Indonesia keropok (crackers) is renowned for their addictive tastiness, especially those that required you to deep fry them! Since we were in Bandung, mum requested Mr Askan to bring us to an authentic local shop where she can shop to her content.
He drove us to this rest station that's along the way at Southern Bandung, an area called Ciwidey. From the look, it reminded me of the stopover at Yong Peng where coaches would stop for the passengers and drivers to have a meal and shop for local foodstuffs.
We didn't explore the restaurant that's further in as the snack shop was just right ahead of us in a long, single-storey non-air-conditioned building.
First to greet us was a kitchen, or what i guess was more appropriate to be termed a kitchen that had a big pot of boiling hot oil and a man who didn't shy away from the camera!
Now, i am wondering how they drain the oil at the end of the way since the pot appeared to be fused together with the structure; like a well.
Sampling for the just-fried snack. I took a small piece and thought it tasted like tempeh (a soy product); an Indonesian ingredient i don't enjoy and crave for on its own.
However, it had a strong following and i know of friends who would order tempeh whenever it is available at food stalls. My philosophy of buying things for friends / colleagues is that if i don't like, i wouldn't buy any unless there is a special request.
Be prepared for the long stretch of snacks laid out! There were so many to choose from; we were literally blown away by the selection. If not for the fact that sampling was rare, we could have easily exceeded the actual 30 minutes that were spent in the shop.
Those looking for pickled products would be happy just to have the sight of at least fifteen options! Thankfully, age had made me less reliant on snacks although i am never much a pickled-snack person in the first place.
Look above you; there were more to choose from! It's a good thing there's no sampling and i don't speak much Bahasa Indonesia; if not, i would have been tempted and felt obligated to buy a few packs!
Sweets - i think they are dodol which is another Indonesia delicacy; a fact i didn't know as i thought dodol is more Malaysian than Indonesia. Anyway, i am not going to start a debate war about it; regardless of the origins, what matters most is whether it tastes good or not.
Other snacks on the shelves.
Mom got her before-fried kerepok even though they didn't look like the ones we got from Batam, Indonesia. Nevertheless, the variety was mind-boggling and even mom had difficulty understanding the salesperson despite the fact that she understands Bahasa Indonesia way better than us.
Want to guess what there are? They didn't have that appealing "eat me" aura surrounding them yet take one piece and you might just take a second! Answer: deep fried banana, slice form (20,000 rupiah a pack).
The one snack that attracted my attention was the above; they were long like bananas yet dry like a piece of wood. I am sure they were edible though!
Peuyeum - a dried fermented yam that was used as an afternoon snack or added as an ingredient to cold desserts like es campur (similar to Singapore's ice kacang).
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Location Map
As above
For the summarised itinerary of our 5 days, 4 nights trip to Bandung, please click here.
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