On the streets of Yogjakarta

My health restored to full strength today after my stomach virus, I felt like a phoenix. Reborn anew, I was once again keen to engage in the role of foodie discoverer. Having befriended an intrepid Canadian explorer yesterday on the tour bus (she once travelled continuously for two and a half years), we decided to set off together in search of our dinner. With me at the helm, and my newly found friend in tow, we headed off to navigate the minefield of shops, curio stalls, warungs (food vendors on mobile carts), pedestrians and traffic that was law of the land on Yogyakarta’s high street, Marlioboro.

Lumpia ayam (chicken spring rolls)

The warungs on Marlioboro offer up all sorts of Indonesian food including the standard Indonesian fare; curries, sates, noodle and rice dishes. Some vendors cooked to order, but as was quite typical in Indonesia, there were also a number of warungs that served pre-cooked dishes. Chillies act as a preserving agent, thereby allowing Indonesian dishes to be pre-cooked and served throughout the day.

With so much choice, we finally settled on lumpia ayam (chicken spring rolls) (about 10p each). Plump full with an abundance of finely shredded chicken, it was served piping hot from the deep fryer and drizzled with a sweet chilli garlic sauce. The sauce was delicately sweet and the garlic added great zing to the spring roll which was so delicious I couldn’t stop at just one.

The making of martabak telor

Next up was martabak telor, a savoury minced beef omelette with garlic and shallots, pan-fried in a thin crispy pastry. Clearly a Yogyakartan favourite due to the substantial queues, it was deliciously hot and crispy. However our version was quite light on the volume of minced beef so after a while it tasted more eggy than beefy. The super-sized version which was more than enough for two came to about £1.

There were also many local sweet offerings including the Yogyakartan specialty kelepon, green rice-flour rolls with a palm sugar filling and dressed in shredded coconut. Indonesian desserts typically can be quite delicate as the palm sugar used in desserts is quite light in its sweetness. With the added touch of freshly shredded coconut, there was also a wonderful light fragrance to the desserts.

Martabak telor