The Lure of the Crowd

Since Monday I've been on Langkawi, on assignment. I know what you're thinking -- but it really is work, tiring, all-day work, even if it is on a beautiful island. At any rate, I owe you a post, and I happen to have half an hour to myself and a stick drive with a backlog of photos.

A month or so ago I had an interesting conversation with food writer Andrea Nguyen about street food. 'When I see a crowd of people around a food vendor,' she said, 'I want to be part of that.' I know exactly what she means. Many of our street food experiences are prompted by the sight of a swarm of customers at a stall or shop or cart. What's the excitement all about? we wonder. And we want to find out.

So it was when we visited Glodok, Jakarta's small Chinatown, in July. As we walked Jalan Petak Sembilan we came across a veritable frenzy at a small shopfront where two women dished up nasi lemak (what do you call it in Indonesian?) and a variety of kueh, or sweets. Many of their customers were withered grannies (with sharp elbows) who looked like they'd probably been taking away from the shop for decades, and most patrons were taking away ten or even more orders at once. We passed it once, twice, then said to each other, 'We've got to give this a try.'

There were two kind of rice on offer, white and coconut-scented, and turmeric hued. The latter was by far the more popular. We ordered one bungkus (package) with 'everything', then packed it away to eat later.

We headed up towards Sunda Kelapa, Jakarta's historic port, sat down by the river, gave it a try,

and ended up wishing we'd ordered two. The rice was just perfect, neither dry nor mushy, every grain distinct. Tiny cubes of curried potato, omelet strips, a super spicy red chili sambal, slices of softened green chilies to mix in with the rice, and a substantial pergedel (potato patty dipped in egg and deep-fried) rounded out the meal.

Pretty simple, but pretty spectacular too. Trust me: always follow the crowd.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Oh my. That looks absolutely to die for.

Enjoy the rest of Langkawi!

[Ronny]

Nasi Lemak is called Nasi Uduk (pronounced "oo-dook") in Indonesian.

[Ronny]

The turmeric-yellow rice is more commonly known in Indonesia as Nasi Kuning. For special occasions like thanks giving (general thanks giving, like after promotion, birthdays, newborns, etc., not the American kind :-)), there is a party-sized Nasi Kuning shaped like a cone mountain about 30-40 cm high, dressed with all the condiments around the sides, we call it Nasi Tumpeng or just Tumpeng. Searching for "tumpeng" in Google Image will give you a better idea of what it looks like.

[Kitt]

Oh, that looks delicious! Like the truck stop corollary: Lots of trucks = good food. Not always true, but often.

[sari tjio]

In Indonesia there is nasi lemak too, but only in Sumatra (where it is closest to the Malay peninsula).. The other variation that we have is nasi uduk.. which is rice cooked in coconut milk, lemon grass and bay leaves, without the turmeric.

[cyn]

i couldn't agree more. that looks like nasi padang to me, probably because my idea of nasi lemak is white coconut rice served with the standard fare - fried egg, ikan bilis and sambal chilli. it certainly sounds bland compared to this!

[Gina B]

I hope you'll be able to find the crab cracking cruise in Langkawi. Used to be run by a kiwi, now a young American couple run it. A totally different view of unspoilt L'kawi.
Call it whatever, nasi lemak or nasi uduk, I lurve it and miss it so!!

[BM]

That looks absolutely delicious. Did they serve it in wax paper?

[Laura Kelley]

Lovely post - as always!

I've awarded your site a diamond for its fantastic writing and photogrpahy.

Come by Silk Road Gourmet to check it out.

http://silkroadgourmet.com/blog

[nhbilly]

Just reading your blog and I wish I had the chance to smell it ;-)

[luv0food]

yummy! looks and sounds good, especially the sambal. I miss sambal. Sounds like you really enjoyed the "pasar" experience.

[malhandsome]

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[Chubbypanda]

Crowds at food stall good. Fights over food stalls bad. The ladies aren't afraid to use those elbows. =D

[Kirsten]

I love the photos, I love your post, I love Asia!!!

[Ronny]

@BM: it's not wax paper, but a special kind of paper (thick-ish) with a plastic layer on one of the sides that is used especially to wrap food. You can found them everywhere in Indonesia, I don't know if they're used anywhere else. Sometimes the vendor put a layer of banana leaf between the food and the plastic layer, especially if the food is wet from gravy or sambal.

[Robyn]

Hi Jennifer - it was tasty! And I did (enjoy the rest of Langkawi).

Thanks Ronny.

Kitt - exactly.

Sari - thanks. We've enjoyed this on Sumatra as well,esp in Medan.

Hi cyn - it's not nasi Padang. I'm a huge fan and I know it when I see it!

Hi Gina - no time for a crab cracking cruise this trip, unfortunately. In fact, I was working on an article that has absolutely *nothing* to do with food, if you can imagine that!

Hi BM - Ronny explains the paper above. It's all over Malaysia too.

Thanks Laura - let me dig out from under work and do my own diamond post.

luvofood - we are all about the 'pasar experience' here at EatingAsia. The pasar is the first place we head after landing anywhere!

chubbypanda - no kidding. Old Chinese grammas are the most ferocious....

Thanks Kirsten, and nhbilly (unfortunately Typepad does not offer a surround-smell widget).