September 2014
One of my all time favorite street foods from the Indonesia years was "gorengan" (literally, "fried stuff"). I always figured it was safe because it was fried in hot oil AND it was almost always vegetarian (for economic reasons - this was food for poor people). All countries have their version of gorengan - frites, pakora, tempura, vadai, pastel....the list goes on. I liked gorengan for its sheer variety.
Really good gorengan has to be made with seasoned oil. I remember one guy I went to regularly once gave me some sub-par snacks and I said, "Pak, tidak rasa seperti dulu" (sir, it doesn't taste like before). "Iya Tuan, karena minyak baru" (yes, sir, because the oil is new). I asked my friends and they told me much of the taste of gorengan simply came from the oil that was used for several DAYS which accumulated all those flavors. The idea somewhat grossed me out, but my favorite snack never made me sick and it did make sense in the end. Most importantly the oil WAS changed regularly - the snacks just didn't taste as good in freshly opened oil.
One of my favorites was "singkong" (cassava root) - just as good as french fries as far as I was concerned. They had to be eaten piping hot to be good. I loved singkong with some ketchup or hot sauce. "Labu" (pumpkin) and "ubi" (sweet potato) were also huge favorites. One, however, was a total standout for me - "tahu isi" (stuffed tofu cubes). A cube of hard tofu was opened a little and fresh, chopped veggies pushed inside. Then it was dipped in batter and fried. Oh my God, little bites of heaven!
When we lived in Jakarta, I often sent my friends to run up the street and buy me a paper cone of fried yumminess (gorengan was served on recycled office reports). I loved that my snack stained some old financial analysis of a company on Jalan Sudirman uptown. I rarely bought gorengan on my own (except from my local guy) as I usually had to pay more than double the price. I am sure it did nothing for my health nor my weight, but gorengan remains one of my best food memories from the Indonesia years. Simple, cheap and delicious - things don't have to be luxurious to be great.