pho-licious: Bali, Java, Sulawesi

Intimidatingly Tasty

A large, half empty rice bag comes out of the kitchen. Rather than the ubiquitous staple eaten throughout Asia, something rather different is contained within. The side of the bag starts moving. The anticipation rises.

The bag is opened. A huge, blue black arthropod emerges. Bits of coconut follow. It looks at you, hissing, brandishing its enormous coconut-crushing claws. This is Kepiting Kelapa, or the coconut crab. It is an intimidating beast, but it looked intimidatingly tasty. City Extra, in the western part of Manado in Northern Sulawesi, is famous for how they cook this exquisite specimen of seafood.

Firstly, the sauce. Lemongrass, chilli, turmeric, galangal were all in abundance, alongside coconut milk. But the balance was close to perfect – not too spicy, and the flavours of the aromatics complemented the sweetness of the crab, rather than overpowering it.

The meat itself, like any crab, varies in sweetness and texture depending on what parts you choose to devour. The claw was supremely sweet and extremely meaty (understandable for a beast that needs to crush coconuts), the part leading up to the claw was lobster-esque, and the body was tender. But undoubtedly the best part was its eggs (found in the abdomen) which was dispersed amongst the sauce.

These eggs added a subtle sweetness and a slight umami hit to lift the sauce to an elevated level of flavour, and added a dimension of creaminess to the sauce. More tasty than intimidating.
Pair this with white rice, and kangkung cooked with papaya flower, and you have a meal fit for four kings and/or queens. At 1.2MM IDR, it is extremely pricey by local standards, but considering that this is one of those rarely eaten treats, it is well worth it.

My only complaint would be that this meal took nearly one hour to prepare. Maybe it was because we arrived around 11am before most staff were ready, or maybe it was due to an epic struggle in the kitchen between chef and the eight-legged beast... But if you also have to endure a similarly lengthy wait, the view from the restaurant could be worse.

City Extra

Jl. Raya Tanawangko Kalasey, Manado, Sulawesi Utara 95116, Indonesia

Opening hours: Daily 10am – 10pm

+62 812-4226-5008

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g297721-d1034284-Reviews-City_Extra-Manado_North_Sulawesi_Sulawesi.html

Coconut surprise

I'm normally pretty wary of buying food from airports. The rare exception would be for renowned food brands who cleverly take an opportunity to dangle tempting treats in front of tourists hungry for one last bite of local goodness. A good example would be Zubuchon in Cebu airport, for example.
This particular brand was not one I was aware of prior to coming to Sulawesi. Having lived in the Netherlands for 3 years, the words 'klappertaart' did sound suspiciously Dutch. I approached the lady at the counter and asked what was inside. “Coconut”, she replied. A good start. I saw cashews and other dried fruit. I was sold.

Coconut cream, bits of coconut, a local alcohol and cashews form the basis of this dessert – creamy, sweet with a slight salty edge, smooth, comforting – it was surprisingly good, and reasonably priced for airport standards, at 3 USD for a small tub.

How to eat a pig

Babi guling. A royally delicious dish, a must for any pork lover. A whole pig stuffed with an array of aromatics including lemongrass, coriander seeds, turmeric, pepper (recipes vary from restaurant to restaurant), and spit roasted. The result: not just juicy flesh and an unbelievably crunchy skin, but the every inch of meat and offal are all used to create a myriad of delicious elements which sum up to create a truly godly dish.

Now, babi guling was originally intended as a celebratory dish but the advent and spread of tourism throughout this island has meant that this dish is available year-around. Rarely does tourism do good things for local food, but in this case, I approve.

In this article, I'm gonna recommend two places which are both state-of-the-babi-art, in my view. I'll start with Babi Guling Sanur. As a hungry diver on my way to catch the ferry from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan, I had to make a pitstop at this restaurant to pickup a portion for takeaway.

This was my first ever babi guling, but I knew from my research that this was meant to be one of the best, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Crunchy skin (could be a bit crunchier or more glass like in my view), moist meat permeated with turmeric and lemongrass, pork satay brimming with caramelised lemongrass overtones (see my Vietnam posts to understand more about why I like this pork and lemongrass combination so much), crunchy shredded intestines dotted with tiny hits of fiery chili, a fatty sausage, chicharron, crunchy vegetables, fried liver. The rice, which is stained with the colour of turmeric and the fire of the chili, brings together all the extremely spicy and flavourful elements of the dish.

And, their soup, which comes as part of meal, was one of the best soups I've ever had. Pork bones, mung beans, greens, and a crunchy vegetable that resembles a lotus root (but with more holes in it, and not starchy) together with plenty of lemongrass and chili, make for a superb accompaniment to the plethora of pork. All for just 40,000 Rupiah.

After our diving escapades in Nusa Lembongan and a memorable encounter with magnificant manta rays, we needed to try more roasted babi. Again, research directed us to another restaurant frequented regularly by locals: Babi Guling Candra (or Chandra, depending on who you ask). Overall, very good. Less spicy than Babi guling Sanur, and probably a better introduction to the dish if you are a tad sensitive to chili.

The flesh and skin were similar to those of the Sanur restaurant, and the pork satay was equally delicious (though a tad sweeter). One other difference was the pork terrine-esque satay on a stick (the turmeric-coloured one), which was extremely flavourful and quite mild from a Scoville scale point of view. The price was about the same (35,000 or 40,000 Rupiah, I can't recall), a definite steal of a meal.

A side note: on the global scale of pork skin, these two places do pretty well. But still a bit behind the exceptional glass like crunch of CnT's lechon in Cebu.

Warung Babi Guling Sanur

Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Denpasar Selatan, Bali (tell you taxi driver it's opposite McDonald's on Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai)

Open: Mon – Sun 11am – 7pm (get there early to avoid disappointment)

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/bali/sanur/restaurants/indonesian/warung-babi-guling-sanur

Babi Guling Candra

Jalan Teuku Umar, Denpasar Bar., Kota Denpasar, Bali 80113

Open: Mon – Sun 7am - 10pm

Gudeg goodness

Indonesia's regional food variations are exciting, reflecting the diversity of people and cultures within this huge country. Gudeg, the highly acclaimed dish from Yogyakarta, is no exception.

Gudeg (pronounced goo – derrrg) is a stew made of young (unripened) jackfruit. On its own, I think it's too sweet. Like even too sweet for a dessert. Fortunately for me, gudeg is typically served with other 'balancing' dishes which can create a truly marvelous, albeit indulgently rich, meal.

So who are gudeg's partners in crime? At Gudeg Sagan, one of Yogya's most highly acclaimed gudeg spots, they are a rich, creamy coconut based curry (above, top picture) and an incredibly spicy cow stomach stew (above, bottom picture). These partners were born to be eaten together. The creamy, slightly sweet notes of the curry marry perfectly with the intense heat of the stew. The tenderness of the chicken meat (in my case drumstick) goes hand in hand with the gelatinous chew of the cow stomach. Add a little bit of sweet gudeg to the mix, and you'll understand why Yogyakartans love this dish so much.

Gudeg Sagan

http://www.gudegsagan.com/index.php

Open: Monday – Sunday, 16.00 until late (or when the gudeg is gone)

Crabs, done brilliantly

Bandung. An underrated destination in my opinion. Volcanoes, crater lakes, stunning green vistas, berry picking opportunities, refreshing weather and, of course, excellent food. Despite being inland, the seafood here is pretty darn good.

I'll start with Praoe Seafood whose Black Pepper Crabs, are, quite simply, the best I've ever eaten. Imagine fresh, juicy crab meat enlivened with a molten black pepper and chilli-infused sauce. Ridiculously delicious, and you'll be licking your fingers for days to come. At a mere 16 USD for two large crabs, I really doubt there is a better way to spend your money.

We also tried their 'sweet and sour' prawns, whose sauce was not so memorable, but the freshness of the prawns was extremely impressive.

We did intend to return to Praoe the next day for more molten black pepper goodness, but our timing let us down as we had to rush to catch a bus to Jakarta. From my cross-table spying,their fried gurame (type of fish) with a mango-based sauce did look particularly tempting. One to try next time.

Next up, smoked crabs at Captain's seafood. Caramelised onions, smothered over the arthropods, wrapped in banana leaves and then smoked. Not quite as finger licking good as Praoe's black pepper rendition, but not far off. The smoke-infused sweet onions are quite an ingenious creation, and pair well with the meaty crab.

Their kang-kong (water spinach) fried in a hot pan with beef, was also quite moreish – the hot wok aroma ('wok-hei') was particularly pleasing. Also tasty but not spectacular was their fried fish, whose perfectly crisp-on-the-outside moist-in-the-middle flesh was lacking a sauce to do it justice.

At both these restaurants, only 15-20 USD per person is all you'll need to enjoy fresh, excellently cooked seafood.

Praoe Seafood

Jalan Sumatera no. 31, Jawa Barat 40113, Bandung

Open: Monday – Sunday, 10am – 10pm

Captain's Seafood

http://www.captains-seafood.com/

Open: Sun -Thurs, 10am – 10pm; Fri – Sat, 10am - 11pm

Grill and fry, fry and grill

Grilling and frying. Two of man's most basic but effective cooking techniques. In Bandung, we discovered a fish restaurant which used these two techniques in harmony, to produce simple yet moreishly comforting dishes.

Reds Dipo was our destination of choice. We knew it did simple fish dishes very well, and that's all we needed. Nothing more, nothing less.

Firstly, I'll talk about the run-of-the-mill dishes that we ordered. Their fried prawns with sweet chilli were by no means spectacular, but always a good way to start.

Then came fried gurame, whose crisp exterior and moist interior, coupled with a slightly spicy home made sauce, went very well with a comforting bowl of steamed white rice.

And now, the dish which combined those two aforementioned simple cooking techniques, the fried then grilled (goreng = fried, bakar = grilled) 'kerapu' fish. This particular fish has a cleaner taste and more succulent flesh than the earlier-consumed gurame, in my opinion. Frying allowed the skin to become crisp, whilst maintaining the flesh in near-perfect condition. Then, by grilling the skin, the skin had a somewhat smokey, charred note, and simultaneously, a touch of caramelisation here and there (hoping you can see what I mean in the picture below) – both elements helped to add a bit of 'je ne sais quoi' to the fish. The net result was deliciousness. Proof that simplicity can still produce delicious creativity.