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Showing posts from February 15, 2009

Coto Makassar

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There is no official note about when Coto Makassar or Coto Mangkasara was found and who invented and introduced it. Until today, people just know that this food is a special food of Makassar that is made by common people from Makassar tribe. In modern culinary, this food is included in the group of soup. The main foodstuffs are meat and jeroan (the content of the stomach) of cows, such as liver, tripe, heart, intestine, and lymph gland. Next are the process of making Coto Makassar. First, boil the foodstuffs until soft, then cut them into small pieces. After that, mix it with the cooked sauce in the separate container. The sauce is the combination of various kinds of spices which are added with the milling of ground nuts that have already been fried. When it will be served, this food is added with fried onion, celery, vinegar, and lime. It is not complete to eat this food without ketupat (rice cooked in a packet made of woven coconut leaves), burasa, and tauco sauce. The taste of Coto

Gudeg

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Gudeg Jogja, Some says that no tasting Gudeg means no visiting Jogja. It could be, because there’s no doubt anymore in popularity of Gudeg as Jogja’s icon. It is made from unripe jackfruit cooked with squeezed coconut and seasoned with keluak (fruits of kepayang). Cooking this food needs many hours. Brown color is from hardwood leaf. As like another special food of Jawa Tengah, character of Gudeg is sweet. It means much sugar and salt is just as balancer. In the other hand, salty and delicious chicken is from mix of salt and squeezed coconut, and some sugar. It makes harmonic flavor. There are many kinds of Gudeg when you are visiting Jogja such as Wet Gudeg, Gudeg Solo, and Dried Gudeg. Dry Gudeg often becomes gift because it is not spoiled easily and being able for 3 days. In the other hand, other kinds of Gudeg are more delicious when it is eaten directly. It is served with rice and thick squeezed coconut soup, fried chicken, egg, tofu, and fried sambal krecek. Block sugar poci te

Magic Stone Ponari

MOHAMMAD PONARI was a typical kid in the impoverished East Java village of Balongsari. Then, quite literally, lightning struck. The nine-year-old, who had been playing in the rain in his front yard, was hit by a thunderbolt. But to the astonishment of his friends, he was unharmed. All the more bizarre, according to his village chief and family, was that when Ponari came to, he found a stone the size of an egg on his head, and became convinced he possessed special healing powers. A boy next door afflicted by a fever was his first patient. The stone was placed in a glass of water and the boy, Lintang, drank deeply. The fever vanished. Then another neighbour approached him, a woman aged in her 30s who had suffered from a depressive condition for 15 years. She, too, was healed. The miracles, big and small, kept coming, said Nila Retno, the local village chief. "My arm was sprained. The water touched by stone was given to me and I applied the water to my sprained arm. Suddenly,

Prambanan

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T he Prambanan temple is the biggest and a most beautiful Hindu temple about 20 minutes from Yogyakarta city. This magnificent Shivaite temple derives its name from the village where it is located. Locally known as the Loro Jongrang temple , or the temple of the "Slender Virgin" it is reputed to be the biggest and most beautiful Hindu Temple in Indonesia . 17 kilometers east of Yogyakarta , the temple is believed to have been built by King Balitung Maha Sambu in the middle of the ninth century. Its parapets are adorned with a bas-reliefs depicting the famous Ramayana story . It has eight shrines, of which the three main ones are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma (all are manifestations of God in Hindu). The main temple of Shiva rises to a high of 130 feet and houses the magnificent statue of Shiva's consort, Durga . Prambanan Temple is beautiful temple, in fact, it is a group of temples. The biggest temple dedicated to Shiva (one of manifestation o

Tana Toraja

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SOUTH SULAWESI The province of South Sulawesi comprises the narrow south-western peninsula of this orchid-shaped island which is mainly mountainous. The seafaring Bugis dominate the southern tip, whereas the northern part of South Sulawesi is inhabited by the Torajas whose unique culture rivals that of the Balinese. Famed for their seafaring heritage and Pinisi schooners for centuries, the Bugis possess to the present day one of the last sailing fleets in the world. The Bugis vessels have sailed to as far as the Australian coast, leaving behind drawings of their ships on stone with words that have been integrated into the Aboriginal language of north Australia. Situated on the crossroads of well traveled sea-lanes, its capital and chief trading port of Ujung Pandang, is till today the gateway to eastern Indonesia. Spanish and Portuguese galleons, followed by British and Dutch traders sailed these seas in search of the spice trade, escorted by their men of war to protect them against th

Kelimutu Lake

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Welcome to Flores Island, one of the new highlight destination of travel to Indonesia. Situated among the magnificent islands of Lesser Sunda (Nusa Tenggara), Flores offers almost anything you want see: Unique cultures at traditional megalithic villages, Mt. Kelimutu volcano with its unique three colors lake, wildlife and marine life. The Portuguese who reached this island in the 15th Century gave the name Flores. 'Flores' means flowers, not by the Flowers grow on the land, but beneath the sea, coral, fishes and other marine lifes. The most beautiful coral reefs occur on the northern coast and western of the Island. Flores is 1.5 hours from Bali by Air. The most magnificent site is the three colored lakes of Kelimutu volcano. Each lake is a different color: blue, green and black. Other attractions include spectacular hand-woven textiles of Maumere, Ende-Lio, Ngada, the traditional megalithic village of Bena and other traditional villages in Ngada regency (Cent

Mount Batur

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Mount Batur, located less than an hour from north Bangli, is a mall volcano that still active in this island. Created by an eruption of Mount Batur approximately 30,000 years ago. It sets in the hearth of a huge crater 14 km in diameter and 65 meters deep. The Temple of Pura Danu Batur on the rim is dedicated to the Goddess of the Lake. The lake often becomes shrouded in mist but one can catch breathtakingly stunning views from the many vantage points along the rim. Hot springs at the lake's edge reach temperatures of 57 degrees Celsius while the rest of the lake is somewhat cooler.

Mount of Jaya Wijaya

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Mount Jayawijaya . It is hardly to imagine sometimes that the tropics country like Indonesia has a snowy spot. More over the eternal snow one. Like this one, it is called Mount Jayawijaya . Mount jayawijaya lies on 4862m sea level, in province of Papua. The height of the mountain top has made Mount Jayawijaya’ Top be eternally snow-capped. At first, Mount Jayawijaya is called Mount Top Sukarno (Puncak Sukarno in Indonesian) . Jayawijaya is one of the Sudirman’s Mountain Range ( Barisan Sudirman in Indonesian ), and is the second highest mount in South-East Asia , and has been one of World’s Premiere Seven Mount Top Other Spelling for Mount Jayawijaya are : Ngga Pulu Mount Carstensz Carstensz Pyramid/Top Pyramid Carstensz Top/Mount Top Jayakesuma Top/Mount Top Around Mount top of jayawijaya there are still another three next tops, namely Top Soemantri (4.855 M) ( Puncak Sumantri ), Top East Carstensz (East Carstensz, 4.775 M) and Middle Peak ( Puncak Tengah ) articles source

Topeng Malang dance

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Custom Search Mask (topeng) as a product of fine arts is not only used as decoration, but also as the equipment of dance and theatre in some performances. In Malang, to be exact in the Kedung Monggo village, Pakisaji sub-distric and in the Jabung village, Tumpang sub-distric, lots of Topeng are made to use for the performance of an opera or “wayang topeng”. The mask of Malang (topeng Malang) has special characteristics, such as their thick wood of randu wood (capok tree) or “cangkring”, which is rather dark in colour, with a carving on the forehead which is specially bulging, fashioned with a square chin and high cheek- bones. Some mask needs some ritual to make the carving mask has a magic power. Decoratively, Malang masks are unique. They are different from any other mask art found in Java. There are five typical colurs used to deco rate the masks. The red colour symbolizes courage, the black colour symbolizes de

The Borobudur Temple

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A white mist shrouds the plain and the first birdcalls across the valleys announce the imminent arrival of another dawn. Slowly the mist dissipates in the rising sun to reveal the spires and Buddhas that meditate in bliss and gradually the forms coalesce to unveil a temple that many who have seen it, consider to be the finest example of Buddhist architecture ever raised to the sky by man. In the period 600 AD to 800 AD there was a golden age of temple construction throughout India, Ceylon and South East Asia. It was a time when Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished and men raised magnificent monuments to heaven in praise of their gods with a burst of frenetic activity of cultural expression and devotion. After their periods of glory they sank into obliv

Gado-gado

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This is a simplified version of the Gado Gado salad served in Indonesian restaurants, using easier to find ingredients. It makes an interesting alternative to potato salad. Serves 6 Ingredients: * Salad: * 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced * 3/4 cup cabbage, shredded * 3/4 cup green beans, sliced * 3/4 cup carrots, sliced * 3/4 cup cauliflower, chopped * 1/2 cup mung bean sprouts * 1/3 cup snow peas * 1/2 cucumber, sliced * 2 red potatoes, cut into wedges * Peanut Dressing: * 3/4 to 1 cup coconut milk (depending on whether you want a thicker or thinner sauce) * 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter * 1 teaspoon red curry paste or chile paste (or Tabasco sauce) * 1 tablespoon brown sugar * 1 tablespoon lime juice * 2 teaspoons fish sauce (or substitute 1 tablespoon soy sauce) Preparation: Wash all the vegetables. Ideally, with the exception of the eggs and cucumber, all of the salad ingredients should be blanched or boiled in a large pot of boiling water. Ho

Sate

As many unique cuisine, sate is original food from Indonesia. Sate is small pieces of meat roasted on skewer. This Indonesia food cuisine is so spicy and full of condiment (in some cooking method). There are a lot of sate recipes that you’ll find. One of the unique menus of sate is bone sate from Banjarmasin. Banjarmasin is capital city of South Kalimantan (Borneo Island) province. Wait a second, I’ve told you that sate made from small pieces of meat, but why that title is bone sate? No, I’m right, that’s way I told you that this is unique Indonesian cuisine. Not other sate menu, this Banjarmasin sate made from young chicken backbone, that’s the reason.Young chicken backbone? yup, from the image above, there is no bone appear, but try to eat it ;). There is backbone wrapped with meat. This food cuisine usually uses one month chicken. Other uniqueness of this menu is the hot spices. Like no other which use peanut hot spices, this menu use hot sauces, and there are taste mixed, because y