Rice Festival

everyone must be familiar with rice.. it's one of the main staple food of all people around the world, especially Asian.. it was produced from a plant called Oryza sativa.. Indonesia, my country, was one of the largest country both to produce and consume rice.. here, we usually eat rice with meat and vegetables.. certain people were so in love with rice that they would eat rice with fruits or other staple food, including spaghetti, noodle etc.. sounds weird, huh? well, Indonesian people really appreciate and addicted to rice that we have the quote that we haven't considered officially eat if we didn't eat rice.. that's how big our love to rice :)

well, this post is dedicated to Indonesian favorite food, no matter how broke we are, there will always be enough money to buy rice :)

Nasi Pecel. nasi pecel is originated from Madiun, East Java.. pecel itself was Indonesian style of salad.. and nasi pecel is consisted of rice, topped with mixed veggie, including spinach, long bean, bean sprout and basil leaves poured with peanut sauce and complimented with peanut chips.. the peanut sauce was made from crushed peanut, chili, garlic, tamarind, salt and pepper.. you can add other side dish to accompany eating nasi pecel, the options include tempeh, fried tofu, fried chicken or corn patty.. I tried this nasi pecel in Plaza Semanggi Food Court, in a stall named Nasi Pecel Ibu Broto.. I had my nasi pecel (Rp7,000) with tempeh (Rp1,000) and corn patty (Rp1,500).. it was really cheap and the taste was above average.. well, I seldom had nasi pecel, but I like this one, since the portion was quite big for me.. the veggies and peanut sauce were generous and it was one complete and fulfilling meal..

Nasi Padang. just as its name, nasi padang is originated from Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra.. the special thing about this Padang restaurant is plate stacking.. it's an art, I think, of displaying the food ready to served in a stacked plates and deliver your order by stacking those plates in the hand of the waiter without making it fall.. the stacks could be, like, almost ten plates at one delivery haha.. nasi padang usually consisted of rice, boiled cassava leaves and cooked jack-fruit with the famous green chili.. then you can choose your side dish to compliment your dish.. the restaurant provides almost all variety of meat, seafood and egg cooked in with Padang special sauce.. I had my nasi padang with chili grilled fish (Rp12,000).. actually, my side dish was not too common in all Padang restaurant, as far as I know, only this small hawker near Kebon Jeruk provided it.. the fish was grilled with spicy sauce and served with chili and onion which I found really delicious.. I like it so much.. the cassava leaves and jack-fruit was poured with rendang sauce, a special Padang sauce made from coconut, chili, lemon grass and galangale, which was really delicious and nothing else can be compared haha..

Nasi Ulam. nasi ulam is originated from Betawi or Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.. the rice is first cooked with coconut milk, so the rice itself has tasted really nice.. nasi ulam is usually served with a lot of side dish, such as stirred-fried long beans and tempeh, fried vermicelli, chili-fried potato, stewed tofu and last, but not least, poured with chopped cucumber, basil leaves and serundeng (cooked grated coconut meat with lots of spices).. nasi ulam is my favorite breakfast so far.. I had this one full-filling breakfast shared for me and my mom by paying only Rp7,000 in a nasi ulam stall at Pasar Tomang..

Nasi Medan. Medan is located in North Sumatra, if you see in the map, it's right next to West Sumatra.. nasi medan stall usually display all their menu in a rack to display and people can just point which dish they want to order, then wait for about 5 minutes, and your dish is ready in your table.. well, the thing about displaying all available menu in a rack is that we, buyers, get impulsive sometimes and wants to point all those appetizing dishes.. this has become some kind of a test for me.. well, I have been eating in this Medan restaurant located in ITC Mangga Dua Ground Floor, since my first visit there.. I haven't tried all the dishes, though.. on my last visit, I decided to order corn patty, urap (water spinach, cabbage, long beans, spinach and bean sprout cooked with grated coconut meat, chili, fermented shrimp paste and other spices) and chili-fried squid (Rp18,500) accompanied with chili paste and chopped cucumber..  though it seems to be quite similar with Padang dish, the food cooked in Medan style gives a whole new different taste.. a lighter taste, since not too much spices were put in all the dish.. and of course, I like it :)

Nasi Ayam Kalasan (Rice with Kalasan Chicken). well, actually the special dish is the chicken.. haha.. kalasan chicken came from Central Java.. it was cooked with coconut milk and soybean sauce, giving a sweet and delicious taste for our tongue.. I had this menu from Ayam Bakar Mas Mono, it was the complete package (Rp22,000) consisted of rice, one piece of kalasan chicken, bacem tempeh and tofu and lalapan (fresh veggie, usually consisted of lettuce, cabbage, cucumber and basil leaves).. imho, this Kalasan chicken is really delicious and in a very affordable price.. it was cooked well and not too sweet like other Javanese food..

this blog post can only review 5 side dishes to eat with rice in Indonesia.. our country was so diversified that we have like thousands of different dish to try.. anyway, what's your favorite side dish to eat with rice?