Indonesia so far... part 3, seafood

Hello dear readers! I hope you are all well. I am back in Indonesia, in Jakarta to be exact. It's day four and I almost beat this damn jetlag. Though it's not so bad this time because the Olympics is on all day and I have something to watch late at night. Come on team GB (and team Indonesia)!

It's been so lovely being reunited with family. I am gonna be here for several weeks and whilst I am figuring out what I am gonna do next, I hope you'll enjoy reading my travelog series. At the moment, I am staying in a hotel, but when I am at home in Medan, I'll be sure to start cooking again. One of the things that I've done is signed up for a gym, because I intend to eat a lot :)

When visiting the biggest archipelago in the world, you must try some of the fabulous and sumptuous seafood. Here are some of my favourite seafood dishes:

Grilled stingray with sweet soy and limes has been a favourite of mine since I was little. It is sweet and fresh and my favourite part is nibbling on the soft bones. Source of protein and calcium at the same time? :) Sometimes you'll find a variation of grilled stingray that is topped with sambal which is also delicious, but that depends if you can stand the heat or not.

I am not normally into anything poached, except for for poached eggs, but even that I don't have it very often... primarily because I am hopeless at poaching eggs. But anyway, these poached shrimps are also an exception. They are surprisingly delicious. They are poached in some sort of magical flavourful fish broth until just firm which allowed the sweetness of the shrimps to come through. They are topped with fresh coriander. 

Salted egg yolk prawns and squids are next on the list. Both are coated in salted egg yolk batter before deep fried and served with more salted egg yolks, spring onions and slices of red chilli. A quick note, the squids are often served in rings. However, the prawns are often served whole.. heads, tails and all. I actually really liked the heads as the pack lots of flavour, but it's probably too much for some. If you had a chance, you must also try salted egg yolk on crab... yum.

Please do not be alarmed by the picture below... I admit the fish does look scary, but it is so delicious. This is Chinese style steamed fish. The fish is called ikan jurung which I honestly don't know what it's called in English. But obviously this is not the only fish that are often used for steaming... other fishes like, snapper, tilapia or bream are quite popular as well. The fish here is steamed in Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, shallots, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, Chinese oyster mushrooms and topped with sliced spring onions at the end. 

Saving the best for last is kepiting saus Padang (crab in Padang's chilli sauce). This is without a doubt is my new favourite Indonesian seafood dish of all time. This is so delicious, just the thought of it makes me drool. The crab meat is sweet and the sauce... oh, the sauce is out of this world. It's a tomato and red chilli based sauce that's flavoured with lots of garlic, ginger, shallots and spring onions. I really look forward and cannot wait to eating this crab dish again when I am back in Medan.

The eating continues...

Please click on the link if you missed part 1 and part 2.