The Simple Bliss of Nothing Much
After all week full of elaborated Indonesian recipes, I suddenly crave for the less extravagant feast. Bear is away so he has no dinner tonight - ‘I’m full. You go have dinner’ - I’m left alone with a craving for… Fried Salted Fish.
About 5 months ago, a good friend went to Cirebon and brought me a box of treat, everything from the local market I think was in that box. I had to get somebody to help lifted the box. In it were local treats such as packs of salted bilis fish, packs of salted eggs in two flavors: original and smoked salted, boxes of tea, rice crackers, shrimp paste in bottles, and biscuits. It was crazy. I thought I was gonna open a little shop. I gave some of them to friends, my parents, my landlord and their help. I left us 2 packs of that bilis, 1 bottle of shrimp paste, 1 pack of tea, four eggs, and a handful of rice crackers.
About 2 months before that 5 months, another good friend of mine gave me a block of what she claimed to be the best chili paste/dip her maid ever made. She’s from Surabaya. She said, ‘Keep this in the freezer and use it when you want.’ I did as she said and until today, I found out that I still have about 5 tbs left of that chili paste.
There was nothing more fitting to end the week of my Indonesian Food Fest with the simplest, most humble meal consisted of Nasi Putih, Bilis Goreng Asin, and Sambal Terasi, garnished with a sprinkle of Bawang Goreng.
I didn’t care what Prince came to visit, coz I was in heaven.
