Wonderful Indonesia

Indonesia is stretching in the equator line and having more than 17 thousands islands spreading between Pacific and Indian Ocean.



As the largest archipelagic country in the world, Indonesia is also blessed with 200 ethnic groups with over 300 spoken languages.





You may be surprised and wonder how come we have so many languages. There is a long explanation about this, yet to make it brief. In the past, people on an island has a difficulty to communicate with other people in different islands. Then, after the transportation system was well developed, they began to interact with each other. Moreover, it was also our ancestors who created our main language, Bahasa Indonesia, that is successful to unite us. So every Indonesian may speak more than 1 language, in my case, of course I can speak Bahasa and another one is Betawi language. 

Not only blessed with so many ethnic groups, Indonesia is also blessed with so many cultures, artwork, food, animals, plants, landscape, and everything like 200 countries melting beautifully into one. Every islands has their own beauty and uniqueness. In this post, I am not going to mention all, but I will show you several islands which is my favorites except Bali that has already been famous earlier.

Let's start from Sumatera island.



Here is Toba lake, one of the most awesome natural wonder in the world. Toba lake is the largest lake in Southeast Asia and one of the deepest lake in the world. It is more like an ocean, but it is lake. In the center of the lake, there is an island with the same size as Singapore.

While, this is Rumah Gadang, the traditional house from the indigenous people in West Sumatera. It The roof has a unique shape. The sharp shape contains the meaning of reaching heaven.

Saman dance is the most popular dance in Indonesia, originally coming from the north of Sumatera. It is performed by a group of people. The uniqueness of this dance is its fast rhythm that creates a beautiful harmony.

The last from Sumatera Island, the food, called by Pempek Palembang, is also one of my favorite foods, made from fish and tapioca. 

Next, let's move to Java island where I am coming from.



In Java,  there is the magnificent Borobudur temple, the biggest Buddhist temple in the World. The ancient cite has already been noticed as one of 7 wonders in the world. The temple has remained strong even through the century of being neglect.

Mount Bromo is not the tallest mountain among other mountains in Indonesia, but in the peak of Mount Bromo, we can see a very beautiful landscape. 

Angklung is a traditional music instrument coming from West of Java. Made from bamboo and played in a group that everyone is responsible for one or several pitches. When it is played together, it will create a very beautiful harmony. 

The last one I want to introduce is from Sulawesi island.



Only one I want to show which is Wakatobi. Wakatobi is a remote treasure where we can find more than 700 species of coral and over 950 species of fishes. The amazing Wakatobi has already attracted scuba divers and snorkel enthusiasts around the world as it is the second larger reef barrier in the world. 

That's all some pieces of the wonderful of Indonesia. I will write again next about it later in my another posts.

All the references and pictures are sourced from googling and www.indonesia.travel except the first picture is my own photo in front of Ratu Boko temple in Java Island.

Thank you for visiting. See you!

How To Make Sayur Asem

I do not really like Sayur Asem because I almost get bored to have Sayur Asem almost everyday since it is my father's favorite. Yet, after a year in Japan, as my friend requested me to cook this, I started to cook it, and you know what? This is my first time in Japan cooking Sayur Asem. When I slurped it, I began to miss the taste and love it since I haven't had it almost in a year in Japan. Without further ado, check the recipe out.

Ingredient:

1. Long beans (if you have any other vegetables such as corn, it's really ok to add)

2. Peanuts

3. Tamarind

4. Shallots

6. Candlenuts

7. Galangal

8. Lemongrass leaves

9. Red chilies

10. Bay leaves

11. Salt, sugar, flavorings

12. Vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Boil the peanuts and long beans in the pot.

2. Prepare the seasonings by cutting the shallots, garlics, and candlenut into pieces, then grind them. 

3. Mash the galangal and lemongrass leaves. 

4. Put the ground seasoning no. 2, mashed no. 3, and bay leaves into the pot.

5. Put the tamarind, salt, sugar, and flavorings, then adjust the taste. 

6. Here is your Sayur Asem will be looked like.

7.Sayur Asem is very perfect to be combined with fried tempe and fried chicken.

How To Make Soto Ayam

Bored with opor ayam and fried chicken, then I opened cookpad to find any ideas and I jumped into Soto Ayam. I forgot that I like this food too. This is the version of my Soto Ayam after some modification.

Ingredient:

1. Chicken

2. Garlic

3. Shallots

4. Cabbage

5. Beansprouts

6. Vermicelli noodles

7. Turmeric powder

8. Galangal

9. Ginger

10. Lemongrass

11. Bay leaves

12. Salt and sugar

13. Flavorings

14. Vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Cut the chicken into pieces, then boil them.

2. Cut into pieces the garlic, shallots, then grind them with ginger.

3. Mash the galangal and lemongrass. 

4. Heat the vegetable oil, then fry number 2 and 3, add also with bay leaves.

5. Move the fried seasonings no. 4 into the chicken that is still being boiled and add with the turmeric powder. 

6. Cut into pieces the cabbage then put them into no. 5 together with the beansprouts and vermicelli noodles.

7. Adjust the taste with salt, sugar, and flavorings. 

8. You can serve it with rice and boiled egg if you want. 

How To Make Takoyaki

It was started when I went to Donkihote and found Takoyaki cooker with only one thousand yen. Without any hesitation, I bought it and started cooking Takoyaki. Here is my recipe:

Ingredient:

1. Takoyaki flour 200 gram

2. Egg

3. Water 600 ml

4. Any kind of fillers you like (in this post, I used boiled eggs), of course, you can put taqo (squid) inside

5. Salt/flavorings such as beef broth

Topping:

1. Aonori (dried green seaweed)

2. Dried bonito

3. Mayonnaise

4. Bulldog sauce

Procedure:

1. Put the takoyaki flour in a bowl, add 2 eggs and water, mix them well. Do not forget to put the salt and flavorings, then adjust the taste.

2. Prepare the takoyaki cooker.

3. Put the dough into the cooker.

4. Prepare the filler, in my case, I boiled the eggs then cut them into pieces.

5. Put the filler inside the dough.

6. Add more dough and make it round by using a chopstick. Wait until cooked.

7. Take them out and put them on a plate. Give the topping: aonori, bulldog sauce, mayonnaise, and dried bonito. Finish!