Mie Kepiting Aceh Razali, originally uploaded by bayuamus.

Aceh is the northern most province of Indonesia. It is also a stage of harsh military conflicts for many years. Beside of that and Tsunami disaster, Aceh was also known as the major region which supplies Ganja to Indonesian drug market. If you're unfamiliar with this term, it's the other name of Marijuana.

One of the main reason why Aceh is famous with this particular reputation, perhaps was due to its culinary culture. Rumors has it that back in the old times, Acehnese doesn't treat ganja as drugs, but as common ingredients in the traditional Acehnese food as an appetite arouser! Hence why then, it's been a sacred journey for some, to discover the genuine Acehnese food in hope to encounter the said special ingredients in their meal.

But beside of the rumors, Aceh do have some interesting culinary culture to begin with. Though perhaps less famous than the neighboring Padang cuisine, but it does has its on merit.

In general, Aceh cuisine very much resembles all the same cuisine from the Malay region; Aceh, Medan, Padang, Riau, and so on. One of its main characteristic is the dominant role of coconut milk in the dishes, and the fondness of having curry-like dishes or curry flavored cookings. Other strong influence on Aceh food is the Arabic influence; this was due to the alternative name of the province itself which is "Serambi Mekkah"; or "front yard of Mecca", the holiest city of Islam. A legacy from the early days of trade route opening between ancient Indonesia and Persian merchants.

One of the notable Acehnese cuisine that spreads wide in this modern age, is the Mie Goreng Aceh; fried noodles a la Aceh, and it's unique in many ways; first, Malay cooking rarely involves noodle, since their main staple food is rice. Second, they're using this special mixture of herbs to create the pungent and spicy taste which resembles more towards Indian food than Malay food, and third, it's most preferred protein ingredients is crab; a whole crab!

Dear friends, starting 11/11/10 I'm moving this Indonesian Food Blog List to my lists page on Epicurina.com here for better viewing: http://epicurina.com/top-list/12-indonesian-food-blog-list.html

Please update your bookmark accordingly.

Warm regards,
Bayu Amus

Fresh water snails are found throughout the tropical countries around the world. There are different species differs in size and cone shapes, but basically they all looks the same. These snails in Asia are commonly considered as pest to the rice fields, since they saps the nutrients from the stalks. However, due to the existence of natural hunters, these snails are seldom causing trouble. Not to mention, that they are also known as a quite delicious treat to the locals.

Cooked with serai (lemongrass), lengkuas (galangal), kunyit (turmeric), daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves - thanks Pepy), cabai (chillies) and other spices, "Sayur Tutut" or Fresh Sea Water Snail Soup, is a favorite delicacies. Eating them though; could pose a bit of challenge. While with the escargot usually you could finish them using a small fork, but since tutut are considerably smaller in size, then you would need a tooth pick, or do like we do it here: by flash sucking them, or as the Sundanese calls it; "kecrok". Kecrok involves a sudden sucking/flash sucking action, powerful enough to draw the snail out of its shell. But even with veteran "kecrokers", sometimes there are snails too tough to pull out, tough creatures!

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Other

Di jaman yang nggak terlalu dulu, bikin hidangan pasta adalah suatu kegiatan yang memakan waktu, walau menyenangkan. Gw terbiasa untuk manggang tomat sama paprika sendiri untuk dibuat saus pasta, ngira-ngira banyaknya tambahan bumbu sendiri, dan kadang harus improvisasi ganti oregano sama kemanggi kalau lagi ngirit budget. Hasilnya oke, tapi berantakan setelahnya itu yang lumayan bikin males beresin. Kalau beli bumbu jadi, Prego yang botolan misalnya, berarti siap-siap keluar budget yang lumayan, karena saus siap jadi pada masa itu semuanya full-import; kadang lebih ramah di kantong kalau beli di restoran aja sekalian.

Untungnya, menyusul berkiprahnya Indofood di pasaran pasta kering dengan merk La Fonte, mereka pada sekitar tahun 2008 lalu melengkapi produknya dengan jenis yang satu ini: saus bolognese siap saji. Sekarang, proses masak spaghetti ini jauh lebih ringkas: tumis bawang bombay beserta daging giling, masukkan bumbu spaghetti siap sajinya, masak hingga mendidih, lalu campurkan dengan spaghetti / pasta yang sudah direbus sesuai selera, dan jadilah! Isteripun jadi doyan makan spaghetti di rumah, dibanding sebelum-sebelumnya selalu nge-refer ke spaghettinya Pizza Hut.

Taste-wise, basis rasanya cukup mantap, kira-kira cocok lah sama lidah Indonesia yang nggak terlalu suka rasa terlalu asem, tinggal disesuaikan sendiri sama preferensi lidah masing-masing. Saya pribadi sih biasanya tambahin lagi kaldu blok, merica, taburan mixed herbs, dan tentunya keju parut, sedangkan isteri biasanya harus plus saos sambel, maklum "chilli tooth"; nggak nemu pedesnya cabe berarti ada yang salah sama masakannya.

Dijual dalam kemasan sachet platik 360 gram, harga sekitar 15K, cukup buat makan bertiga / berempat. Kalau berdua biasanya bisa buat dua kali masak. (bay)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Other

Setelah beberapa waktu menyantap dan rada ketagihan dengan variant rasa dari San Remo, produk ini muncul di deretan import food nya Hypermarket Galeria Denpasar. Berhubung penasaran dengan klaim "The Cheesiest"nya, sambil membayangkan derajat cheesiness diatas San Remo's Four Cheeses, tentu saja kamipun ngiler dan tergerak untuk mencoba menu yang satu ini. Apalagi price wise, harganya cuma lebih 3 ribuan dibanding San Remo's, sementara isi gram yang jauh lebih banyak (206gr vs. 120gr).

Yang rada mengherankan, berbeda dengan San Remo, maka cara memasak Mac n Cheese nya Kraft ini rada berbeda; kalau San Remo menyarankan bumbu dimasukkan pada saat pasta setengah matang, hingga kemudian bumbunya lebih meresap seiring jumlah cairan yang makin ter-reduksi, maka Kraft mengambil pendekatan lebih simple; masak hingga matang macaroninya, buang airnya, tabur bumbunya, siap makan! Namun berhubung rada kurang yakin dengan cara ini, melihat si bubuk keju sangat kering, sedangkan macaroninya juga diinstruksikan harus ditiriskan sampai tidak berair, akhirnya kami memilih untuk sedikit improvisasi mengacu ke caranya San Remo: Sisakan sedikit air rebusan pasta, masukkan bumbu sambil terus diaduk diatas api kecil hingga airnya berkurang dan tersisa larutan kental bumbu kejunya.

Sayangnya, waktu diicip sambil masak (curi start), ternyata gambaran "cheesy" nya berbeda dengan ekspektansi awal gw... rasanya rada bland, dan karakter keju yang sangat menonjolnya adalah cheddar; yang mana kurang nendang dari segi rasa. Yah... Namun ya su, mac n' cheese yang sudah matangnya dipindahkan ke mangkuk, buat gw dan isteri review.

Kesimpulannya, dari segi rasa masih kalah tajam dengan Four Cheese nya San Remo, namun sensasi selimut rasa cheddar nya cukup menggugah meskipun cuma dalam level mild saja. Alternatively, buat mengejar cita rasa yang gw harapkan ternyata cukup dengan menambahkan sedikit Chicken Cube nya Maggi (Royco might works too), dan hasilnya si karakter rasa mild dari cheddarnya jadi keangkat banget.

Berhubung porsinya yang lumayan gaban, dan karakter rasa yang kurang menggugah buat isteri, maka porsi beliau masih nyisa setengahnya dan masuk kulkas. Besoknya pas kelaperan di pagi hari, mac n cheese dingin ini gw bereskan, tanpa tambahan apa-apa dari versi aslinya, dan ternyata dingin membuat karakter rasa si keju makin berkibar. Kenyataan yang menarik, karena si leftover mac n cheese dingin ini jadinya lebih nikmat dibandingin waktu masih panasnya.

Atau gw aja doyan ma yang dingin-dingin ya? (bay)