MODERN-TIME SNACK I'VE JUST EATEN (and get addicted lately!)

Hello! It's been 3 days after my last post about OLD-TIME SNACKS which are easily found near my house and maybe could be found in every traditional market. But today, after throwing back some memories while opening my phone's gallery, I found some snacks which are captured during my lunch break or after-school hour. You may already know the snacks or even ever tasted it before. 

BLACK PEPPER LARGE CHICKEN FILLET 

by HOTSTAR

There are a lot of Taiwanese fried chicken fillet in every mall nowadays, start from the one who cut the fillet (the very rude one x_x) after frying it in an open kitchen, so we could see the process till the one who get the fillet grilled before serving, and without cutting.
HOTSTAR itself has been known as their "we do not provide cutting" fried chicken fillet, originated from Taiwan and offering 'the similar' price (even some of the food are cheaper here). Actually, I want to write about the Black Pepper Large Chicken Fillet here. After some moment, I decided to have the Black Pepper one instead of the Original or the BBQ. 
I personally did not put attention about the making process of this chicken fillet, since the kitchen is not easily seen from outside. I was waiting while sitting on the bench, oh I almost forgot, I visited this HOTSTAR which located in The Breeze BSD City. So, in front of the HOTSTAR stall there are a lot of bench for us to dine in or waiting for the food. 
Finally, the fried chicken fillet being served. I think the paper a little bit too thin, so I cannot resist the heat, it's very hot!, but because I cannot stand the delicious smell of black pepper sauce which covering all over the top of the fillet, I tried to bite a little. At first, I had prepared my self if the meat was super hot and might burn my tongue, but...fate said different things, the meat wasn't hot at all, it's warm, juicy, but not fatty. The fillet seems very fresh and the seasonings has been absorb perfectly to the entire fillet. As you can see in the picture, there are some dried chili powder, yes, you can request to have the spicy one or just go with the sauce without any addition of flavor. I ask for a little chili powder and it goes perfectly with black pepper sauce. The black pepper sauce has a strong flavor which could be defined from the smell, but the black pepper still in a level of tolerance, so you will not ended up with sweat. I personally, do not really like black pepper, but I don't know why, maybe because of the freshness of the fillet or the crispiness of the whole fillet, I think the black pepper has turn into a perfect seasonings for this fried fillet. And overall, I think this Black Pepper Large Chicken Fillet has ruined my list, I'll put this on my favorite afternoon snack. 

SOUR PLUM SWEET POTATO FRIES

by HOTSTAR

The second one still come from HOTSTAR, it's Sour Plum Sweet Potato Fries! I have been choosing this snack for almost every visit to HOTSTAR. Two HOTSTAR stall I have visited were the one in Lippo Karawaci - Makan Sutra and in The Breeze. No matter which stall I visited, I always order for this sweet frying food. At first, I have no idea how the taste would be, but now I ended up loving and craving this so many times. The slices are quite big and long, the outer is crispy and has a light layer of flour, sprinkled with kind of purple things, yes, it's the sour plum powder!. The inside is very soft and the texture is very similar with perfectly boiled sweet potato, so how can I resist this perfect combination. But be careful, it comes with a very hot temperature, the first bite might burn your tongue. The sweet potato itself is very sweet and soft, while the sour plum powder are not dominating but rather giving a touch of freshness. The sweetness and the sourness are blending together create a memorable taste in your mouth and delivered to your brain to be craved on the next day.   

After having some salty, sour, and savory snack, maybe it's time to looking for something sweet and cold. Here are two desserts I've just picked, the one is my favorite, but the other is my latest and first trial. 

BLACK SESAME ICE CREAM by SUSHI TEI

Last long weekend, I was spending my time with my family in SUSHI TEI, we actually didn't plan to have dinner here, but since there was nothing to watch in the cinema, we finally ended up having our dinner rather than going home early. 

Here, I would't write about the sushi since most of us have tasted it and there was no new menus (but, new price -_-) to be tried. 
I rarely order a dessert after having my main course since I get full very fast, but on that day I was not eat that much, I was still craving for something sweet, so I asked the waitress for the desserts books. 

At first, I thought I would ordered the green tea ice cream since I have ever tasted it before and I guaranteed myself that I would like it, but after looking at the whole book, I decided to try their BLACK SESAME ICE CREAM. It comes with one scoop in a small bowl, there's no difference in terms of size compared to other ice cream from those famous ice cream stall. However, since it was my first time to try, I was worried that I would not like this ice cream and may offer it to my mom who likes everything. But then, surprisingly the first spoon was giving a fascinating impression to me. It's not too sweet, not milky, and when it melts to your mouth, you could smell the black sesame aroma as well as bite a little bit of black sesame seed. As you could see in the picture, the texture might not smooth and heavy as an ice cream but it rather icy with some black sesame powder all over of it. It doesn't melt easily, so you could take your time to enjoy this superb ice cream. What I really like from this ice cream is that 'not milky' feeling, I hate too milky ice cream, and seems like this ice cream have a nice proportion of sugar-water-milk, the sweetness didn't make me to crave for something salty afterwards. 

Then, the last one is my latest trial of dessert which has been talked by social media for it's unique concept of consuming milk and the cute packaging. 

MILKY WAY'S GREEN TEA MILK PUDDING

I am a fan of green tea, when it comes to a difficult time to make up my mind in case of choosing a flavor for beverages or desserts, my 'safety' choice will always be a matcha or green tea. 

This happened many times, including when I was at Pop Up Market "SHIBUYA" where MILKY WAY opened their booth. It was the last day of Pop Up Market 2014 then around 21.30 PM (late night dessert..) I bought this Green Tea Milk Pudding, even though I forgot the price, but it's very worth to buy, since it's packaged with a glass bottle and being chilled so the quality will always be guaranteed. 

As you could see above, I took the picture when I haven't done anything to the milk pudding, so there's originally has three layers. The upper layer is the green tea, the middle layer is the milk, and the last brownie layer is the caramel. The sweetness of this soft milk pudding is came from the caramel. 
So, before consuming this, you have to shake or stir the mixture till mixed together. You could shake by holding tight the bottle from the top (especially the bottle caps, because it's made from rubber) and shake till the three layers mixed and the color will mixed as well. So does when you prefer to stir, the seller provide a straw which at the tip of the straw they cut it so it will looks like a small spoon. Stir well with that small spoon. 

After everything mixed well, then put your straw to the milk pudding and start enjoy it!. I'm not a fan of milk, but thank to the caramel and green tea mixture that make me didn't realize the milk flavor (even though I still could smell the milky aroma). It's very milky, maybe those who loves milk damn much will love this. I personally said this delicious because of the green tea and the caramel, the caramel giving the sweetness to all over the milk pudding and the green tea balancing the sweetness with a slightly bitter of tea, the milk is giving the soft texture and mixing the green tea with caramel. Overall, I like this milk pudding, this is very suitable when you are looking for a dessert but getting bored with ice cream or usual pudding. It's still milky and cold like ice cream but it's softer than those common pudding. 

That's all! thank you for reading :* 

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OLD-TIME SNACKS :*

In Tangerang, there are several traditional market which sell a lot of traditional snacks such as sponge cakes, sticky rice cakes, pia, steamed hunkwe, bika ambon, etc.

Maybe some of you may not know where these places are, since it requires a real traveler to have bravery to find this place. The places quiet hidden and when you are arrived, you may think these are such a remote area far from modern life. Actually, this place used to be a place where all the Chinese descent in Tangerang build a business and luxury housing, it was happen maybe during the 70s to 80s. Some buildings here are left just like it was, and the current owner just renovated it a little bit. All the houses here have a very nice ventilation, cold floor made from flatten stone, and the windows has a unique glass. Yes, it's unique, because during 70s or 80s, it's rare to find pressed glasses, so the windows here have a wavy reflection. 

Okay, back to the culinary stuff! That picture was taken at one of traditional market in Tangerang, it's not the only one stall which sell those kind of traditional snacks. It's about 5 to 10 stall along the road and they are open until midnight. The price is extremely cheap, 1 bag of 5 steamed sponge cakes is sell for Rp 5.000,-, and those cakes are freshly made. 

I love the steamed sponge cake which has white color and brown pattern on the top, it has sweet flavor from sugar and soda, with a very soft texture. The pink one called as Kue Mangkok (Bowl Cake?), I don't really like it, since it has sticky texture and made by coconut milk, it's sweet and sticky. Actually, Kue Mangkok used for Sembahyang here, when it comes to that event, some of seller sell Kue Mangkok in a very big (almost giant) size. 

Next, my family all time snack is... 

Tahu pedas or Spicy Tofu, it's named that way because of its filling which contain a diced chili mixed with bean sprout and carrot. The spicy level is about 8 out of 10, it's spicy but very addicting. It sold by Rp 2.000,- per pieces and the seller isn't only sell this spicy tofu, but the seller also sell the normal one, with vegetables filling but without diced chili. Both taste delicious but if I have to choose which one would be my favorite, I choose the spicy tofu. A challenging snack to accompany your boredom. 

The next one is my BIG family all time favorite, the most wanted and expected one on every big day, especially on Chinese New Year...

TADAAAAA...!!!! Let me introduce you, two biggest supplier of fat and weight gainer. But beside those epithet possessed by these savory cakes, I always craving for these.These are my favorite, after or before meal, I will always trying to give a little space in my tummy. 

The left one called as Bika Ambon, originated from Medan, with super attention in the making of this cake in order to have those beautiful textures. inside. FYI, the success of making this cake is not measured by the tastiness or the smell, but the textures are one of the indicator. I don't even know why... This cake tastes sweet, savory, buttery, oily, and sometimes there are chopped nut inside between the texture. 

The right one called as Kue Lapis Legit (Layer Cake), topped with dried plum and the layers are made one by one traditionally. It's made by 6 to 15 egg yolks and almost 500gr butter. How many calories does it have? I have read somewhere that stated, 4 pieces of this cakes will result on 650 KJ, and it needs 1.5 hour of cardio exercise to burn. But this holy grail cake, is not that easily forgotten, despite of its super high fat, this is has deep meaning in every big day celebration with family. People who hate savory food, may hate this to hell but those who love sweet and savory food will surely die for this.

Then, this is dedicated to my favorite...

Say hello to these Pukis! These are bought at traditional market as well, it's sold in an ordinary snack stall owned by an old man. It's cost Rp 700,- per pieces. It's made by flours mixed with eggs, and sugar. When it's done, the seller will put toppings, such as chocolate sprinkles, pineapples jam, or just put a flavor such as the green one, it has Pandan flavor without any topping. 
It's sweet and savory, but not buttery even though the seller spread a little amount of butter all over the Pukis, the chocolate and jam will adding more flavor as well. But for me, my favorite is the Pandan and original one. I like authentic flavor and the sweetness is in my tolerance level. 

Thank you for reading my blog! Have a nice long weekend! 

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GETTING CAGED AT THE HUMMINGBIRD

Last Saturday during Pop Up Market 2014 "SHIBUYA" (coming soon on this blog). I was working on my school task at the venue but it just took about 30 minutes to be done -___- then after, I decided to have a late lunch. 

LITTLE SPARE TIME at UNION & Island Creamery

LAST SATURDAY after having such a stressful Indonesian Global Ambassador selection for AIESEC, my friend contacted me to join their hedonism in PIM. But unfortunately, she was contacting me when she already at the shuttle station (WTF!), then after drove like a stunt of Fast 6, I arrived at the shuttle station perfectly on time! After spending about 45 minutes on the highway, I finally arrived at PIM.

Our first destination was UNION, since we haven't had a lunch yet and we were made a plan already the day before actually.
We walked into the restaurant, it's kinda dark and giving a touch of luxury in every pieces of the decorations. The receptionist asked whether we would like to have an indoor or outdoor seat, we chose indoor since the weather was quite hot. The indoor seat we had was a little bit annoying, beside a wall and narrow. But it doesn't really matter, since the ambiance gave a comfort and feel of having lunch in Italy :p

Then, the waitress came, gave each of us the menus book as well as preparing the table for the spoon fork, delivering the compliment consists of 4 Italian bread (I don't have any idea about the names). By the way, the service was fascinating, they care about our belongings by gave us a basket to put our bags.  

After looking for all pages and searching for something quite heavy for a lunch, I finally end up with kind of pasta. I ordered Salmon Wonton Ravioli and a Lime Juice for drink. 

The Lime Juice was come first. 

It's a very very souurrrrrrr, for God sake, it's damn sour! But they gave us the liquid sugar by the way. I poured the sugar just a little of it, since I didn't want to lose the freshness of the sour lime at the time. 

Then, the Salmon Wonton Ravioli came up with a very light size. 

With tomato puree all over the ravioli, a pairs of olives, and leaves (what kind of leaves? I don't even know hehe..) The white one is parmesan cheese. 

That's the ravioli, the salmon wonton is inside the ravioli, so you have to bite it to taste the salmon. The salmon was boiled and the taste of the salmon meat doesn't dominated by any spices. Only the sweet-sour tomato puree dominating the whole food. 

The ravioli itself was very nice, giving such a perfect texture called aldente. I forgot how many ravioli were on the plate but it's satisfied enough for a light lunch. It's very delicious and authentically bring the taste of Italian food, and surely I will come back for this one.

Then, I craved for a desert......

Island Creamery was the culprit for this sweet crime called Old-time Apple Pie with Cookies & Cream. The ice cream was my preference, because the original chocolate one was sold out :"( 
I like the Apple Pie, it's served before getting warmed and served side by side by the ice cream. Actually, I don't really like the ice cream, too sweet for me. But the Apple Pie would be my forever companion in terms of after-meal dessert. It has a bunch of sliced steamed apples inside, sweet and warm, a little cookie dough, raisins, and creamy apricot jam also giving a perfection to the whole slice of pie. 

The nicest part was when I finally ate up the chewy part of the pie, then the pie crust was the only one remains. The pie crust was incredible, I even want to pay for this one only, since it has a very balance flavor between the salty and sweet dough and the texture was like a cookies. 

Maybe some of you would ask about the melted chocolate all over the pie, I don't even know it exist on the plate, since the pie was very dominating by its heavenly sweetness. I'll put this on the list! 

Thanks for reading :* 

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TRIP TO REGAL DIMSUM

LAST WEEK before attending the class, me and my friend were going to a small restaurant near my campus. This restaurant is easy to find by it’s red billboard in front of their building. Yes, this is REGAL Dim sum! 

Similar with other dim sum restaurant, REGAL also provide a lot of Chinese food, but there are only several of those food being my favorite. First is the Sichuan’s Fried Kwetiaw. 

That’s the capture, as we can see there are several slices of chili, pineapple, green cabbage, chives, and egg. The scrambled egg were given generously and it tastes very good, salty, and a bit taste of pepper. The kwetiaw is very nice, spicy from chili and pepper going well together, and the saltiness completing the whole food. The smell was a bit strong and from the smell I could define already how it will taste since the pepper seems like dominating the smell. The pineapple were not much, but it’s a bit sweet, so the pineapples there balancing the strong spices. Then, the second is Steamed Bean Curd with Shrimp and Seaweed. 

The bean curd sheet cover, giving the crunchy and protecting the savory shrimp inside. It tastes just like usual bean curd actually, nothing more, but since it’s having a sweet black sauce made by black soy and absorbed into the bean curd sheet, it’s became softer and sweeter. The bean curd finally, make their way to complete the flavor. Let’s see what’s inside..

The green colored things are seaweed, but it doesn’t giving a strong taste, the white colored things are rice but not much, the pinkish one is the shrimp. The only one flavor I could taste from the filling is the shrimp broth and the shrimp itself, it’s quite big and fresh. Actually, the filling doesn’t giving much flavor, but when it dipped into the black sauce, all the parts are getting tastier and perfect all  together. 

Then, I finished all my meals there and surely I’ll make a repeat order next time! 

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SUPERBOWL by JUN NJAN

LAST FRIDAY during my class which running for 3 hours 40 minutes, I think about having lunch outside my school (even though it’s not an high school, but it’s ended with ‘school..’), I thought about something not a very heavy but makes me full enough to continue my class till 4.00 pm.Finally, the the first class ended on time and my 2 friends of mine joined me to The Breeze which located beside Sinarmas Land Buildings and near Foresta Lake. It took me about 10 minutes to reached. 

After we arrived there, one of my friend decided to have her lunch with HOTSTAR Large Chicken Fillet (I’ll reviewed it later on) and one other friend was walking around with me to find something to eat. Then, because of our habit to ‘avoid the sun’, we decided to find an indoor yet cozy restaurant. So after a little walk, we found that SUPERBOWL. 

SUPERBOWL is the member of JUN NJAN group and coming with more affordable price. When we walk in and sit on their woody chair, the waiter given each of us 2 kind of menu books, first one is the a’la carte and the other is the dim sum menus, rice, noodles, and other packaged. After looking in amoments then we decide to share our lunch. Here are the foods:

CHASIEW BUN - WITH REDDISH MEAT the meat actually cannot be seen clearly since the red color strongly dominate it’s filling. But the meat is very juicy and have light flavor (for a kind of chinese food), the bun tastes like a handmade one because it’s very soft, not too sweet but not plain as well, the bun is going perfectly with the meat inside. I like this chasiew bun, but I cannot said that it’s the best in town. 1 portion comes with 3 buns anyway.

SHRIMP SIEW MAY - Coming with 3 pieces in 1 portion, I could said this would be my favorite, these siew may are fresh from the steam, not an old one but not the early one as well. It still have a little broth when I bite it and the shrimp inside is amazingly big and fresh, seems like the siew may is a handmade. The tastes is light, almost plain, but that light broth saved it. The little broth is kinda absorbed to the siew may dough and giving a slightly fishy but tasty flavor throughout the pieces. This is a very nice one. 

Last but not least, 

SUPERBOWL FRIED KWETIAW - The kwetiaw was coming with medium size, but because we has ordered the dimsum we shared it. The kwetiaw is oily, light flavor,and a bit sweet, but overall it’s very delicious. The texture itself is a nice one, it’s chewy and elastic, but I don’t know it’s a handmade or not. The kwetiaw didn’t comes alone, it has sliced fishcake, sliced fishball, sliced chicken fillet, and green cabbage, those are salty but it balanced the sweet flavor on the kwetiaw. Every single things inside that plate are emerged to make a very tasty kwetiaw.

Then, I ended my lunch with a hot pot of CHINESE JASMINE TEA, the taste is very strong and still comes up with the little leaf when I poured it into the cup, but it ends my lunch perfectly.

Overall, SUPERBOWL has a nice place, nice food, and affordable price. I’ll come for the second visit anyway. 

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SECRET RECIPES'S Caribbean Seabass Fillet

Last Silent Moment's day I was going to one of shopping mall nearby and actually my destination was not to have lunch, by the way. I was there for watching a movies with my father and little brother, after bought the ticket, it's still have about 1 hour 45 minutes till the film start, so we decided to have a lunch there.