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.