Nasi Liwet Sunda differs quite strikingly with its counterpart, the more famous Surakarta's Nasi Liwet. If the later is a dish consisting of rice cooked in coconut milk and served with chicken and pumpkin opor (white curry), Sundanese Nasi Liwet is a one pot cooking consisting of rice and seasoned with spices like galangal, lemongrass, and Indonesian bay leaves. To further enhance the flavour, usually parts of ikan asin, or salted fish are thrown in as well. Until recently, Nasi Liwet Sunda is not sold commercially for its exclusive preparation.

Just like many Indonesian dishes, Nasi Liwet originally are peasant's meal. It is cooked in a heavy pot called "kastrol", prepared raw at home and is slow cooked on open fire while the farmers are doing their daily chores. During mid day when it's time for break, the Nasi Liwet would then be ready to consume. It's a communal food that hardly ever made for single portion, hence there are no small kastrol except for two portions which makes commercial selling a bit tricky.

Back at the rice field, though people might not eat at the same time, the continuously heated Nasi Liwet provides simple yet delightful lunch to the hungry farmers. And since it's a peasant's lunch, it is hardly ever made at home on other occasions, except when the kastrol are not brought with the farmer to the field; or includes any kind of meat, as it is considered exclusive and pricey for daily meal.

The modern version sold in restaurants however, usually consisted of a newer, and more lavish ingredients and side dishes, like mushroom, jambal roti, and gepuk (Sundanese version of empal daging). This innovation in Bandung, as far as I can remember was started with the opening of Bumi Joglo restaurant in Dago area that specializes in Nasi Liwet.

It hasn't gained much momentum however, until the opening of resort-restaurants around Garut which relies on this dish, and was well accepted thus creating a new hype. Asep Stroberi ("Astro") is probably the most famous name of restaurants serving this Nasi Liwet in Garut nowadays, and they are continually opening up branches which attracts weekend tourists from Bandung and locals from Garut and surrounding area as well.

Nasi Liwet is now quickly replacing the previous hype of Nasi Timbel as the icon of Sundanese food; it is now sold in many Sundanese restaurants with national chain, like Ikan Bakar Cianjur (IBC), and Alas Daun, that extend its reach up until Bali. As for myself it's a welcomed alternative after Nasi Timbel rules the Sundanese restaurants for more than a decade without worthy contender.

It also reminds me of the good old days of visiting relatives in their rice field, and having this wonderful simple meal together at lunch.

For a good and original version of Nasi Liwet Sunda in Denpasar, you can visit Alas Daun; the new restaurant that replaces Ampera -- a big name in Sundanese food restaurant chain, at Jalan Teuku Umar, right where the Ampera was, beside the Soes Merdeka cake shop.

Di depan Pasar Sederhana, Bandung, kalau malem-malem biasanya sebagian area parkirnya berubah menjadi area jualan makanan. Selain dari tenda Sate dan Pecel Lele, ada satu tenda Nasi Goreng disini yang hadir tanpa merek. Tapi walau tanpa merk nggak berarti kualitasnya meragukan. Desas-desus yang beredar justru menginformasikan kalau di tenda ini kualitas nasi gorengnya above-average.

Setelah beberapa kali lewat dan nihil nggak nemu tendanya, bbrp malem lalu akhirnya ketemu juga tendanya, dan langsung mesen nasgornya satu porsi. Waktu ngobrol sama pemilik sekaligus tukang masaknya, ternyata mereka sempet bbrp lama nggak jualan gara-gara jalan keluar rumahnya sedang di-pelur (istilah Sunda untuk disemen ulang).

Di sebelah ketel penggorengan, bertengger satu wadah jumbo berisi saus berwarna hijau kekuningan. Waktu ditanya itu apa, oh ternyata bumbunya... Style nasgor disini adalah nasgor kecap. Selain dari nasgor terdapat juga Mie Goreng, dan Mie Rebus. Minimalist menu...

Pilihan nasgornya cuma dua: dengan atau tanpa sambel. Sebagai pecinta yang manis-manis dan lucu-lucu, sudah tentu saya milih yang tanpa sambel. Nasi yang sudah selesai digoreng, kemudian diberi topping sebagai berikut: ayam suwir berwarna kekuningan yang cukup generous, acar cukup asem, dan 2 pcs kerupuk udang. Porsinya sendiri lumayan.

Dari segi rasa, walaupun bertajuk nasi goreng kecap, namun karakter rasa kecapnya cukup-cukup saja dan tidak terlalu dominan. Walaupun penampilan bumbu mentahnya terlihat kaya bawang putih, namun ternyata karakter bawangnya lembut-lembut saja. Malah on overall kekuatan bumbunya juga sedang-sedang saja, cuma memang komposisinya yahud! Ayam suwir berwarna kuningnya cukup medok, dan porsinya bisa cukup dimakan sampai suapan nasi terakhir... suatu hak asasi yang jarang dimengerti para penjual nasi goreng tenda umumnya...

Oh ya, selain ayam, nasi goreng ini cuma mengandung telur. Jadi bagi mereka yang rada geuleuh dengan irisan baso tepung pada nasi gorengnya bisa bernapas lega. Kualitas nasinya juga bagus, dan karena cukup light maka ater-taste nya juga terbebas dari serangan leher berminyak atau rasa giung yang mengganggu.

Walaupun tadinya saya berharap karakter rasa yang lebih condong ke nasgor nya chinese food (gurih dan kaya kecap inggris), tapi untuk harga 9K all in all pengalaman makan nasi goreng Pasar Sederhana ini sama sekali tidak mengecewakan. Apalagi ayam suwirnya cukup melimpah.

Yang kurang? Pilihannya tentu. Soalnya kebayang kalau base nasi gorengnya aja udah enak seperti ini, mau diajak tempur sama sidekick lainnya pun pasti edun. Kalaupun nggak something fancier seperti udang dan seafood, minimal ati-ampela lah. Atau mungkin si mang yang jualan perlu diajak ke Banda Aceh sekali-kali, buat ngeliat gimana beragamnya jenis lauk yang bisa diikutsertakan sebagai teman makan nasi goreng. (bay)