(9/9/2011)
While on-line polls are anything but scientific, Indonesia is taking no small amount of culinary pride in the results of a CNNgo.com survey of the “World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods.”
That poll conducted via Facebook saw 35,000 people list their favorite cuisine with Indonesia Rendang winning top position, followed in second place by another Indonesia staple – Nasi Goreng.
Rendang
Rendang is a succulent dish originating from West Sumatra and involves chunks of beef simmered in coconut milk, galangal, garlic, ginger chilies and lemon grass. Cooked and stewed for hours on end, this dish only works with less-than-premium cuts of beef that can absorb all the spices while being tenderized in the prolonged cooking process. Some elegant hotels in Bali unsuccessfully try to break this rule but using imported tenderloin only to end up with goulash as the long cooking process decimates the more expensive cuts of imported meat.
Nasi Goreng
Coming in second in the
CNN poll was
Nasi Goreng – the Indonesian take on fried rice.
Usually made with yesterday’s leftover rice, true
nasi goreng is augmented by adding “leftover” bits of meat and vegetables fried together with garlic, soy sauce and chilies. As any Indonesian cook will confirm, the key to delicious
nasi goreng is a healthy dollop of
“terasi” – a fermented and very odiferous fish paste that's added to the base-sauce for
nasi goreng.
Have a look at the results of the latest poll that show the top ten foods listed in the poll all originate from Asia [
Bon Appétit!]
On your coming visit to Bali allow
balidiscovery.com to show you our favorite haunts for
rending and
nasi goreng or, if you prefer, join one of our cooking school programs and we'll teach you how to make it yourself.
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Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced
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