Food is very important to Indonesians. Its not just the consuming of food, but the preparation. Ika is as happy as Larry sitting on the kitchen floor with her sister pulling the chunks of corn off the cob to make soup. Balinese people, although they do not generally have a culture that makes eating together a rule, often get excited when I mention babi guling (suckling pig).
Imagine the horror then, when Jakarta TV reports that tofu and fish sellers are using formadihyde to preserve their goods. Many people have already boycotted tofu, making the honest tofu sellers virtually bankrupt. I have eaten things from street vendors, but steer clear of the ’salmanella cart’ (bakso), which serves a spicy soup with meat balls. Just what is in those meatballs I haven’t a clue.
IndCoup reports that Trans TV, the same company as before interviewed one bakso vendor who admitted using rat meat!!! That’s pretty disgusting, but like IndCoup says, rat meat is probably less damaging than formadihyde.
Ika told me a pretty disgusting thing one time about fish. Apparently there is a fish they all love and people grow them inside septic tanks. I wouldn’t eat a fish if I knew it had been swimming anywhere near a sewage outlet. In this case they are inside the tank!
For most visitors to Bali all this stuff won’t affect you. Ocean fish like snapper, tuna etc live in clean water. We are on the ocean so no need to do silly things. In my 3 years in Bali I have gotten sick twice only and enjoy Indonesian food a great deal.
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I had some Bakso from a motorbike vendor in Kintimani. I quite liked it but after reading what you wrote about the rat meat I will never eat it again. It is a good thing that it has been a couple of months since so I don’t feel sick.
I love the food from the carts & the padang stalls where they lavish the table with bowls & dishes, you eat what you want & the rest goes back for the next customer!
I have never been ill from food in Bali, our meals are 75% from carts or stalls!!
Haha I ate at maccas i got sick and once I ate at an expensive resturant and guess what? I got sick. It was then I learnt that like in most other countries resturants in Bali dont always use fresh ingredients..surprise surprise. I also eat at food carts and warungs and have never even felt sick from them and to be honest find the food to taste so much nicer.
As for Bakso if you ate it and you liked it and you didnt get sick or die from it, who really cares what the meat is? I love it. But to be honest with ya I wouldn’t order fish that swim in shit tho.
thanks for the link dude.
Best to stick to restaurants rather than the food carts.
And remember - nothing tastes better than home cooking!
cheers