Nasi Udok, Jakarta

Apparently, nasi udok is another must-try in Indonesia. When it was first described to me, I thought this sounded like our local nasi lemak but it's actually really quite different.

There's a spread of semi-cooked food where you select what you want. Most of the ingredients seem to be soaking in some sort of brine-like liquid.

They had fresh petai here, so in the basket it definitely went. Petai is also known as "smelly bean" (臭豆) but it has nothing to do with smelly beancurd which is essentially made from soybeans. If it's of any use for clarification, its scientific name is Parkia speciosa. These were to be fried with beef.

Our little selection from the massive spread.

So all the food is thrown into a wok of oil for deep-frying. In this way, your food is always guaranteed freshly cooked since they're only cooked after you select your choice.

The sambal is freshly grounded here. Those mini chillies are extremely potent!

The man making swift work of the sambal.

Served just in time for the food.

The rice in nasi udok is very much like the rice in nasi lemak except it's just slightly more savory but alot more fluffy. Coconut milk is the base of its fragrance here as well.

Fried chicken and beancurd. The local chicken which has such a good bite and seasoned in that brine-like liquid was crisp without any need for any flour or batter. The crispy fried beancurd went very well with the sambal.

Beef fried with the petai. This dish is a clear winner, the beef although lean and deep-fried was still very tender and the petai exuded this unique fragrance and flavor. Very tasty.

Freshly stir-fried morning glory is always welcomed. It's good to have an obligatory vegetable dish in most meals but it's even better when it tastes as kickass as the meats as well!

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