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2009-07-14
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You may have passed by Toko Surabaya 泗水印尼商店 and have even shopped there for Indonesian grocery before. However, unless you have been you are within the close circle of Chinese-Indonesians (印尼華僑) or have a native Indonesian friend who brought you here, chances are that you have never heard of or tried their authentic homemade Indonesian food. Not a problem, because I am here to tell you now!The owners of this little humble grocery store are older generation of Chinese Indonesians. Besides offe
You may have passed by Toko Surabaya 泗水印尼商店 and have even shopped there for Indonesian grocery before. However, unless you have been you are within the close circle of Chinese-Indonesians (印尼華僑) or have a native Indonesian friend who brought you here, chances are that you have never heard of or tried their authentic homemade Indonesian food. Not a problem, because I am here to tell you now!
The owners of this little humble grocery store are older generation of Chinese Indonesians. Besides offering simple Indonesian puddings or sweets (糕點) at the counter, their native Indonesian staff cooks up some delicious homey authentic dishes for takeout. The food is kept at the back kitchen without menu or signs, and the majority of their customers get to know about it via word of mouth. Hence the flavors and preparations are truly authentic without compromising to the local (Hong Kong) tastebuds.
On our several visits, we sampled a lot of dishes as they were all so delicious and kept up coming back. SAMBAL TEMPE (辣豆乾) and SAMBAL GORENG TERI KACANG (江魚仔炒花生) are great appetizers that can be munched as snacks or go with plain rice. Tempe is a soy-based food fermentation product and new to all my friends there, and I was surprised how much they enjoyed this slightly spicy rendition. GADO GADO (加多加多), one of the most well-known Indonesian dishes among Hong Kong diners, is served with boiled eggs, cucumber, tofu puffs, bean sprouts, KEKOPOT UDANG (炸蝦片). Smothered with a nutty peanut sauce, this dish showcases the delicate balance of sweetness, spiciness and sourness without complicated cooking.
SOTO DAGENG BABAT (梭多牛肚湯) is a thin herbaceous broth filled with tender cow’s stomachs (牛肚) and beef pieces (slightly chewy). LODEH (椰汁湯) , on the other hand, demonstrates a much simpler flavor with just thin coconut milk-based broth and soft tender vegetables. Either of the soups will be great to be served with LONTONG (十五夜飯團) which is rice steamed in banana leaves resulting into a gooey rice cakes with a mild banana leaf aroma. Here you can even buy a whole “roll” of lotong ($14) to go and slice and eat as you like.
Meat dishes are not to be missed as they are bold and intense in flavor as done in the authentic way. BALI AYAM (峇里辣椒炸雞) and IKAN BELADO (辣椒炸魚) utilize the same spicy chili seasoning which gives you just enough kick without burning your lips. The meat is cooked in traditional Indonesian way and is drier than how we usually have chicken and fish in Chinese cuisine. If you prefer more “saucy” dishes, RENDANG DAGENG (巴東牛肉) is the one with large chunks of tender beef shanks (牛腱) stewed for hours in their thick flavorful rendang sauce.
Fish can appear in other forms, such as the BOTOK (蕉葉魚) which has minced fish (mackerel?) mixed with tiny dried anchovies (江魚仔), long beans (豆角), etc., and a spice paste of fine grated coconut (炸椰絲) and fish curry powder and then steamed in banana leaves. Its sweet and spicy flavor and coarse and dry texture are a bit acquired to some of my friends, but the PEPES IKAN (蕉葉香辣烤魚) is very well-received by them with a similar appearance. This time the fish is minced to a texture similar to canned tuna, and thoroughly blended with a VERY spicy chili paste and put your tongue on fire! With this dish one can easily chow down 3 bowls of white rice, like we did!
Talking about rice, how can I forget about their delicious NASI KUNING (黃薑飯, $25) ? The large “cone” of yellow rice colored with turmeric (黃薑) is surrounded by assorted of Indonesian dishes, such as urap vegetables, fried chicken, semur (beef in sweet soy sauce), teri kacang (anchovy with peanuts), telur pindang (boiled egg), perkedel kentang (mashed potato fritters 炸薯餅). To be honest, the meat with the dish is shredded and quite dry, sort of like jerky, and I am more fond of the eggs and the potato fritters. Of course the true star is the ryellow ice itself which is moist, fluffy, and fragrant, and it is just perfect with any of dishes mentioned above.
Since Nasi Kuning takes long time to prepare, it is only served on Saturdays and Sundays when the store is the busiest with all the Indonesian maids having their day off. You will see a lot of them coming here at lunch time or late afternoon to get their meals, snacks, and calling cards. Despite being a takeout store, the store owners and the customers have become acquaintances and they will provide tables and chairs for the customers if they need a place to eat. Regardless, you should remember to get a few pieces of their traditional Indonesian puddings (糕點), all made freshly everyday and usually sold out by late afternoon. The selection ranging from savory LEMPER (蕉葉糯米雞) to sweet KUE PISANG (印尼香蕉糕), WAJEK (綠色糯米糕), KETAN WRAP (白糯米糕), KETAN ITAM (黑糯米糕) are delicious and filling, and at $3 each, much cheaper than those sold at Indonesian restaurants in Causeway Bay or Tsim Sha Tsiu.
If you have never had Indonesian food before, I strongly recommend Toko Surabaya as it is cheap, delicious, and extremely authentic, unlike a lot of the Indonesian restaurants outside who have already localized their food to suit the mass market. Most dishes are less than $30 and one can fill up easily within $30-$40. Buy a few dishes for takeout, or ask if you want to eat in, the owners (who speak Indonesian, Cantonese, Mandarin) will nicely accommodate. Toko Surabaya not only provides a place to native Indonesians to indulge in genuine food when they are home sick, but it also provides others a true authentic taste to Indonesian cuisine at a incredibly bargain price!
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A few notes about Indonesian Food:
1. The main meal is usually cooked in the late morning, and consumed around midday. For this reason, most of the dishes are made such that they can last and remain edible even if left on the table at room temperature for many hours. Hence if you find your Indonesian food not hot, that’s normal and the way it should be!
2.Most meat such as chicken, fish, and beef, are cooked to the point where the texture is firm and even a little dry, unlike the meat in Chinese cooking which is kept to silky and smooth texture.
3. Indonesian curry has a much more watery texture compared to say Indian or Malaysian curry.
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