Pecel Bu Kus, Surabaya, Indonesia
August 01, 2016
Although this may be called street food but having an indoor air conditioned seating completed with actual wooden tables and chairs as well as table service may not make this so much as so-called street food. Let's just call it a fancier street food dining area to dine in instead of sitting on the side of the street under a tent and fans.
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| 'Es Temulawak' |
'Es Temulawak' (IDR6.5k = ~AUD$0.65) is a Herbal Soda drink which is made from a native plant from the Java Island in Indonesia. Temulawak (Curcuma) belongs to the Ginger family and has been long proven to have medicinal benefits for liver and gastrointestinal problems. It has a sour and bitter taste yet sweet but only a slight hint of ginger flavour, so don't worry if you're not a big fan of ginger as I thought that the smell and taste would be much more gingery but surprisingly, it wasn't.
'Nasi Kare Ayam' (Indonesian Chicken Curry Rice) (IDR14k = ~AUD$1.4) is a Chicken curry served with either Chicken Breast or Thighs, depending on which you choose with a bowl of warm white rice. The Curry chicken has a strong flavour and lots of soup which is great but there was only some pieces of chicken which would have been nice if there were some more.
A variety of sides/snacks that you may order on the side and add on to your meals. 'Tempe Bacem' (IDR2.5k = ~AUD$0.25) and 'Pepes Pindang' (IDR6k = ~AUD$0.60). Whether you want fried soybean or fish cake or grilled fish etc, you are able to order them for sides or even to eat them with rice if you are not up for a big meal or any of the mains.
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| 'Peyek' (IDR2.5k/biji = ~AUD$0.25/piece) |
'Pecelan (Tanpa Nasi)' (Traditional Javanese salad (without rice)) (IDR9k = ~AUD$0.90) is a traditional Javanese salad which comprises of mixed vegetables in peanut sauce which is usually served with steamed rice or sometimes compressed rice cake (Lontong/Ketupat in Indonesian as they call it). This dish is usually eaten during any time of the day whether it may be for breakfast or lunch or even dinner. Usually fresh mixed vegetables is used and the fact that the whole dish consists of just greens makes this dish actually a very healthy one.
What makes this dish great is the fact that the amount of fresh vegetables used includes Cassava leaves, beansprouts, green beans, cucumber, blanched water spinach, cabbage and so on which are all then topped with basil leaves, dry soybean and coconut serundeng. Although most pecel has similar vegetables but some places have their own varieties where they have this and this but not that etc. However, the basic vegetables are usually always present in any Pecel dish. Also, the peanut sauce does not consist of any coconut milk despite the fact that the creamy texture as well as flavour comes from the making of the peanut sauce. The best way to eat this meal is to mix everything together and then eat it as a salad, as you would normally.
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