Snack at Bazaar Bedug enough to please anyone
Snack at Bazaar Bedug enough to please anyone
Sri Ramadani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
No time to prepare a meal for breaking the fast during Ramadhan? Just take a trip to the food bazaar at the Bendungan Hilir traditional market in Central Jakarta where you'll discover plenty of choices to satisfy any appetite.
The bazaar -- known to regulars as Bazaar Bedug -- starts at 11 a.m., and stays open until after adzan Maghrib (the call for evening prayer). Adzan Maghrib, which usually takes place at about 6 p.m., is a signal for Muslims to break their fast.
There are various kinds of sweet snacks, including traditional sweet cakes serabi (pancakes served with palm sugar sauce), cucur (made of wheat flour and palm sugar) and bugis (rice flour cooked with shredded coconut, steamed in banana leaves).
Also available are bubur sumsum (rice flour porridge with palm sugar sauce), mung bean porridge, kolak pisang (banana stewed in coconut milk and palm sugar sauce) and bubur tape ketan (black glutinous rice porridge). They are the preferred menu with which to break the fast.
The Padang traditional dish of bubur kampiun -- a mix of kolak pisang, glutinous steam rice, bubur sumsum, srikaya (sweet cake) and bubur candil (rice flour balls cooked in palm sugar and coconut milk) -- is another option, along with lemang (steamed glutinous rice filled in a 30-cm-long bamboo).
Those not so keen on eating sweet snacks, however, have other options. Various kinds of gorengan (fried snacks) are available starting from bakwan (fried vegetables and wheat flour), risoles (fried croquette), pastel (fried vegetable cake) and tahu isi (fried vegetable-filled tofu).
Siomay Bandung (traditional dim sum) and lemper (glutinous rice steamed in banana leaves) are also on offer.
Not satisfied with snacks? Try traditional cold beverages like Es kelapa (coconut with sweet syrup and ice blocks) or es buah (diced fruits with sweet syrup and ice).
As this is a traditional market, prices are reasonable for almost any budget. Gorengan is usually sold between Rp 500 (US 4 cents) and Rp 2,000, Siomay Bandung is at Rp 5,000 per portion, which contains four pieces. Various kolak is sold at Rp 2,500 per plastic packet.
Along with the prices, there is another, perhaps more telling, reason people prefer to dine on food from the Bazaar: the taste.
To believe it, just sample Uni Nur's lemang which is sold for Rp 15,000 per bamboo tube. Try also the delicious and sweet bubur kampiun and bubur sumsum.
Those not full with just snacks can also enjoy traditional fast food of Padang dishes of rendang (beef stirred with coconut milk and chilies), dendeng balado (fried and sliced beef with chilies), chicken and fish curry.
The Yogyakarta specialty of gudeg (jackfruit cooked in coconut milk and palm sugar) is available along with nasi rames (rice with assorted vegetables).
Lemang vendor Uni (Sister) Nur, who can sell as many as 25 bamboos of lemang per day, said her costumers aren't only from the Bendungan Hilir area, but from outside Jakarta as well -- including Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok.
Nur says she must pay a monthly fee of Rp 700,000 to the market managers to sell food there.
Unfortunately, the interesting and attractive appearance of the food is marred by hovering flies. A word of advice: don't buy any unwrapped food or beverages.