Food Glossary: Mie Goreng

Mie Goreng is the noodle version of Nasi Goreng and also extremely popular across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.  In my opinion not quite as satisfying as Nasi Goreng but still a great option that can be found on any street corner.

Review: Via Via, Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia

Cozy, welcoming, funky music, arty walls, attractive and comfortable setting, friendly staff, free wi-fi, information about interesting social activities in the area, sustainable tourism, sensational smoothies, social and meeting place, and delicious food ….these are all suitable descriptors for Via Via café.  After discovering this café on our first evening in Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta or known to many as Jogja) we made multiple return visits as do most who go!  The café has an irresistible lure that just keeps pulling you back!

Yogyakarta, one of the oldest cities in Indonesia and known as the ‘cultural heart’ of Java, is a great little city with a lot going on and a real buzz to it.  In addition it is very popular due to its proximity to the amazing Borobudur and Prambanan temples.  After travelling for 2 days on bus, ferry, bus, and train we arrived from Bali, via Surabaya and stayed in the popular backpacker area of Jalan Prawirotaman.  This area was perfect as there are lots of nice little cafes around and it is easy to arrange things and get around from here.

Via Via cafes can be found from Indonesia to Latin America; from Africa to Europe.  They call themselves ‘traveler’s cafes in the far corners of the world’ where travellers can ‘rinse off the dust of the road and meet travellers and locals.’  As a social enterprise the idea for Via Via was born in 1994 over a camp fire by a group of Belgian friends who were worried about the impact of growing mass tourism on the environment and local people.  So Via Via was established with sustainable tourism in mind and each cafe has been set up in synch with its unique specific environment in mind with the menu's boasting local delicacies and ingredients and activities ranging from tango lessons in Argentina, to motorbike temple tours in Indonesia.  Along with this the cafes host live music, debates, and other events.

Part of the Via Via profits go towards supporting educational, social and cultural projects in Yogyakarta so it's nice to know that your money is going towards worthwhile projects as well as tasty food.  From Via Via not only did we immensely enjoy the diverse range of food available to order, but we also booked a fascinating and fun batik course with a local producer and a cooking course with their in-house teacher and chef.

The cooking course was amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.  Of all the cooking courses I have

now attended in Asia this has to be my favourite because it was just the two of us with the teacher and it didn’t have the regimented/slightly conveyor belt feel that some lessons can have.  We selected a starter, main and dessert to learn but our teacher added in a few more recipes around what we had selected so we came away with many more cooking ideas!

She was a real mum sort of character, warm, friendly and really easy-going.  The lesson takes place on the roof of Via Via where they have café seating and another kitchen which is used primarily for the lessons.  At the end of the lesson you get to enjoy feasting on all the delights you have made.  We had so much food that they offered to keep it overnight for us so that we could come back the following day for lunch and have the leftovers!  This was amazing value as for just 14 dollars, we had an in-depth and hands on cooking lesson as well as two really tasty meals!

During our lesson we learnt how to make the following:  

• Nasi Goreng
• Terong Balado (Aubergine/eggplant in a spicy marinade)
• Ayam Goreng Kalasan (Chicken in a tamarind based marinade)
• Tempe Curry
• Krupuk

As I recreate these dishes in the UK I will post recipes and share secrets!

Review: Casa Luna, Sanur, Bali, Indonesia

We arrived in Sanur, Bali after spending a few days on Lombok and met up with James’ parents.  Sanur is a fairly small beach town with mainly up market hotels and resorts on offer.  The nice thing about Sanur is that it is not as crowded and expensive as down on the southern peninsula and there are not hawker’s every minute trying to sell you every type of water activity or tour going!  However, there is still a fair amount of tourism and so taxi driver’s are always around ready to take you around the island at your will!

Due to the touristy/resort nature of Bali I think it is harder to make decisions on where to eat at it can be very hit and miss in places like this.  We luckily stumbled upon the Casa Luna on one of our first evenings out in Sanur and we were all very pleased with the results.  The restaurant has a relaxed atmosphere and there is usually a band playing (sometimes better than others!) so maybe linger for a few moments to ensure you can cope with the music whilst eating!

Casa Luna makes it very easy for a group of people with different tastes to eat in as it serves traditional food as well as some more western offerings.  It also makes sampling Balinese delicacy’s such as Babi Guling and Bebek Betutu accessible of which we sampled both in the Casa Luna.  Although it is not the raw experience of eating in a small local restaurant specialising in just the suckling pig they do a great job with the dish and it is served beautifully.  You usually need to give 24 hours notice to the restaurant for this dish and it easily serves two people so remember these details if you have your heart set on the dish.  The variety of pork on the dish is amazing and each with such a different flavour and texture.  We devoured the mouth watering platter and definitely could have repeated this another evening!

In addition to these two delicious meat dishes we also sampled nasi goring, sesame chicken, fish and some soups here and all were superb.  With friendly staff and reasonable prices you cant ask for much more.

Review: Scallywags, Gili Trawangan, Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia!

Imagine crystal turquoise and deep blue seas, fine white sand beaches, chilled out sounds of reggae music, the tinkle of a bicycle bell, the sound of horse hooves trotting along, the laughter of playing children and the smells of sate and sambal….welcome to the Gili Islands!

The Gili Islands were our first stop in Indonesia and they were a fantastic choice to relax and prepare for our adventures in Asia.  To get to the islands you have to fly to Bali and then take a taxi and boat over. The taxi from the airport to Padangbai port takes about 2 – 4 hours depending on the time of day and the traffic.From Padangbai you can take a ‘fast boat’ which takes an hour to the Gili’s and arrive in 2 hours! There are 3 islands making up the Gili’s – Air, Meno and Trawangan and the boat stops the Air and the latter.  If you want to go to Meno you need to charter a boat or take the taxi boat from one of the larger two islands.

Picture from Wikitravel; Gili Islands

Gili Trawangan receives the most tourist traffic currently, but don’t let this put you off as when we arrived we were surprised that is was not overrun and had a great feel to it.  If you wonder to the left when you leave the boat you will come across the ‘noisy’ area of the island, where the bars are as well as guesthouses.  The luxury hotels are also at the far end when walking in this direction.  If you walk right as we happened to it’s a bit more relaxed and quiet and there aren’t really bars that come alive at night. There are more day time beach bars and cafes with cushions on the beach serving smoothies and beers.

We found a great little place to stay for under $5 and it was perfect.  From there we chilled out, could wonder over to the beach and snorkel off the beach which was idyllic, and walk and explore the island. The snorkelling here is stunning and I can't recommend it enough…you can swim with turtles if you are patient to find them, but definitely are guaranteed to see hundreds of beautiful brightly coloured fish.

As you are surely now picturing – it’s a hard life here!!  So after all this activity you will find yourself hungry, and when you do there are plenty of options.  We tried out a café called ‘Scallywags’ which looked really inviting and had some good reviews.  This was a good decision as it is comfortable, had a great menu and the food and service were brilliant.  I tried my first nasi goreng here and instantly fell in love with the dish.  As we discovered throughout Indonesia it is hard to find a truly bad nasi goring in Indonesia….however, you can find a few that are really exceptional and stand out and looking back I think this was one of those!  James sampled a more ‘international’ dish of chicken in mushroom and white wine sauce which although was very tasty, was very rich and a large portion so he struggled to finish the whole thing!

However, I would definitely recommend this café for a nice meal and if you need to get onto the internet you can also use wi-fi here whilst enjoying your meal or just drinks.

Food Glossary: Nasi Goreng

Rice is a staple of the Indonesian diet due to the abundance of the crop which you can see growing in beautiful vast rice paddies across its fertile landscape.  Nasi Goreng is actually the national dish of Indonesia and is by far the most popular rice dish available with people eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

It consists of fried rice with spices, sambal, egg, chicken or shrimps, and is usually accompanied by krupuk, sate, and a fried egg.  It really is a great meal, tasty, satisfying and affordable.  There are always slight variations from place to place on how it is served, as well as different degrees of spiciness to keep you on your toes.

Food Glossary: Krupuk

Krupuk is the Indonesian term for prawn or vegetable crackers and they are a frequent appearance on an Indonesian plate of food.  They are made from shrimp with cassava flour, or fish flakes with rice dough, and then cut into slices and fried to a crisp.  Frying them is particularly fun as they take just a few seconds and they take on a life of their own as they curl up, and then un-curl!

Food Glossary: Sambal

Sambal is the chilli based salsa/sauce that accompanies many dishes as well as being used as a cooking sauce and base for many Indonesian dishes.  Traditionally made by pounding together the ingredients in a pestal and mortar although you can also buy some smoother condiment versions of sambal also.  I prefer the fresh home-made variety and it also allows you to control how spicy it is.  I was taught to make it using chilli's, tomato, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, salt and pepper.