Eating Breakfast at the Market

I think Indonesian concept of breakfast is basically lunch eaten at an earlier time.  The dish below was one of three we tried that morning….  It is broad rice noodle soup with cubed chicken (marinated in sweet soy sauce and other spices). Adding hot sauce is optional, but the sauce is ubiquitous even at 7:30 AM.

The drink is iced soy milk, but it doesn’t taste like the “westerner’s” soy milk.  It’s lighter and tastes like tofu early in the process.   On the background (in the rectangular plastic container) are some chinese donuts, and in the pink container are fried beef balls or what Indonesian called bakso.  And no, those beef balls are not euphemism…

A lone fish ball… Its compadres were already in my tummy. The logo/writings of this bowl and the other bowl are of MSG brands.

Market Scene

Day 2 in Jakarta, I went to the local food market near my aunt’s house. The sun is always up around 6 AM, and by 7:30 the market buzzes with people shopping for their household’s meal ingredients.

One of the many snack options available, sold by the grams.

I think these are marinated chicken that you'd then fry at home.

All Natural Dessert

Durian. Need I say more?

Not-Quite-Midnight Duck

After enduring 27 hours on the airplane with crying babies, uncomfortable chair, and terrible — worse than usual — airplane food, I was treated with BBQ-ed duck, with a side of green chili sauce.  Not using utensils is mandatory.

Price for a whole duck is around $7, a side of rice is 50 cents.