While Tom Yum could be considered as the face of Thai food, along with Pad Thai, personally I found Tom Kha more exciting. It's a creamy sour soup with a strong hint of galangal and usually served with chicken. It's delicious, refreshing, and fits really well to be labeled as comfort food.

A big surprise I later discovered was to find this shrimp version of Tom Kha, in Home Cuisine, one of the oldest halal Thai restaurant in Bangkok. It has all the goodness of Tom Kha Gai, plus the sweetness of the shrimps, a must try for shrimp lovers!

Home Cuisine,
Halal Indian and Thai Cuisine,
In front of the French Embassy,
186 Charoen Krung 36 Alley,
Bang Rak,
Bangkok,
Thailand

A Mid-Eastern/Indian food festivities at Al-Hussain near Nana, Sukhumvit.

The restaurant location made me feels like being teleported into "Arabic Kuta", due to the narrow alleys and the presence of small restaurants and cafes, just like Kuta, Bali. The difference is that instead of westerners and Balinese, here you have Mid-Eastern patrons and visitors.

As with the quality of the food, the mutton Kabuli is to die for, and other dishes we ordered was simply gorgeous. The whole eating experience itself made me feels like singing that Lego Movie song, "Everything is awesome..."

Al-Hussain

Sukhumvit Soi 3 ("Soi Arab")
Bangkok
Thailand

While it might sounds foreign to the latest foodie generation, having my interest in eating out sparked up more than a decade ago, the name "Java Bleu" left a lasting impression as one of the top eating destination in Jakarta that serious foodies are sought after.

However despite its fame, Java Bleu (@Java_Bleu) is not a fancy five stars hotel restaurant nor it is set up anywhere fancy; instead it's set up in a place so uncommon for a serious eatery: a 2nd floor Ruko in Jl. Fatmawati, South Jakarta. On top of the quirky location, Java Bleu interior is also furnished with chairs and tables which looks like it's snatched from a nearby Sekolah Dasar Negeri (SDN), a government owned public elementary school. Nevertheless, Java Bleu was famous for serving classic French cuisine so good even for other food veterans, hence one lifestyle magazine branded the place as "where chefs eat" destination in Jakarta.

Lucky for me, from Rian (@gastroficionado) I recently learned that Pak Antoine Audran (@antoine_audran), the mastermind behind this legendary Java Bleu is indeed living in Bali at the moment! However what got me into further surprise is when finding that he's not directly in the restaurant business anymore. Turned out, the chef has shifted his interest into developing a "serious" artisan grade Ready to Eat (RTE) food business, and he's inviting me to visit his factory in Denpasar!

I just had a lunch at Warung Krishna, in Jalan Kutat Lestari, Sanur. Last time I remembered that their Nasi Ayam was quite hot; however now I felt they're just mildly spicy, without even creating the sweaty scalp I usually have upon encountering hot foods.

Have I got my resistance to chilli lowered, due to uncountable encounters with the traditional Balinese food here in Bali? Or have I become a sambal lover like most of Indonesians did?

However, according to Ms. Diah who owns and operates this eateries, the mild spicy taste of their food actually is well met the likes of both foreign tourists and locals, while domestic tourists especially from Java tends to think that their food is too "jamuistic" or jamu alike.

There are three kind o meals served here; Nasi ayam, Tipat ayam, and Bubur ayam; the last one however only serves during mornings for breakfast, while the two others are served throughout the day.

Among all the Nasi Ayam I've tried in Bali, this one has a specific aroma which sets the taste unique, I don't know what but it fits well to the term "jamuistic".

Warung Krishna is also the good example of how a business lasts through only word of mouth promotion alone; nine years in business, no single advertisement ever made on paper or magazine, yet customers are flourished in daily, and they are booked occasionally for large party gathering, or sponsored events. (byms)

My writing on the alternative food choices you can have when exploring Balinese eating scenery; "Alternative Bali Eating Agenda", has been published on the Hotelier Indonesia Magazine No.2 released this month, June 2011

You can get the digital edition online from Scoop Store or from Hotelier Indonesia Magazine website. (byms)

Mang Ahri in action

Anthony Bourdain in his show "No reservations" often remarks of his fondness for food with "mysterious meat" that he encounters along his travel around the world while trying out different cuisines. They're mysterious, relatively unknown to the western world, yet delicious. Well based on that description, then this Soto Ahri is among those that he would categorize as such; great delicious soto (Indonesian meat soup), with chops of meat parts that, even mentioned what they are, we would rarely know what is it.

(I wonder if Anthony got a chance to taste this Soto Ahri while he visited Garut, since I only see his part on reviewing the "Indonesian pancake" serabi, at the Kampung Sampireun)

Soto is Indonesian style meat soup, and the style is varied among different regions. Some soto are made with clear soup of light stock, and some are made with santan (coconut milk) and give the light curry like taste. Some are more courageous in using the spices, like including the aromatic clove buds, star anise, and keluwak (also spelled as keluak or kelewek) and give the significant uniqueness compared with other soto variants.

I don't have a good idea of when Mang Ahri ("mang" meant "uncle" in Sundanese) started his business, but it's long standing and having a consistent high quality; enough to grant his soto a legendary status.

Soto Ahri soup consist of beef meats, medium heavy stock base with santan, where the styles resembles more Soto Tangkar from Betawi (Jakarta), than common Sundanese soto which usually uses clear soup.

Just like the common practice with ordering the kind of mixed meat soto, this is where the fun part is: you can individually choose what part of meat to include in your soto; from the regular daging (meat), kikil (feet's glutinous skin), usus (small intestine), lidah (tongue), paru (lungs), up through the more exotic meat like mata (eye balls), otak (brain), and surely, some "mysterious meat"; with their exotic yet very enjoyable texture and taste.

Just ask mang Ahri for recommendations if you don't really know what you want, and he will gladly check in the large pot among where all the stock is, what's still in store, and let you aware of the choices. Kept under constant heat, the continuously cooked meat absorbs the seasoning very well and give the wonderful rich taste.

After chopping down the part of the meat of choice to a more edible pieces, and move them into a bowl, mang Ahri will then put the toppings of kacang kedelai goreng (fried soy beans), and chopped seledri (celery), and pour on the soup base from the same pot, and the soto is ready to eat. There will always be condiments on the eating table to fine-tune the taste to your preference like jeruk nipis (slices of lime orange), kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), and surely, the sambal (chilly paste). But I prefer mine as it is since it's already flavorful and thick in taste.

Here at Soto Ahri, happens my very first encounter with eye balls. I dislike the idea of eating something that look back at me, but turns out to be that the eye balls here doesn't resembles what it used to looks like, as it's now just a big oval lump; where the eye balls is almost covered in the layers of fat.

Well it's a big surprise, first, since on overall the taste is either very fatty meat, or tasteless jelly-like. Consistency is very soft, too soft to be meat, yet chewy unlike meat fat. Not my kind of meat.

Though had branches in Bandung, the capital city of Jawa Barat, Mang Ahri headquarters is his soto stand in Pasar Mandalagiri, or also known as Pasar Baru (the new marketplace). On this narrow street, buyers usually queued for an empty seat on the bench, or for the take away orders.

Damage cost is about 15K a portion including nasi (rice). A bit high for Garut standard, but it is quite worthed. Will be back? Perhaps... when I'm not worry about my cholesterol level, since shortly after finish eating Soto Ahri, I got this lingering headache at the bottom of my head.

Recommended with cautions. (bay)

Indonesian version here: http://epicurina.multiply.com/photos/album/207/Soto_Ahri_Pasar_Baru_Garut
Photos by Bella Wu

Bandung is a capital city of Jawa Barat region (Western Java). At about 700 m above the sea level, this is one cool city that was planned by the Dutch colonial as a resort city. This is also the city where Indonesia's long standing chocolate factory exist, the Ceres - which is widely known as the largest and longest producer of chocolate rice (meses). But we won't discuss more about Ceres or chocolate rice here, as what I want to introduce you about, is the Bandung's original Coklat Suzanna*.

Though the birth of Suzanna can't be separated from Ceres, as the current producer, Ir. Sukandi, was the early Ceres's Direktur Utama (Head Director), before he then manage his own chocolate factory "Abadi", which produced this Coklat Suzanna**.

Coklat Suzanna is a trapezium shaped hard chocolate candy, with bitter sweet dark chocolate on the outing, and brown chewy nut nougat fillings. The combination of bitter sweet firm chocolate indeed goes very well with the sweet nutty creamy chewy fillings, a good balance; so while the chocolate is melt in your mouth, the nougat will still give you a good prolonged enjoyment.

With its composition, no chocolate locally or internationally (that available here in Indonesia), could match the sensation and eating experience Coklat Suzanna can deliver.

I know this beautiful chocolate from when I'm in my early teens, until now I'm in my middle threes. Along the way there's been some degradation in quality, but they seem to have fixed that, and come up with the new design also; the original ones has only simple paper belt on top of the silvery wrap, with the word "Suzanna" in mixed primary colors. Only recently its got some style and classy wrap.

 

Notice the nougat filling? Have I mentioned that it's chewy good? :)
At the downside though, this breed is rare to find. Though not as tough as some years ago, currently you can only find it around Bandung, and Jakarta at most. And in big supermarkets only. Price is dead cheap, as for this kind of goodness you need only spend about 3K (about 3 pcs for 1 US$).

Interested? Well at this moment international flight to Bandung is only served by Air Asia which left from Malaysia, but due to its close distance from Jakarta, it's one of the tourist favorite weekend destination; especially for its culinary richness, and the dead cheap branded clothes in the booming Factory Outlet stores. From Bali there's also regular flight served by Air Asia Indonesia and Merpati, with ticket ranged between 360K to 600K depends on the season. (bay)

*due to a confusing typography, some people calls this "Coklat Zuzanna" instead; though from the printed product name you can see that there's different facing among the first and the second "z", which makes the first "z" more closely resembles as "s"; not to mention that "Suzanna" refers to a common people name, while "Zuzanna" is considered faulty by most spell checker apps. Haven't ask the creator to find out which one is right though.

**data gathered by Sogi -- http://sisogi.multiply.com/photos/album/31, member of the most successful live sitcom show in Indonesia, Extravaganza, who used to be a radio DJ, which also happens to be a close friend of my sister from the high school.

Bayudita, tetangga depan cubicle, hari ini bawa oleh-oleh unik lagi. Setelah sebelumnya dapet kiriman amplang, kali ini dia bawa sesuatu yang lain; dodol rumput laut Lombok. Walaupun rada jengah sama manisnya dodol, namun keseriusan baca-baca email gw terusik juga waktu ngeliat tampilan dodolnya yang unik: bening dan kaku. Lebih mirip candy stick atau agar-agar bakar favorit gw itu, daripada mirip dodol yang rata-rata butek.

Kemasannya juga professional: bentuk dan potongan rapi yang dikemas dalam plastik individual berwarna bening.Bungkus luarnya katanya bagus juga, tapi berhubung dah dibuang sama yang punya maka gw cuma bisa nyari tau lewat Google dan berhasil; malah ternyata ada juga toko yang jualan produk ini online.

Kalau dipegang rasanya kaku, dan terlihat masih ada serpihan kertas-kertas tipis menempel di sekujur body nya; yang ternyata bukan kertas, jadi gw duga itu adalah sejenis lapisan tipis agar-agar kering yang melt in your mouth, seperti yang terdapat di permen susu china gambar kelinci itu.

Sewaktu dicoba, rasanya juga ternyata nggak terlalu manis! Berbeda dengan konvensi standar dodol yang tingkat manisnya itu antara tinggi, hingga amit-amit. Teksturnya keras kenyal, kekenyalannya mirip dengan kekenyalan Konyaku instant produksi dalam negeri, tapi dalam tingkat kadar air yang lebih kering lagi. Kalau dari segi rasa, selain manis dan sensasi kenyalnya ini, maka nggak ada rasa yang significant. Perasa tambahannya juga nggak terlalu kentara, dan cuma lewat sekilas saja di indera pengecap; jadi ini bener-bener dodol yang karakternya soft banget.

After taste nya yang rada kurang enak: asem di belakang mulut, mirip seperti after taste kalau abis minum teh manis anget pagi-pagi; hal ini rada mengherankan, soalnya tadi rasa manisnya nggak terlalu heboh untuk nimbulin after taste sedemikian.

Walau demikian, ini jenis dodol yang unik dan nggak seperti dodol-dodol lainnya yang sudah ada. Mungkin secara taksonomi memang bukan dodol juga tapi dinamai sedemikian supaya lebih mudah diterima publik? Ah ribet amat, yang pasti penganan yang satu ini layak buat dijajal, terlebih buat mereka yang kurang toleran sama dodol standar, yang biasanya terlalu manis. (bay)

Salahsatu highlight dari acara Denpasar Festival 2009 adalah berkumpulnya makanan-makanan khas dari seputar daerah Denpasar, salahsatunya; dari Pulau Serangan. Kalau pada tulisan sebelumnya saya menuliskan mengenai nikmatnya makan Tongkol Bakar di Pulau Serangan, serta gurihnya krupuk Klejat, maka kali ini di salahsatu stand Denpasar Festival saya berkesempatan mencoba jenis masakan khas lainnya dari pulau nelayan ini: Sup Bulu Babi.

Bulu Babi atau Landak Laut adalah hewan laut yang hidup di perairan dangkal, memiliki duri-duri tajam yang panjang dan rapuh sebagai pertahanan diri, hewan yang satu ini merupakan salahsatu bahaya alami bagi para penyelam, karena luka tertusuk duri Bulu Babi ini bisa mengakibatkan infeksi yang serius. Walaupun merupakan negara maritim, Bulu Babi merupakan makanan yang relatif kurang dikenal di Indonesia sehingga tidak dibudidayakan secara komersil. Padahal di negara Jepang sana, kelenjar reproduksi hewan ini (gonad) adalah salahsatu topping Sushi yang digemari dan memiliki nilai komersil tinggi dengan nama "Uni". Secara internasional, hewan ini dikenal dengan nama "Sea Urchin".

Di Pulau Serangan, hidangan ini dinamai "Sup Toro-Toro", dimana jeroan cangkang Bulu Babi ini dimasak dalam sayur bening agak pedas. Berhubung saya belum pernah makan Uni Sushi, maupun masakan lain dari Bulu Babi, makanya waktu memesan hidangan satu ini nggak ada dugaan apa-apa di kepala. Malah saya memesan langsung dua ekor, optimis dengan food experience yang akan saya rasakan. Apalagi hidangan ini disajikan dengan presentasi yang cukup menggugah semangat bertualang rasa saya; si Bulu Babinya ditampilkan masih dalam cangkang, dengan sedikit duri-duri yang masih menempel di bagian luarnya. Setelah kita memesan, barulah si cangkang si Bulu Babi dirusak, dan isinya disendok keluar untuk dicampur dengan kuah sup. Rasanya..?

Dengan warna daging yang kuning coklat keunguan, dan tekstur yang lembek mirip pepes perut ikan, ternyata jenis makanan yang saya sebut terakhir itulah yang paling mewakili rasa Toro-Toro ini; anyir dan amis, sedikit manis menjurus pahit, mirip rasa lemak di perut ikan. Hanya saja teksturnya lebih ke halus bersagu, dibanding perut ikan yang cenderung jelly-ish dan lebih kenyal. Salahsatu makanan paling menantang sejauh ini yang pernah gw rasakan. Very acquired taste.

Yang bikin penasaran, di Sup Toro-Toro ini kelihatannya yang dipakai adalah seluruh isi cangkang si Bulu Babi, berbeda dengan Uni Sushi yang hanya menyertakan bagian gonadnya saja. Apakah ini yang membuat rasa sup ini ekstra amis? Apalagi ternyata bumbu kuah supnya sendiri tidak terlalu banyak menolong; hanya sedikit asin dan sekilas pedas, berbeda jauh dengan asumsi awal saya kalau kaldunya akan seperti dashi nya Jepang yang gurih dan strong itu. Jadi kesimpulan saya setelah menikmati Sup Toro-Toro adalah; ini jenis makanan yang masih perlu dikembangkan lagi, dengan penambahan bumbu yang lebih tajam misalnya, dan treatment khusus pada bahan dasarnya untuk menghilangkan si rasa amis yang mengganggu, karena dengan cara masak seperti ini cenderung kurang menampilkan karakter khas rasa daging Bulu Babi... kalaupun ada. Saya cuma bercermin dari kebiasaan masyarakat Jepang menikmati Uni Sushi, yang berarti seharusnya ada karakter rasa yang plus dari hewan satu ini.

Walhasil, walaupun dua ekor Bulu Babi hanya memiliki daging sekitar dua sendok makan, namun sepertinya hidangan ini nggak habis-habis dimakan. Masih untung dalam memesan Sup Toro-Toro ini saya memesan juga ketupat, dan Jukut Bulung (urap rumput laut) yang lumayan ampuh menetralisir rasa amis si Sup Bulu Babi. Lain kali dalam menghadapi hidangan yang benar-benar asing saya harus lebih rendah hati... pesen satu saja dulu.

Selain dari dibuat sup, Bulu Babi di stand Pulau Serangan ini disajikan juga dalam bentuk pepes (5K), sedangkan versi gorengnya nggak saya temukan. Ada yang pernah mencoba juga? Gimana pengalaman anda? (bay)

Common in Sunda (Jawa Barat) and Jawa (Jawa Tengah and Jawa Timur), Kupat Tahu is one of the favourite dish you would most likely finds in street than at home. Though the ingredients are fairly simple; kupat (rice cake), tahu (bean curd), tauge (bean sprouts), and slices of cucumber, the creation of kupat and the peanut sauce is quite laborous for only a small serving portions. Therefore, it's more economical to have them from the food sellers instead.

Upon a crave attack you can create the sauce yourself though, using the dissolved bumbu pecel available at the market, then fine-seasoning the sauce yourself; but they usually already contains strong taste of kencur (galangal roots), unlike the lighter peanut sauce uses in kupat tahu.

From one places to another, there are differences in ingredients used and the thickness of the peanut sauce. Kupat Tahu Magelang style for example, consists also chopped bakwan, sliced kubis (cabbage) instead of cucumber, and with thinner peanut sauce; on the contrary to Sundanese (Bandung, Garut, Tasikmalaya) style of kupat tahu which includes a very thick peanut sauce. Some other versions, also includes egg omelette in the mix, and just like Bubur Ayam, kerupuk (crackers) is mandatory.

A lighter version of Kupat Tahu is called Kupat Tahu Sayur; and this version usually replace the thick peanut sauce with the light watery soup which tastes a bit like curry. For more courageous alternative, there's also this version that called Kupat Tahu Petis, which include a dose of petis (fermented shrimp head pate) that adds the pungent sweet seafood taste to the already sweet peanut sauce.

A version with rice vermicelli common in Jakarta is called Ketoprak. Lets not be confused with other Ketoprak originated from Java which is a form of theatrical drama.

Expect to pay about 5 - 7K for the egg-less version, 10K with the omelette. And as far as I remembered, I have never encountered this particular dish in a fancy restaurant, so you might have to adventure beyond your comfort and save zone to the warungs or roadside food courts. Happy hunting! (bay)

Bubur Ayam is one of the favourite breakfast in Indonesia. Heavily influenced by the chinese, Indonesian Chicken Porridge though is considerably thicker than its chinese counterpart congee. So thick that in Mang Oyo; a famous Bubur Ayam eateries in Bandung, Jawa Barat, mang Oyo himself used to turn the bowl upside down in front of the customers, and the porridge wont drip or drop. Still it's soft and tender to the mouth though, after all it's a porridge.

The way Indonesians have it varied slightly from place to place, but they consist mainly of the rice porridge, which often is lightly seasoned with garam (sea salt), serai (lemongrass), and daun salam (local version of bay leaves). Seldom there is, traces of meat broth which commonly found in chinese congee. Roadside sellers usually includes also monosodium glutamate (MSG) which locals calls "vetsin" to enhance the taste, but usually it's just in trace amount.

As toppings, shredded chicken is a must, accompanied by chopped seledri (celery), cakwe (flour cake), and sometimes kacang kedelai (fried soybeans). Kerupuk (crakers) is a must, and in some places they pair the kerupuk with emping (gnetum crackers), or replace the kerupuk with cheese sticks. And lets not forget the magical combo of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and kecap asin (salted soy sauce). Some version (most notably Sukabumi's style) also includes sprays of curry-like liquids on top of the dish to enhance the taste.

Beside chicken, the extra topping you could gets are ati ayam (chicken liver), ampela (gizzard), and sometimes (most common in Jakarta's style) various kinds of sate (satay); sate telor puyuh (quail eggs), sate usus (chicken intestines), jantung (chicken heart), or mix them alltogether. Sometimes they serves boiled chicken eggs too, but the real beauty exist in dropping a raw egg yolk into the hot porridge. Beef, fish, seafood, and, Telur Pitan (century egg) are all uncommon in regular Bubur Ayam vendors, but you might find them in some chinese restaurants.

Last but not least; the fiery sambal. As for myself, this is the ingredients I usually avoid. Eventhough raised by a sambal loving parents, I never get to acquire the joy of eating hot fiery foods. Endure I can, but craving is out of question.

Sold in mornings and sometimes available up into the wee hours, a dish of Bubur Ayam from a street vendor would cost you about 5K, while on a more established warungs or stationed vendor then expect to pay around 10K; usually with significant increase in quality anyway. The fancier the restaurant, expect to pay even more, with not much increase in food's quality. (bay)

Waktu pulang nengok ortu di Cikajang, deket kost-an si adik ternyata ada warung mie ayam baru. Walaupun dah buka puasa, tapi karena penasaran jadinya ya dicoba juga, secara gw nggak bisa nggak kalau soal Mie Ayam sih.

Tendanya sepi, cuma ada dua orang yang ternyata adalah pengelola warung mie ayam tersebut. Gw mesen satu porsi, mereka nggak nanya soal kelengkapan jadi gw assume secara defaultnya adalah menu komplit.

Nggak berapa lama kemudian satu mangkuk mie ayampun siap. Porsinya terlihat mungil, dan berhubung gw makannya di mobil bersama isteri dan adik yang males turun, jadinya rada-rada kurang jelas tampilan visualnya gimana, tapi dari yang terperhatikan sih mienya bukan jenis mie keriting ataupun mie tepung yang biasa dipakai di mie ayam jenis lokal, jadi lebih mirip ke mienya jenis chinese. Sebagai topping, cacahan daging ayam cukupan, sekeping pangsit goreng, sebiji pangsit kuah, dan dua butir bakso yang seperti bakso urat.

Sewaktu mulai dicoba, ternyata mienya lumayan lembut dan kenyal, minus rasa-rasa tepung yang biasanya ada di mie2 ayam lokal yang gw kurang suka. Karakter rasa cacahan ayamnya sendiri cukup diluar dugaan; mantep! Ditambah sama gurihnya bumbu-bumbu pada mienya, total jendral rasanya jadi nendang banget! Dan 80%nya daging beneran, bukan kulit ataupun tulang. Apalagi ternyata si pangsit gorengnya kriuk sekali, dan bakso urat yang disertakan pun not bad at all, dan bukan murni bakso urat cuma sekedar daging bertekstur agak kasar. Sedangkan pangsit kuahnya... mengejutkan juga! Dagingnya relatif banyak dan gurih! Bukan sekedar lembaran kosong pangsit atau diisi daging tapi sarat doang. Dan gwpun jadinya seperti dapet pencerahan... kayaknya ini the best mie ayam so far selama pengembaraan gw selama setengah taun ini di Bandung deh! Langsung aja hatipun girang karena ngerasa udah nemu tempat mie ayam favorit baru...

Bumbu yang rada custom, bakso yang sepertinya buatan sendiri, dan jenis mie yang juga beda, menunjukkan kalau warung Mie Ayam Beuleudag ini cukup serius memperhatikan kualitas dagangannya, diulik gitu lho.

Kalau dibandingkan, memang masih belum bisa mengambil alih ranking #1 di list gw, yaitu Mie Ayam Yunus (Tebet, Jakarta), tapi tipisss saja kurangnya; porsi disini agak sedikit kalah, juga karakter rasanya lebih tinggi kadar manisnya dan lebih soft dibandingin Mie Ayam Yunus. Baksonya juga kalah kelas, tapi yang Mie Ayam Beuleudag ini juga salah kalau dibilang nggak enak, yaa beda tapi tetep enak juga lah.

Dari segi harga, semangkuk komplit Mie Ayam Beuluedag ini harganya cuma 8K! Wah, pas di lidah pas di kantong ternyata.

Si masnya sendiri waktu sedikit diwawancara bilang kalau mereka baru buka disana dua bulanan (Juli 09), buka biasanya dari siang sampai malem, kecuali saat selama bulan puasa buka baru dari pukul 5 sore.

Very recommended! (bay)

Jaman dahulu kala, yang gw inget dari telur asin adalah statusnya sebagai staple food dikala bepergian. Mau itu bersama lontong ataupun going solo, statusnya tetep, kalau mau jalan jauh atau piknik, atau kemping, maka telur asin ini harus ada!

Namun seiring waktu, kebiasaan itu sendiri lambat laun semakin berkurang, dan akhirnya menghilang...

... atau masih ada yang disuguhin telur asin plus lontong instead of McD kalau lagi darmawisata?

(Membayangkan acara outing kantor di Dufan, dan semua asik ngunyah telur asin dan lontong...)

Namun walaupun konsumsi nasional mungkin menurun, tapi penggemar makanan unik yang satu ini tetep ada, dan para juru masakpun tak henti-hentinya muncul dengan inovasi. Hal ini tak lain, karena aroma dan tekstur telur asin yang cenderung unik. Tidak se-unik Telur Pitan (Century egg), tapi karena itu pula lebih mudah untuk di padu-padankan dengan aneka masakan, salahsatu yang paling ngetop adalah Udang Telur Asin.

Dari sisi produsen, baik teknologi maupun cara pengolahan telur asin cenderung tidak berkembang banyak mungkin dalam limapuluh tahun terakhir. Namun demikian, salahsatu inovasi dalam hal pengolahan sesekali muncul misalnya seperti yang banyak dipraktikkan sekarang ini, yaitu dengan melakukan proses pengasapan di akhir proses produksi. Dan masyarakatpun kemudian mengenal satu varian baru makanan ini, yaitu Telur Asin Asap.

Dari segi penampilan, makanan yang satu ini memiliki ciri adanya karakter warna marbling kecoklatan pada kulit telur. Beberapa masih memiliki warna dasar biru, sedangkan lainnya ada yang coklat penuh sehingga memiliki kemiripan dengan telur pindang.

Sistem penjualannya, biasanya di toko-toko diletakkan di dry storage, dalam bentuk kemasan satu pak tapi boleh dibeli satuan.

Dari segi rasa, spesimen yang gw temui di Carrefour (gara-gara nyokap penasaran pengen beli), ternyata memiliki kualitas yang baik. Rasanya nggak terlalu asin, dan terdeteksi adanya aroma smokey yang lembut. Lucu juga soal aroma ini, karena setelah diperhatikan betul-betul sepertinya nyaris nggak ada perbedaan rasa dengan telur asin biasa, hanya saja penambahan aroma tersebut membuat sensasi kenikmatannya cukup berbeda. Apalagi nuansa aroma smokey nya ini terus terbawa hingga ke tahap aftertaste. Yang rada mengherankan, karakter aroma smokey nya ini justru lebih kuat di bagian kuning telurnya, dan cukup mengubah karakter rasa keseluruhan dari si kuning telur tersebut. In a good way surely.

Dijual dengan harga sekitar 3K, agak sedikit saja lebih mahal dibandingkan telur asin biasa, rasanya telur asin asap ini cukup menarik untuk variasi.

Jadi penasaran pengen nyobain juga telur asin asap yang grade-nya lebih bagus daripada punyanya Carrefour... (bay)

Image dari: http://telurasinasap.blogspot.com/ - websitenya Elmata, salahsatu produsen telur asin asap di Solo.