to invent my floss technique , will see.....
Tempeh: In Japan, bean is called "meat of the mountain" and ther're tons of bean product such as soy milk, yuba, okara, natto(my favorite!!) .... and here is Tempeh, fermented soy bean cake originally from Indonesia. As tofu got known as much as Sushi, tempeh isn't known as much as tofu. As long as flavor comparison goes, I like Tempeh much more than tofu. I would describe tofu is like "moon"(陰), silky, smooth and subtle, and tempeh is like "sun"(陽) firm, chewy & nutty. Unfortunately I couldn't get the chance to try, but there are many kinds of tempeh in Indonesia, pressed with coconuts, peanuts & others. I would like to give some flippin' freakin' & flappin' some classic tofu dish into soigne tempeh dish.
Indonesia restaurants:
Indonesia culinary web links:
Start from Milan on May 5th.... is this FINALLY the end of CJWDT'13 Euphoriania grand tour!? And where is culinary metal vagabond? / what he been doing? / if he got the job? All the answer will be revealed..... CJWDT: Australia'13-14.......... NEXT!!