Today I rode along Jl. Teuku Umar in Denpasar and stopped for some food. People often tell me there is great food in Denpasar, but I've never had it. Teuku umar is lined with places advertising food from all over the country, Malang, Madura, Jember, etc. I stopped at a place advertising masakan khas Betawi (Jakarta style food). Not having a clue what Jakarta style food was I ordered a teh panas (hot tea) and ayam goring (fried chicken). The place was very simply designed, a typical street side restaurant with cheap table and chairs and no decor. The waitresses told me they were form Jakarta and by the clientele and the boss I could tell they were probably Chinese Indonesians. Before long a tray of assorted items, roasted in banana leaves showed up. I didn't order them but started eating anyway. The contents of the long thin rolls tasted like sago or something, and the fat rolls were made of rice and contained potato, carrot and beef. They were accompanied by a heated bottle of sauce and a small dish. I gobbled them as they were enak!
After stuffing myself, the main dish showed up and I had to ask to get it 'bunkus' (to go). The waitress told me the pre-game snacks came from Mentawai, the islands off of the west coast of northern Sumatra. The thin items are called otak otak and the fat ones alim alim.
My bill was 28,000rp and they did charge for the snacks, but I think that is the tradition is this restaurant. The snacks were good anyhow and I might take Ika there sometime.
Thinking back I was in the Mentawai islands myself in 1993. I did a 10 jungle hike through Siberut and village people, dressed only in loin cloths, cookeds the otak otak for us. I remember one time sitting in a longhouse on stilts in the middle of the jungle, this guy handed me a few of the banana clad snacks. They has the consistency of rice, but tasted like bread and cheese. I remember saying to my friend Mark, that it was so nice of the guy to put cheese in it for us, and that Pizza Hut should start selling these. Of course there was no cheese, it was made of sago and coconut. Enak sekali!
Arriving home in Seminyak I presented the take away food to Ika and asked if she could guess what I had brought. After approximately 2 seconds she said "Nasi and ayam goreng" (Rice and fried chicken). I asked how she could tell so fast and she grinned and said "I can smell it." That ayam goreng didn't last long!
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Nick,
The main ingredient in otak-otak is usually mackerel or tuna fish paste. Otak-otak is usually served with rich peanut sauce. You dip the otak-otak in the sauce before eating it.
From the picture above, it looks like they gave you bottled chilli sauce instead. There are not too many peanut sauce products ready for use off the bottle.
I have no idea what alim-alim is. It looks like a rice cake with veggies inside.
nick, take away in indonesia is not “bunkus”
but “bungkus”
and alim-alim is like lontong, but not the plain lontong, it’s lontong that filled in with some veg n beef.
and hey, i’m so jealous of your nice adventure at mentawai!… >.<
it must be so great..
Aww man, Nick, you make me hungry. My mouth is watering.
You live in a country with so much choice, so many warungs, quick and yummy cheap food. Fresh tropical fruits.
All I have around me is Mr.Submarine, Golden Arches, & KFC, which is a good 15 minutes drive away.