#sambal indonesia

[southeastasianists]

While there is friendly rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia over who makes better food, for one notable family in Singapore, the best sambal belacan (a spicy condiment made from shrimp paste) indisputably comes from Malaysia, though only from a very special source.

In 2019, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong conveyed his thanks to the Malaysian queen for regularly sending over her sambal belacan to his family. “Thank you for your warmth and kindness, sending my father (and me) your special sambal belacan all these years!” he tweeted on 28 October 2019. “I hope you enjoy making it as much as we enjoy eating it!” A few days before, Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah had shared on her Instagram account a letter written in July 2009 by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. He wrote that the six packets of sambal belacan she had given him were delicious. “I shared them with my two sons. They have all been consumed. It is the best chilli belacan we have tasted. Can my family have a few more?”1 Since then, she has been regularly sending her sambal belacan across the Causeway.

Sambal belacan is a regular accompaniment to rice in Malay, Eurasian and Peranakan  meals. It is made by pounding toasted belacan with chillies and adding calamansi lime juice, salt and sugar to that mixture. While it is popular with many people, its key ingredient, belacan, has a somewhat malodourous reputation.

Hugh Clifford, who served as Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1927 and 1929, referred to belacan as “that evil-smelling condiment which [had] been so ludicrously misnamed the Malayan Caviare” in his 1897 account of the Malay Peninsula. He wrote that the coasts reeked of “rank odours” as a result of women villagers “labouring incessantly in drying and salting the fish which [had] been taken by the men, or pounding prawns into blâchan” throughout the fishing season. The stench was so strong that “all the violence of the fresh, strong, monsoon winds” would only “partially purge” the villages of it.2

In his book, A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands & Adjacent Countries (1856), John Crawfurd, the former Resident of Singapore, describes balachong (belacan) as:

“[A] condiment made of prawns, sardines, and other small fish, pounded and pickled. The proper Malay word is bâlachan [belacan], the Javanese trasi [terasi], and the Philippine bagon [bagoong]. This article is of universal use as a condiment, and one of the largest articles of native consumption throughout both the Malay and Philippine Archipelago. It is not confined, indeed, as a condiment to the Asiatic islanders, but is also largely used by the Birmese [Burmese], the Siamese, and Cochin-Chinese. It is, indeed, in great measure essentially the same article known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of garum, the produce of a Mediterranean fish.”3

Today, the Malay term belacan is commonly used in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and parts of Indonesia to refer typically to shrimp paste. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, it is called kapi, which is borrowed from the term ngapi (literally “pressed fish”) used in Myanmar, while it is referred to as mắm tôm or mắm ruốc in Vietnam.

Because it is rich in glutamates and nucleotides, belacan imparts savouriness to any dish, what is often described as “umami”. Other foods that are rich in umami include fish sauce, soya sauce, kimchi, mushroom, ripe tomato, anchovy and cheese.

Making Belacan

A 17th-century account gives a remarkably detailed description of making belacan. In 1688, the English privateer William Dampier encountered people making a paste of small fish and shrimps called balachaun during his visit to Tonkin (North Vietnam). He saw how this process produced nuke-mum or nước mắm (fish sauce) as well. His account, published in 1699, provides one of the earliest Western descriptions of making fish/shrimp paste:

“To make it, they throw the Mixture of Shrimps and small Fish into a sort of weak pickle made with Salt and Water, and put into a tight earthen Vessel or Jar. The Pickle being thus weak, it keeps not the Fish firm and hard, neither is it probably so designed, for the Fish are never gutted. Therefore in a short time they turn all into a mash in the Vessel; and when they have lain thus a good while, so that the Fish is reduced to a pap, they then draw off the liquor into fresh Jars, and preserve it for use. The masht Fish that remains behind is called Balachaun, and the liquor pour’d off is called Nuke-Mum.”4

While some versions of belacan use fish, it is held that the best ones are made from shrimp. In 1783, the Irish orientalist William Marsden, who worked for the East India Company in Bencoolen (now Bengkulu), wrote about the differences between black and red blachang in his book, The History of Sumatra:

“Blachang [belacan]… is a species of cavear, and is extremely offensive and disgusting to persons who are not accustomed to it, particularly the black kind, which is the most common. The best sort, or the red blachang, is made of the spawn of shrimps, or of the shrimps themselves, which they take about the mouths of rivers… The black sort, used by the lower class, is made of small fish, prepared in the same manner.”5

Fish and shrimp pastes have a very long history in Southeast Asia. Researchers believe that the techniques of fermenting fish most likely arose in areas on mainland Southeast Asia inhabited by communities who practised irrigated rice farming, had access to salt and faced seasonality in their fish stocks, which made preservation imperative. These techniques were then applied to the preservation of other raw ingredients such as shrimp and shellfish. They would later drift southwards throughout the rest of Southeast Asia.6 A Mon stone inscription from the first century CE provides the earliest record of the importance of ngapi in the Burmese diet. Ngapi manufacturers were also found in the list of occupations on a 12th-century stone inscription and a 15th-century marble monument from Myanmar.7 Inhabitants of the coastal cities of Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat (in present-day southern Thailand) used shrimp paste in their cooking as far back as the eighth century. These cities were then ruled by the Malay kingdom of Srivijaya from the island of Sumatra.8

“Evil”, “Nauseating”, “Noxious”

The smell associated with the making of belacan was noted by many observers. In the 1830s, the teacher, interpreter and writer Munshi Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir) visited a village market in Terengganu where he encountered what he perceived as a variety of “makanan yang busuk-busuk” (smelly, unwholesome foods), including tempoyak (fermented durian), different kinds of salted and fermented seafood products, petai (stink bean) and many types of sambal belacan. He criticised the lack of what he perceived as “makanan yang mulia” (wholesome foods) such as meat, ghee, eggs, butter and milk.9

In 1885, Scottish ornithologist Henry O. Forbes, wrote about his encounter with terasi and discovers, to his horror, that he had been eating it unknowingly for some time:

“Having got up rather late one Sunday morning… I was discomfited by the terrific and unwonted odour of decomposition. ‘My birds have begun to stink, confound it!’ I exclaimed to myself. Hastily fetching down the box in which they were stored, I minutely examined and sniffed over every skin… but all of them seemed in perfect condition. In the neighbouring jungle, though I diligently searched half the morning, I could find no dead carcase, and nothing in the ‘kitchen-midden,’… but at last in the kitchen itself I ran it to ground in a compact parcel done up in a banana leaf.

‘What on the face of creation is this?’ I said to the cook, touching it gingerly.

‘Oh! Master, that is trassi.’

‘Trassi? What is trassi, in the name of goodness!’

‘Good for eating, master; –in stew.’

‘Have I been eating it?’

‘Certainly, master; it is most excellent (enak sekali).’

‘You born fool! Do you wish to poison me and to die yourself?’

‘May I have a goitre (daik gondok), master, but it is excellent!’ he asseverated…

Notwithstanding these vehement assurances, I made it disappear in the depths of the jungle… I had then to learn that in every dish, native or European, that I had eaten since my arrival in the East, this Extract of Decomposition was mixed as a spice, and it would have been difficult to convince myself that I would come by-and-bye knowingly to eat it daily without the slightest abhorrence.10

Detailed written accounts like this provide insights into people’s attitudes towards belacan as well as the people who consume and produce it. A similarly degrading account came from the American naturalist William Hornaday. In his 1885 book, Two Years in the Jungle: The Experiences of a Hunter and Naturalist in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, Hornaday remarked how the Chinese fishermen in a village at Sungei Bulu (most probably referring to Sungai Buloh), Selangor, “were engaged in catching prawns and making them up into a stinking paste called blachang”. He wrote: “Every house in the village is tumble-down, rickety and dirty beyond description, and the village smells even worse than it looks. The Chinamen live more like hogs than human beings; and, for my part, I would rather take up quarters in a respectable pig-sty than in such house as those are.”11

Enraged by a late-16th-century description of food written by Antonio de Morga (then lieutenant governor of the Philippines), José Rizal – the Filipino nationalist whose political writings inspired the revolution against the Spanish colonial government – wrote in 1890: “This is another preoccupation of the Spaniards who, like any other nation, treat food to which they are not accustomed or is unknown to them with disgust… This fish that Morga mentions, that cannot be good until it begins to rot, is bagoong and those who have eaten it and tasted it know that it neither is nor should be rotten.”12

Additionally, there were accounts about the supposed effects of belacan on health and sanitation leading to disease outbreaks. In Picturesque Burma, Past and Present (1897), British travel writer Alice Hart recounted that during a cholera epidemic in Yandoon, an English official imposed a ban on ngapi production because he was convinced that its stench exacerbated the situation. (At the time, some people still believed that diseases and epidemics were caused by miasmas or noxious vapours instead of pathogens or germs.) However, the order was so unpopular that it was eventually withdrawn, along with the officer involved.13

Hart also wrote that Catholic priests in Mandalay tested the theory that leprosy was caused by the consumption of decomposing fish. They conducted experiments in leper homes, which involved removing ngapi from the diet of the lepers in hopes that they might recover from the disease. The lepers, however, returned to their usual diet after a month as “their desire to taste ngapee again was greater than the hope of being cured”.14

The Belacan Trade

In 1856, with the passing of the Conservancy Act, trades carried out within the municipality that were defined as offensive and dangerous (including melting tallow, boiling offal or blood, sago manufacture, running brick, pottery or lime kilns, and storing hay, straw, wood or coal) had to be registered and licensed. The new law did not affect the belacan trade for four decades, but the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements amended it in 1896 to include the “drying and sorting of fish, and the drying or sorting or storing of blachan”. With that, the owner of a belacan factory or store would need to register for an annual licence as it was a “manufactory or place of business from which offensive or unwholesome smells arise”.15 There were reports in Singapore of people being fined for storing belacan for trade in buildings without a licence within the municipality. For instance, in December 1897, a Chinese man named Lee Pow was fined 50 dollars for storing 280 bags of belacan in a house on Cecil Street without a licence.16

Although the belacan industry in Singapore and Malaya might not have been as economically important as the rubber, tin or even dried and salted fish trades, it was still significant. Belacan was a cheap provision for tin miners living in the major tin-mining areas such as Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong (now known as Seremban). They ate it with rice to make the meal more flavourful. The traveller and orientalist Thomas J. Newbold wrote in 1839 that Melaka traded items like belacan, salted fish, opium, specie, fish roe and tobacco for rice, tin, gold dust, ivory and ebony with states located in the interior. He also noted that Melaka exported a “considerable quantity of blachang” along with other commodities like hides, pepper, bricks and tiles as well as some ebony and ivory to Singapore.17

In his 1923 report, marine biologist David G. Stead states that belacan was “of very large importance” in the fish trade in many parts of Malaya. Stead had travelled along the Malayan coasts in the early 1920s to survey local fisheries and come up with recommendations for developing the industry. He explained that the fisheries in Province Wellesley (now known as Seberang Perai, a city in the state of Penang) and along the coasts of Perak and Selangor produced large quantities of belacan, whereas the growing fishery in Johor’s Kukup produced considerable amounts. He highlighted Bagan Luar, a fishing village located across from Penang Island, as the most important place in Malaya in terms of belacan manufacture and export. The other major site along the Strait of Malacca was Bagan Si Api Api.18 This town, which developed in the rich estuary where Sumatra’s Rokan River meets the Strait of Malacca, was home to an industrial fishery that produced a yearly average of nearly 30 million kilograms of fish and belacan between 1898 and 1928.19

Belacan in Singapore

Singapore played a vital role regionally as an entrepôt for belacan as well as other products like canned and salted fish.20 Singapore was the principal importer and exporter of belacan for the Straits Settlements. The bulk of the exports went to Java. Between 1920 and 1927, for instance, the Straits Settlements exported almost 16,000 tons of belacan to Java, amounting to almost $3,100,000. The next two largest amounts exported from the Straits Settlements via Singapore were to British India and Burma (about 8,400 tons), and Siam (about 6,700 tons) during the same period.21 Even after the dissolution of the Straits Settlements in 1946, Singapore continued its role as a major distribution centre for belacan; this time, it was for the Federation of Malaya.22

In 1900, there were 36 registered belacan factories within Singapore’s Municipal Area. The number, however, decreased over time; by 1939, only three were left.23 Maps produced between the 1930s and 1950s indicate three belacan factories at the Kallang Basin, with two located right by the Kallang River. Parts of these buildings appear to be submerged in water, suggesting that they were built on stilts. Each building also had an attached large wooden platform, most likely used for laying out and drying the shrimp paste.24

According to the Annual Report of the Fisheries Department for 1950 and 1951, the production of belacan in Singapore was negligible and much of the supply was imported from Malaya. The Federation of Malaya provided 600 tons of belacan for consumption within Singapore in 1950 alone.25 Even so, Tampines had a thriving belacan industry in the early 1950s that catered to local demand. Sungai Tampines and Sungai Api Api, two rivers that flow through Tampines and Pasir Ris and into the Strait of Johor, were rich in fish and udang geragau (small shrimps used to make belacan) at high tide.26

Lubuk Gantang, the confluence of three Sungai Tampines tributaries, was once abundant with these shrimps. This was a popular spot for villagers looking to catch and sell the shrimps fresh or to make them into belacan. However, this place no longer exists due to land reclamation. Over time, the belacan industry in Tampines declined not only due to reclamation, but also because people moved away from the area. By 1986, more than half of the villagers had moved into flats in new housing estates like Bedok, Hougang and Tampines.27

The udang geragau were caught using sondong (push-net), also known as selandang and sungkor.28 These used to be a familiar sight in nearshore areas like Siglap, Changi, Tampines and Seletar. Part-time or subsistence fishermen, including small boys, would typically use a smaller type of push-net. The Fisheries Survey Report (1959) describes the sondong as a net that is carried between two light wooden poles approximately five metres in length. “Shoes” made out of hardwood or coconut husk are attached to one end of the poles. The fisherman operates the sondong by standing between the poles and lowering the net into the water until the “shoes” reach the bottom. He then pushes it slowly along the seabed and lifts it after some time. With a few shakes, the catch goes into the bag-like end of the net. Longer poles were used by some fishermen who operated the net from boats in deep water.29

Despite ongoing urban redevelopment and reclamation, there was still a cottage industry of five households producing belacan in Kampong Tampines in the 1980s. In an interview with the Berita Harian newspaper in 1986, village resident 72-year-old Sapiah Osman, better known as Mak Piah, said that she had been catching shrimps since she was 35.

The widow started making belacan as part-time work to feed her family. She was usually at the shore by 6.30 am. Depending on the tide and weather, she might even be there earlier. On a good day, it did not take long for her sondong to be filled with shrimps. On other days, she would have to wait one to two hours to get a good catch.30 Like her, other fisherfolk made and sold belacan as a means to earn extra income for their families. Mak Piah sold her belacan for $1.

While belacan production still endures in other parts of Southeast Asia today, scenes of people catching udang geragau with their sondong and making belacan are long gone from Singapore. The shores are now void of the smell of drying fish and belacan, although one can still catch the aromatic whiff of belacan being toasted from homes and eateries.

RECIPE FOR BELACAN

In 1973, a belacan scandal rocked kitchens in Malaysia and Singapore. The authorities found belacan from Penang adulterated with a poisonous and carcinogenic dye, the prohibited substance Rhodamine B, which was used to give it an appealing reddish hue. This may have motivated some people to make belacan at home, hence this recipe by a Mrs Tan Bee Neo that was published in the New Nation newspaper a few years later.

Ingredients:

Use a Chinese tea cup as a measure. 10 heaped cups of fresh shrimp (udang geragau) and a little less than one cup of salt.

Method:

1. Do not wash the shrimps unless it is with fresh seawater. Sort through the shrimp to remove small fish, seaweed or other foreign matter.

2. Drain the shrimp and mix thoroughly with salt. Spread evenly on a large tray and dry in the sun for one day, or till damp-dry.

3. Pound the shrimp. The shrimps will still be moist and will easily bind into a paste. Shape into small cakes, the size of an egg and flatten.

4. Dry these in the sun for at least two days. Pound once more to get a finer paste. Re-shape into cakes and dry in the sun for two more days or more depending on the sunshine.

5. Check the texture for smoothness, you would probably have to re-pound the belacan.

6. When satisfied that the belacan is suitably fine, that is, the shrimps are indistinguishable from each other, shape the paste into cakes and leave once more in the sun for at least four days until the cakes are quite dry.

7. Belacan keeps well indefinitely, but be sure to dry the cakes in the sun every now and then to remove moisture that may have collected in storage.

RECIPE FOR SAMBAL BELACAN

This recipe is taken from Rita Zahara’s cookbook, Malay Heritage Cooking (2012).

Ingredients:

10g

belacan

7 red chillies

3 red bird’s-eye chillies

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

2 limes, juice extracted, zest thinly sliced

Method:

1. Heat a small frying pan and dry-fry belacan for a few minutes until fragrant.

2. Using a mortar and pestle, pound belacan with chillies until well combined. Remove to small bowl.

3. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Add freshly squeezed lime juice and lime zest.

[ridatus]

My mood...

Pagi-pagi muter nyariin dia, eh ketemunya di pasar. Yaa meski ngga langsung Nemu dipasarnya. Hihi

.

AR

[hypercaring5]

Did you know that chilies are native to the Americas? Did you also know it's considered a staple ingredient in Indonesia even though it's not native to here? I found this all to be very fascinating. There's even a little etymology fun that I learned while looking this up.

[cintokowati]

Sambal Matah

Ingredients:

1. Shallots (lots of them, more than the chillies)

2. Red chillies

3. Lime leaves

4. Olive oil

How to make it:

1. Chopped the red chillies first. Our family prefer to clean the seeds (after chopping it)

2. After cleaning the chilli's seeds, chop the shallots and lime leaves (clean the middle/bone of the leaves)

3. Season it with salt and MSG. Taste it.

4. Heat the olive oils (small quantity is okay, like a spoonful of it). Once it's heated, pour it to the bowl of mixed no. 1 and 2.

5. Squeeze a bit of lemon on top of it and it's ready to serve.

Note:

- The result was really good.

- The only lacking part was that the shallot should be more than the chillies.

- Taste it before you pour the oil. Although, you can always rectify it later.

[ajahbesti]

TERBAIK, 0897.9279.277 Produksi Bubuk Rempah GAFI

[tukangmasakpartikelir]

Aku meyakini bahwa: lebih dari 80% yang baca ini pasti tau apa itu sambal matah, berasal dari mana, bentuknya kayak gimana, rasanya, dan seterusnya.. Tapi tau gak sih kalo sambal matah dulunya bernama sambal bawang. Karena terlalu femes dan keluar dari Bali, maka untuk membedakannya lalu diberi nama sambal matah. Nah, lebih jelasnya lagi matah adalah mentah!. Cara menikmati: - Kondimen bebakaran/gorengan/panggangan unggas dan boga bahari (seafood), teorinya sih untuk memberikan rasa dan tekstur yang kontras - Sesukaku dan sesukamu, atau selera masing-masing aja lah ya, perihal makan aja kok ngatur-atur! Cara membuatnya: Bahan - Bawang merah (shallot) - Cabe rawit atau cabe lainnya, lagi-lagi terserah dengan tingkat kepedasan kita-aku-kamu sukai - Terasi/belacan - Jeruk limau/limo (citrus x ambylcarpa) - Sereh - Minyak - Garam Opsional: - Daun jeruk purut - Kecombrang/honje (torch ginger) - Tomat (?) - Bawang putih (?) Alat: - Pisau tajam (kenapa harus tajam? Supaya kandungan air dan minyak pada bahan tidak muncrat, intinya rasanya bakal sedikit "lain" kalo pisaunya tumpul) - Wadah, tentu saja Instruksi: - Rajang bahan tipich-tipich, campur, kucuri dengan perasan jeruk limau, lalu minyak, lalu remas-remas dengan tangan dengan sekaligus menumpahkan emosi, sentimen, perasaan gundah gulana dan semua yang ada, pret - Sajikan Iya, memang semudah itu! PS: - Jeruk limau berbeda dengan jeruk nipis berbeda dengan jeruk purut, ingin tau perbedaannya? JGI aja (just google it) - Jangan lupa mem-bid'ah-kan sambal matah, mungkin garamnya diganti dengan kecap ikan, LOL - Sambal matah yang asli katanya pakai minyak dingin, bukan panas ——— #sambalmatah #sambal #resep #reseprumahan #resepmudah #resepsambal #kuliner #masakanrumahan #masakan #cook #homecooking #nusantara #bali #balifoodies #balifood #indonesia (at Special Region of Yogyakarta) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co61-2greMt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sambalmamila]

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(Setelah TK Kartini )

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sambalbawangburudy #sambalbawangalaburudy #sambalbawangabirawit

sambalbawangaichik #sambalbawanganeka #sambalbawangalesha

[thelcsdaily]

Sambal Goreng Shrimp

This Sambal Goreng is perfect if you enjoy spicy meals! Bold and satisfying without being overpowering is this classic Indonesian dish. Known by many different names, sambal goreng is a class of Indonesian meals that begin with frying sambal in hot oil to create a spice paste known as bumbu. Sambal is a chili condiment that is used throughout Indonesia and comes in hundreds of varieties. The essence of a superb sambal goreng is in the sambal itself, and this particular rendition is aromatic with shallots, ginger, and tamarind, as well as the distinctive spiciness of chiles. When cooked, this meal has an amazing fragrance that I like. It tastes great with a side steam rice.

“The more you know, the better you cook.“ –Alton Brown

[thebleedingwoodland]

Tomarang

Lanjutan dari postingan Tomarang berikutnya. Berhubung saya sendiri masih capek pulang kerja di dunia nyata, jadi saya review singkat, padat, dan jelas saja ya.

The Sims 4 studio team who did research for For Rent EP definitely taking many references from Thailand and Malaysia.

Boat = Thailand.

Colourful diamond-shaped lanterns hanging on cafe = Vietnam. (It's not Chinese lantern, very different).

Gazebo Rooftop = Thailand.

Squat toilet = universal Southeast Asian "traditional" toilet. Actual Southeast Asian style throw the water using Gayung as water container to the toilet to flush the toilet.

Painting on The Screaming Gecko cafe, there is image of temple. It is Thai temple. Wat Phra Kaew.

NASI LEMAK, the famous national Malaysian dish, Finally EA updated the correct mesh. And adding Coconut Rice to the menu which is not accurate.

There is no such thing as "Coconut Rice" in Southeast Asian cuisine. I asked fellow Indonesian Sims player and real life people from Indonesia and Malaysia... They are confused and don't know what is "Coconut Rice."

Apologize from EA accepted. So far the complaint via Malaysian youtube influencer worked. The only interesting about this Nasi Lemak 3D model is the texture. Too realistic for The Sims 4 food. As it is more suitable for The Sims 3 food texture without looking too cartoon. I can easily recognize nasi, ikan teri, ayam, sambal, ketimun, kacang, dan telur.

Painting on cafe wall. Beer and... Tiger? What's EA trying to say... Is it Tiger Beer? Beer from Singapore?

Tiger Statue. In Indonesia, there are many Tiger statues displayed on the public street and in front of military building. There was "Cisewu Tiger Statue." from Indonesia became viral on internet, due to its funny-looking tiger statue looks like laughing.

Thailand Dragon fountain statue. Yes, dragon in Southeast Asia is depicted as water serpent creature. The color is right, Green and gold. Definitely not eyesore in red colour like The Sims 3 Shang Simla Chinese dragon statue.

Dragons have long symbolized power, creativity, heaven, and good fortune. Thai culture also believes that dragons have authority over bodies of water, rain, floods, and storms.

Wet Market = universal Southeast Asian market. There are always fresh fish, seafood, and chicken sold on the market stall.

[cruella-devegan]

Prima Warung Pure Vegetarian / Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Nasi campur with red rice, gado gado, sweet corn fritter, satay, tempeh, sambal and pumpkin soup

[castillon02]

007 Fest Weekly Update

STARFISH is located in Indonesia, a country with a beautiful cuisine that includes spicy sambal paste, smoky nasi goreng rice, and salty-sweet gado gado salad. Prior to the Big Snooze, Jet Twimbly had, in their role of cafeteria chef, planned menu days inspired by various cities; they had been excited to reproduce some of the characteristic flavors of Jakarta for the agents who had worked there.

However, Jet suspects that the ex-patriot leader of STARFISH is there in Indonesia less because they appreciate the food and more because of the low cost of living. They reach out to their contacts in the area and try to find out if there's been an increase in expat-type grocery orders, and if so, to which area. If STARFISH personnel are American, for example, it's possible that an unusually large delivery of Cheerios cereal could point the way to their headquarters. Closer to home, Jet works with various organizations to include nutritional requirements in the Henching Union, Villains Union, and Agents Union contracts.

"Agents who are captured deserve an appropriately thematic last meal; for example, in a scientific lair, villains might provide a quasi-futuristic version of fine dining."

"Henches often perform vigorous physical labor and they need regular and nutritious meals; duty-specific anatomical features such as metal teeth should be accommodated."

"Captured villains require enough sustenance, particularly liquid refreshments, that they can monologue and/or verbally stall for time in order to give their plans the opportunity to come to fruition."

Jet hopes their negotiations will help foster a tentative peace between the various organizations who were too inconsequential to get Snoozed and now find themselves with room to throw their weight around. If they can't agree on anything else, surely they can agree on the importance of food!

[brightasstars]

The Diplomat's Son and The Boy in the Orchids' Garden

Chapter 19 is up!!!

Sorry for the unconstant updates but our lives have been complicated recently. Thank you as always to my friend and co-writer @imandras this wouldn't have been possible at all without her.

Alec left the airport building and inhaled deeply.

The air filled his lungs and it suddenly felt like coming home. The temperature was around 80 degrees as expected and he noticed that the air was smokier than New York and all the European cities he’d lived in in the last years. That was something he didn’t remember about the time he’d spent there. 

How he had missed Indonesia!

The air alone tasted different.

He breathed in one more time, closing his eyes: he recognized all the smells he had come to know while strolling around with Magnus. Motorcycle exhaust, clove cigarettes, fried chicken, and sambal seasoning, and for a fleeting second he wished it would start to rain just so he could recognize the scent of rain pouring on all those smells and blending them into something unique.

He checked his watch and realized he had enough time to get to the bus stop at Terminal 3. As he walked he was glad he packed a small bag that fit in the overhead compartment. The queue of tourists waiting for their luggage was so long!

He had considered taking the Soekarno Hatta Line train four stops to Manggarai, changing and going two more stops to Stasiun Gondangida since that would have been faster but since he didn’t want to change too many trains he’d eventually opted for the bus ride. 

Keep reading

[msfbgraves]

There are whole treatises on immigrant cooking but it's so interesting to do it in real time.

I wanted some noodles with pickled eggs and immediately started the process.

They use a lot of unsweetened soy sauce. The thing is, sweetened soy sauce, as known in Indonesia, is so much cheaper here. And then there was the sesame oil. I have some sesame seeds, but they're hardly a staple, and my local supermarket did not stock sesame oil at all. And then there was the sesame paste, well, fuck it. I went with peanut butter for that. And no, they did not have white sesame seeds.

Unsweetened soy sauce, very expensive, immediately becomes a luxury, so we're doing this with sweetened soy sauce, omitting the sugar, and black sesame seeds. Also peanut butter and some Indonesian crushed pepper paste (sambal). Was it good? Yes! Did it, at this point, have anything to do with the Japanese version? I don't have money to be all authentic, crikey.

Also, Dutch national cuisine is extremely heavily influenced by not having:

Arable land

The climate to grow anything but cabbage, root vegetables or onions (few herbs). Spices are insanely expensive. We stil say that something is 'dear as pepper' (peperduur).

Do you know what we did have?

Livestock. And dairy. Plus beans and some fruits like apples, pears maybe some cherries and forest fruits.

So Dutch meals can only really be flavoured by meat! Fish is somehow a springtime and summer dish, because you need very soft baby carrots and very fresh vegetables to actually enjoy a meal of plain fish - again not even lemon - plus potatoes and some lettuce.

And oh, what if meat is unavailable?

(Not even bacon?)

There's only one thing for it, you smother it in cheese.

Now of course nowadays, you can buy herbs and spices. But still, our people are very bad at making vegetarian dishes, because if you can't flavour anything with meat or cheese what are you gonna do? Buy cumin?! Who has that kind of cash, traditionally?

So you see a lot of meats seasoned with fruits, or fruit served as a side dish. You see a lot of cabbage and kale mashed through potatoes. Why? It softens the taste; cabbage is quite harsh. You also see people basically give up on dinner, really, and inventing really tasty meat and cheesy bites. That does not a meal make, but they're really really good. It does also create a culture obsessed with desserts. If dinner is a bit of a bland affair, dessert can lift your spirits considerably.

A lot of this "White people can't season their food" comes from traditionally not having learnt non meat-based seasoning. We've tried to get by with fruits and the best cheese we could manage.

And sure. I am very eagerly brushing up on other kitchens, because now we absolutely can buy five spice and lentils and ginger. But I'm so much milder about "bad" cuisine or unauthentic foods. People are trying to do the best with what they have available and indeed what they know. Also, learning a foreign cuisine is hard and can be very expensive.

And I've decided that it's infintely easier to cook Surinamese in the Netherlands and Indian in the UK, so I'll cook Gordon Ramsay recipes when I'm there and sweet soy sauce chicken noodles when at home. Also try finding endive outside of Turkey and Holland. It's no use.

[crazed-flower]

Special Training

Pairing Task force 141 x reader (platonic)

Based on this thought

WARNING: Indonesian manners and etiquette that i know of lol, platonic but slight romantic ish?, FLUFF, my writing skill is shit, cringe probably.

A/n: Hi hehe-

This is very very much is my first ever fic in Tumblr, i do have a fic in wattpad but it has NOTHING to do with TF 141 and it's in Indonesian. I think my fic there is kind off cringe ngl.

People say it doesn't but my eyes think it is so, i will not give the link. This thing... I got confused on where to start it but i just fuck it and went along with it.

This short fic is actually just some shit i thought of randomly when i watch some videos about indonesian military training, there's some people that says it's crazy and this idea just popped in my head. AND I GOTTA LET IT OUT SOMEHOW!! But really thought, ENJOY!

Reader is younger and is a female

Dividers by @cafekitsune

Right now all of them are in their lounge room. Ghost, Soap and Gaz were making random conversations together. Well, mostly Gaz and Soap, Ghost just add something here and there while waiting for Price and (Name) to come back with their dinner.

"Hey, sorry for the wait. Food's here!" Not long after, the door opens and out comes Price and (Name). Both of their hands full of foods.

A plate full of fried chicken, another plate full of green leaves and cuted cucumbers, the other with some unknown fried dish, a bowl full of rice stack like a mountain, and bowls of bowls full of... Chili sauce?

As the plates are being put down on the table, Soap, Gaz, and Ghost stared at the bowls of chili sauce. All of them has one thought, Why is there so many of them? And they all look the same?

"Today is a perfect day to eat ayam penyet with sambal and lalapan! I know all of you can't eat much chilies, so! I have lessened the spiciness on the sambal so that you can enjoy them to"

All of them just nod along, thinking that it won't be that bad. But no, 5 second after they take a bite of the chicken, rice and sambal, their face are red.

Soap is running around the room like a headless chicken trying to find a glass of cold water. Gaz is trying to calm himself down with breathing regularly. Price tries to level out the spicy taste by eating lots of cucumber. While Ghost... he looked depressed as fuck, a few drops of tears are running down his eyes behind his mask. Actually... You can see the wet spot on his mask below his eyes.

They never touch the sambal ever again until the end. Meanwhile (Name) over there at the side eating half a bowl of the sambal with not even a sweat on her forehead. They're dumbfounded, they truly did, like what the fuck?

Now that the meal is done, it's time for a few chats. As they talk about their day and their experience, suddenly the center of attention is (Name).

"So, (Name), what's it like training as a special agent in Indonesia?" Gaz ask

"Well it's almost the same as here, but the only difference is you're not shot with bullets on mud" She take another kerupuk without even minding their faces.

"I'm sorry hold on, shot with bullets? On mud? I don't understand"

(Name) shrugged, uncaring

"Yea, in Indonesia, there's this one training where the soldiers are to crawl on mud while rain of bullets is shot from above. I got to experience that one"

"The fuck? Won't that cause great harm to the soldiers?"

"Not really, Ghost. So far there's only one death, and even then it's because there's a snake in the mud"

You know what? They won't even say anything anymore. What's with Indonesian and extremes.

Tag list: @axerrri @kkaaaagt @aldis-nuts @yjhariani

[salmonmentai]

Rumah di dalam Koper

Duduk, menonton jalan dari dalam bus, dan tidak buka handphone adalah momen pause yang sederhana dari waktu yang terus berjalan. Waktu 20-60 menit itu sering sekali berkedip begitu saja dan aku harus melangkahkan kakiku lagi hingga telapakku nyeri. Namun bagaimana pun, ternyata waktu yang begitu sebentar itu memang porsi yang pas untuk menyentil kesadaranku yang sedang mengambang hingga aku ingin menyapa lagi halaman blog-ku yang usang dengan: Selamat pagi dari Aarhus!

Membawa Rumah

Ada 121 jenis barang yang kutulis di daftar barang bawaan untuk berangkat kuliah ke Denmark. Membuat daftar panjang itu menghabiskan waktu seharian penuh (mungkin dua hari). Membuat daftar panjang itu begitu menyenangkan, karena membuatku merasa aman untuk pergi jauh tanpa harus berpisah dari ‘rumah’ku— kepunyaanku. Itu sampai aku menyiapkan dua koper ukuran medium di kamarku dan menyadari bahwa 121 barang adalah jumlah yang overwhelming.

Untuk menyeleksi mereka, setiap barang yang masuk dalam koperku aku tanyakan terlebih dulu:

Apakah kamu membantuku merasa familiar di tempat asing? Akhirnya benda-benda sentimentil kubawa serta, seperti boneka kecil, buku-buku bahasa Indonesia, serta batik dan baju belel Indonesia.

Apakah kamu ingin kubawa pulang ke Malang? Sebisa mungkin aku ingin membawa kembali apa yang kubawa ke Aarhus, Waktu aku pindah kost dari Bandung ke Jakarta hingga akhirnya kukembalikan barang-barang itu ke Malang, aku ingat betapa banyak barang yang jadi milikku yang harus diangkut kesana kemari. Akibatnya, barang seperti selimut berwujud karung goni yang sangat ingin kubawa dari Malang kutinggalkan, karena sepertinya kelak membawanya kembali ke Malang agak mustahil. Begitu juga dengan piring, mug kucing, alat makan, dan alat masak.

Apakah kamu berguna untukku bisa survive di hari pertama aku tiba, saat aku belum bisa melakukan apa pun? Membawa rice cooker kecil, sedikit beras, dan abon terbukti ampuh untuk proses adaptasi. Selama 4 hari, dua kali sehari, laukku hanya bervariasi dari sambal instan, abon, dan teri balado. Memang, dalam 4 hari itu kebetulan aku belum bisa melakukan apa-apa.

Pada akhirnya, bagasiku over capacity dan aku harus membayar kelebihannya. Itu juga karena aku malah memasukkan koper kabinku ke bagasi alih-alih membawanya ke kabin. Kalau kurenungkan sekarang pun aku masih sulit menentukan barang apa yang tidak perlu kubawa kemari karena tiga pertanyaan di atas sudah menjadikan semua bawaanku bermakna. Kalau ada kebakaran, setidaknya aku punya gambaran bahwa ada tiga koper yang ingin kuselamatkan (sebuah analogi yang kurang bermanfaat, ya.)

Rumah yang Tidak Bisa Dibawa

Kata-kata ‘sampai jumpa’ buatku mulai terasa getir untuk diucapkan di dua minggu sebelum berangkat kuliah. Mau tidak mau tidak semua ‘rumah’ bisa muat di koper kita: misalnya teman, pacar, sahabat, saudara, dan orang tua. Tidak bisa tanpa sengaja bertemu, membuatku patah hati. Tidak bisa hanya perlu hadir dan diam saja tanpa perlu banyak kata-kata, membuatku patah hati. Tidak bisa memahami, mengerti, dan mendengar cerita mereka, membuatku patah hati. Berkeping-kepinglah perasaanku setiap melangkah keluar masuk pintu rumah di Malang kemarin. 

Rumah lain yang tidak bisa dibawa adalah Kota Malang itu sendiri. Kota yang paling aku kenali. Celotehan orang-orangnya kukenali, tempo yang kukenali, dan sengatan matahari yang kukenali. Tempatku lahir. Tempatku tumbuh. Aku tidak bisa membawa masyarakat Malang berikut jalur-jalur jalan kakinya, apalagi membawa matahari tropisnya di dalam koperku, mau tidak mau.

Bagaimanapun, aku yakin bahwa jauh dari ‘rumah’ memang pas untukku di fase ini. Dan aku sedang membiasakan menjalani jalan yang tersedia di depanku, sekali pun jalan itu demikian asing.

[sambalmamila]

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