La Java

This story was posted under the categories: Big Asia Trip, Indonesia

“Hello Mista!”
“Selamat Malam”
“Where are you from?”
“Belgium”
“Aaaah Belgia. Goeieavond. Hoe gaat het met U?”

How is that for a greeting? The Indonesians have been under Dutch government for many years and a lot of them still speak a couple words of Dutch. After we arrived in Jakarta it only took us 10 minutes to find a terrace and enjoy a cold Bintang (beer) and a Gado Gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce – pindasaus) in a hot summer evening. We were in paradise… until we got up the next morning and discovered what Jakarta is really about: pollution, dirt and a lot of noise. Next time somebody wants to talk us into emiting less CO2, we’ll show him some pictures of Jakarta. In the streets, it’s almost impossible to breath and you see a lot of people walking with handkerchiefs in front of their nose and mouth. As we had one day to kill in Jakarta, we visited the old Dutch harbour and witnessed how boats were discharged manually, i.e. men running up and down a ladder with bags of cement on their backs.

But enough of this dirty city, after one day we took the nighttrain to Yogjakarta, some 600 kilometers to the East and a pleasant town compared to Jakarta. Yogjakarta is most famous for Borobodur, one of the 7 world wonders. Honestly, we were disappointed… it’s so small! That’s why we decided to skip the other temple (Prambanan, which is Buddhist) and rather visit the city itself. Accompagnied by a local guy named Dibyo we ventured through the mazes of the old city – the Kraton – and were initiated in the many fruits that Indonesia has to offer. The day ended with a cooking lesson at the Via Via (yes, from the same guys as those who have the Via Via in Leuven).

The lesson was superb and we made a lot of typical Indonesian dishes, like Gudeg (a jackfruit curry), Perkedel (potato croquettes), caramel tempe with nuts, yellow rice and so much more.

Here something easy to try at home.

Recipe for Yellow Rice
Boil one cup of regular white rice in two cups of water and one cup of coconut milk. Add crushed lemon grass, kardemom and laurier for the taste.
In a seperate cup, dissolve some Kurkuma (or saffran) and poor some of the coloured water into the boiling rice until you get the right yellow. If you put too much, the rice will become orange instead of yellow.

Enjoy!