Category Archives: Malay/Indonesian food

Indonesian food

Sino-Thai Sunday brunch: bakuteh and batonggo

Posted on July 30, 2017 by David Dettmann

Today I recreated a food experience from last summer in Bangkok, when my sisters-in-law took me out for a Chinese-style brunch at a place that specialized in “meat bone tea” (肉骨茶), or as locals in Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia refer to as bakuteh บะกุ๊ดเต๋. … Continue reading →

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Delicious greens: water spinach

Posted on May 10, 2017 by David Dettmann

Water spinach is one of our favorite vegetables. It is a popular vegetable to stir fry in Southern China and Southeast Asia. When quickly fried at high heat, its leaves wilt and the stems stay crunchy. Its flavor is like … Continue reading →

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Kluwak seeds and a savory black beef stew from East Java

Posted on October 23, 2016 by David Dettmann

The black flesh of fermented kluwak seeds (aka keluwek or black nut) adds a very unusual and thick earthy base to meat stews in regional cuisines of Indonesia and Malaysia. It is particularly well known as a key ingredient in … Continue reading →

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Selamat pagi, Yogyakarta: a surprisingly rich and savory chicken rice porridge for breakfast

Posted on August 11, 2016 by David Dettmann

I’ll start by saying that I’m not one for sweet breakfasts. As regular readers will know (ex. 1, ex. 2, ex. 3), I prefer savory foods leftover from the night before to American breakfast cereal or glazed donuts. A recent … Continue reading →

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Salam leaf, an essential flavor in Indonesian cooking

Posted on August 6, 2016 by David Dettmann

What you are seeing above is NOT a bay leaf. I say this because it seems like a majority of all recipe sites and blogs online, as well as cookbooks translate daun salam as “bay leaf” in English. In fact, … Continue reading →

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Fresh mangosteens and rambutans

Posted on October 12, 2014 by David Dettmann

For those out there who have been to Southeast Asia, fruit is something you likely miss dearly if you are now elsewhere.  For me, Guangzhou was a perfect introduction to many fruits, at a time when food in China was … Continue reading →

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More Indonesian delights from Cafe Pendawa Lima

Posted on October 7, 2014 by David Dettmann

Cafe Pendawa Lima is not super convenient for me to visit, but the sheer variety always includes new, interesting, and delicious finds.  And the prices are right.  If I spend an additional 45 minutes to go out of my way … Continue reading →

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A brief visit to South Philly’s Indonesian neighborhood

Posted on September 21, 2014 by David Dettmann

In South Philly there is an area west of Broad St in between Tasker St and Snyder Ave, where you can find many culinary staples and treats that are unique to Indonesia.  Today I took a long overdue trip there … Continue reading →

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