Makanan

What I eat and drink in Toraja

Torajan coffee

Trying to kick the habit

Apples per usual

Kankung ca dengan sate ayam - water spinach sauteed with hot chilies, garlic and red onion + chicken sate. I've started putting the challenge back into consumption by adding lombok tumis-- a spicy sauce made from chili peppers and sometimes orange.

lombok tumis

At school the teachers are served Torajan coffee and a treat during breaktime. These are the best treats I've ever had in Indonesia. They're not too gelatinous, no chocolate + cheese and never any chicken surprises.  Though like most Indonesian desserts they are usually composed of palm sugar, rice flour, coconut and wrapped in banana leaf.

Torajan coffee is like the Indonesian equivalent to Bedouin tea. Read: ridiculously sweet.

 Doughy bun filled with palm sugary coconut. 
kue roti kukus

 Tastes like an apple cider donut but is actually made from sweet potato. 

Banana Treat 

 Fried black rice covered with palm sugar. Surprisingly delicious

Banana leaf

Banana surrounded by some deliciously ambiguous and moist combination of coconut milk, sugar and flour. 

An Indonesian food that I have a more complicated history with is bubur ayam. It's chicken porridge which took me a very long time to try because it sounds unappealing. However, when done well, it's savory and wonderful like grits. I've only had really excellent bubur ayam in Java but I'll give the Torajans another try by having it for dinner tonight. I've heard my mistress, Banjarmasin (a city in Kalimantan), makes a mean bubur ayam. Sadly I have yet to try their take on the dish. 

Tried it: