One of my favourite things about masakan padang is how all the foods are arranged in plates carefully balanced on an elaborate arrangement of other plates, so that all the food is visible in the front window, even at a distance. It also makes it really easy to serve, by reducing the reaching distance.
Padang is really cheap and also allows vegans and vegetarians (this post is tagged "animals") to eat to their satisfaction and choose from great variety, eliminating the hassle of modifying menus or limiting their choices. In fact, it's got infinite customisability. It's also really tasty, easy and unassuming. A comfort food of sorts. I eat it every day.
Padang of the week:
Price: Rp 10,000 (about $1.12), where I ate it (price can vary slightly)
This one's got rice, vegetables, tempe, a deep fried egg, and chile*. A good place is more than happy to (as pictured) give you extra veg, and drown everything in coconut curry with no extra charge.
The tempe in Bali is consistently amazing. It's firm to the tooth like well done pasta, and yet has a certain creamy texture. It's got that wonderful nutty savouriness to it without the mal-fermented funk that sometimes comes with tempe in the US. And, it's super cheap. The tempe pictured cost about 20 cents. Next time, I'm getting two.
Deep fried egg! is a delicacy all across Southeast Asia. It's got all the nutrition of an egg, with all the delight of a french fry, this one topped with hot chiles and onions.
*There's more! Bali has red and green chile, just like New Mexico does. What a weird coincidence. The recipes are remarkably similar, the green consisting mostly of ripe fresh chiles and the red consisting mostly of ripe dried chiles. They vary in taste from place to place, just like in New Mexico. Some are mild and savoury, others taste like a molotov cocktail.
And whilst die hard New Mexicans like myself swear by green, in Bali, you just have to get both.
Merry christmas!
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