'Pelecing', hot fair of Lombok pride

'Pelecing', hot fair of Lombok pride

Panca Nugraha, Contributor, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara

Some people say that your trip to Yogyakarta is incomplete if
you do not dine at a sidewalk food stall (lesehan) where guests
savor the meals sitting on the mat. The same applies when you go
to Lombok and fail to savor a local delicacy called pelecing.

Pelecing is sold everywhere, at sidewalk foodstalls,
traditional markets, restaurants and even at star-rated hotels
like Lombok Raya, which offers it as a special menu item.

Pelecing also gets the honor of being served at state dinners.
For instance, West Nusa Tenggara's governor served pelecing at
his residence in Mataram during a luncheon for Vice President
Hamzah Haz on Oct. 24 last year.

Pelecing is the name of Lombok's traditional vegetable dish.

In fact there is nothing extraordinary about the dish. The
Javanese may compare it with pecel (boiled vegetables served with
spicy peanut sauce). Indeed they ares both vegetable-based.

Unlike the Javanese pecel, pelecing consists of only kangkung
(water spinach), because as Nikmah, 31, one of the sellers at
Rembiga, Mataram, says: "Other vegetables don't make good
pelecing."

She explained the food is easy to prepare. The kangkung is
boiled and served uncut when the water has been removed. A
special seasoning made of chilies, tomatoes and certain spices is
then added. Soon a mouth-watering pelecing is ready to tingle
one's taste buds with its spicy combination of sweet, sour, salt
and chili.

Inaq Nur, 46, a seller of pelecing and local traditional
snacks at Kebon Roek market in Ampenan, said that pelecing has
long been a popular dish among locals and migrants alike.

"I think it is because the vegetable is widely known
throughout Indonesia," she said.

Before the 1980s pelecing sellers like Nikmah and Inaq Nur
were more difficult to find, because it had not made it to the
market. However, along with the fast pace of the country's
development and the increasing number of migrants to the island,
this local cuisine has found a thriving market.

Unlike Lombok's other traditional food, which are available
only at certain seasons, pelecing is available all year round. At
traditional markets, pelecing costs between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500
per portion.

"We make it available in take-away packets so that people can
take it out of the (Lombok) island as oleh-oleh (present from the
traveler)," said Yuki, a member of Lombok Raya Hotel's marketing
staff.

Served in a nicer package, the local specialty at the hotel is
priced at Rp 50,000 for five portions.

"Apart from the difference in presentation, the taste remains
just as delicious," Yuki added.

However, many tend to believe that it retains more of its
original appetizing and delectable taste when served
traditionally on a banana leaf, the way it is sold in the
traditional markets in Lombok.

"But then it is suitable for lunch and dinner only," said Inaq
Nur.

Pelecing is indeed all about simplicity.