"Hot and spicy", may be commonly heard from most foreign visitors when savouring Indonesian food. While certainly true, not all Indonesian food will set your mouth on fire.
On Samosir Island, in the middle of Lake Toba, North Sumatra, lies a sleepy village -- Tuktuk Village is home to the ethnic Batak group of people, that cook up tasty delights for visitors.
The wholesome avocado smoothie, the marquisa (passion) fruit and the seasonal, terong belanda fruit juices are great starters to enjoy before digging into a zesty meal.
A vendor selling the indigenous, fruit, terong berlanda (Tamarillo), in Parapat Saturday market.
Organic passion fruit, freshly picked, from Horas family's garden patch -- the Marquisa (passion fruit) makes a refreshing drink that is a favourite with the locals folks.
A rustic and delectable feast -- the zesty, rich aromatic Batak-styled fish dish is one of my favourites! The deep-fried finger chips, stir-fried vegetables and fried eggplant are not spicy. You can add in chilli or tomato sauce or fresh cut chilli to go with your food.
My favourite fried eggplant, slathered with appetizing thick paste made from freshly ground ingredients.
The grilled fish served with spicy sauce is most popular with visitors and only available at dinner time at Jenny's. You can have your food prepared extra fiery or less hot!
The popular gado-gado snack makes a good appetizer -- steamed mixed vegetables with Jenny's homemade spicy peanut sauce.
Jenny preparing and cooking our meal in her newly refurbished kitchen.
All ingredients and spices are freshly ground or pound to add a rich, fragrant flavour to the fish, meat or vegetables dishes.
The flavourful, spicy chicken curry with sliced potatoes and tomatoes.
Green curtain -- passion fruit vines make a natural shady curtain at Jenny's. A relaxing place to chill out after a hearty meal. Most of the Batak women folks grow their crops, fruits and vegetables in their own backyard.
It helps to pre-order the dishes, a day in advance at Jenny's to avoid having to wait too long because she cooks the food upon ordering or go early before the crowd picks up in the evening.
View of Lake Toba and part of Jenny's backyard. She runs her own small eatery on her land, raises three children with her husband, a free-lance local tour guide.
The Day we cook up a storm!
We wanted to experience the village market scene on this island and to try out a ride in the vintage becak.
We dragged ourselves out of bed early one morning. The hospitable owner, Mrs
Bakkar, arranged to have her two most experienced helpers to take
the three of us to the Tomok village market.
The vintage becak on a first trial run -- a motorbike with a sidecar that carries up to two
passengers that the owner, Mr Bakkar acquired.
Happily,
we volunteered as guinea pigs. What could happen? A good five
kilometres walk back if it stalled! Luckily, it worked all the way there and back!! Thanks to our cool, bike rider!!!
The vintage becak ride -- one fun-filled roller-coastering ride over bumpy roads but one heck of a scenic bumpy ride too!!
Tomok
village market -- a small quaint market place, opens twice a week on
weekdays only. The local folks gather here to buy or sell local
produce.
A vendor selling snack -- tasted like palm sugar in steamed rice flour.
The fish vendors here are all Batak women folks.
The fish vendors sell their
fresh catch of the day near the lake -- the few small boats were seen
loading off small loads of fresh fish. Fresh, as in all parts -- the
mouth, gills and fins were flapping! We bought the whole fish (one
kilogramme) that have been gutted and scaled. So fresh that it was still flapping in the plastic bag and broke through it that we had to get another bag to contain it!! 
Fresh from the lake, to the market place and to the table! (IDR30,000/USD3.50 per kilo). Indeed, the texture of the flesh was firmed, no earthy smell and tasted absolutely out of this world!
Our
driver, Bp Hudson, has mentioned earlier before dropping us at Parapat
pier that we must get the wild, fresh catch from the island market place
-- the best quality is the darkest black/blue-coloured variety, and not those from the floating cages or nets.
Organic
vegetables and greens freshly picked from the garden batch at daybreak,
about 6:00 am after hanging out by the lake to watch the beautiful
sunrise. Complimentary fresh greens for guests staying at our Horas
Batak bungalow home!
A rustic meal -- the freshest of fish from the lake and the greens from the organic garden batch at our Horas Homestay. Seriously? It does not get better than this even when we are not good cooks!!
The ambiance? We enjoy hanging out on the spacious
patio to dine; surrounded by lush tropical orchards, passion fruit
vines fencing, facing the garden batch and the serene lake.
Mrs
Bakkar and her helpers would gladly prepare delectable local dishes
from their menu or prepare a barbecue meal for their guests by the
lake!
This
unique Homestay is like a holiday home away from home -- fully equipped
with a kitchen, living and dinning areas, and a spacious patio for
outdoor dinning or simply relax on the comfortable rattan sun lounger, looking out
at the lake and dream...
Parapat Saturday Market is one crowded, chaotic, bustling local fare for the Batak folks to gather here once a week!
The Saturday market by the pier.
Ferries
take the local folks, tourists and transport goods to Tomok and Tuktuk on Samosir Island.
(IDR15,000/USD1.30 single trip to Tuktuk)
Winnowing
-- a Batak woman folk repeatedly tossing the grains up, a traditional
method used by separating remaining loose chaff from the grain. Rice
farming is the mainstay of the Batak folks besides fish farming.They
also grow seasonal cash crops to supplement their income.
An amazing variety of interesting fresh produce.
Vendors selling a diversity of dried fish that is popularly make into spicy sambal sauce.
A hot wok of bubbling fritters delight.
My
favourite banana fritters stall -- the most popular deep-fried banana
fritters, tapioca (cassava), sweet potato, taro and mung beans!
This small traditional family eatery is tucked away in a side street, near the largest market in Siantar. We made a stop here to get some fresh fruits and stopped to enjoy some tasty homemade noodles with meat, deep-fried bean curd skin and greens.
The vegetarian Chinese noodles -- the amazing handmade noodles tasted chewy, springy without any addictive added.
Simple stir-fried noodles in another Chinese eatery in Siantar.
Medan,
the third largest city in Indonesia, is the capital city of North
Sumatra -- the melting pot of the diverse Indonesian ethnic cultures
that work and live here. The dishes here are largely influenced by
Malay, Chinese and Indian culture.
Thin pancakes cooked on enamelled plates using charcoal fire - thin and crispy around the sides with a soft, slightly chewy
texture in the middle when having it warm and, taste just as yummy when
cold. There are different fillings such as peanuts, cheese, chocolate,
sweet corn and others to choose from.
A
popular local snack to enjoy at anytime! This vendor stall is open from
evening to night in the famous food street in Selat Panjang.
When
in Medan, head to Jalan Selat Panjang -- the popular, noisy, crowded
local food street that comes alive at night! There are many eateries,
lined with vendors and stalls selling different tasty eats, snacks and desserts from evening, late into the night.
Local fried 'kway teow' (in
Hokkien dialect) or fried rice noodles (flat, cut strips of rice
noodles) is a very popular street food dish throughout South East Asia.
However, they do differ in taste, texture using the freshest of
ingredients, spices and special sauces.
I
go for the one that the cook fries up with ample "wok hei"-- the 'wok
qi' makes all the difference and if, fried over wood fire, so superlicious!!
This
fried rice noodles stall is perhaps the most popular with the Medanese
-- there is always a long queue but worth the wait!
I
can never resist a bowl or two of the sinfully, rich ice-kacang, which
means, "shaved ice with beans" but really shaved ice with a choice of interesting toppings, natural palm sugar or red-coloured syrup, and evaporated milk or rich
creamy fresh coconut milk!!
This one may look different from the regular colourful ice-kacang. I like to request for my own creative mix of super rich, creamy fresh coconut milk and natural palm sugar!
I
would go early, walk the streets around Jalan Selat Panjang to soak in
the food street culture, join in the queue with the locals and dive in to savour the Medanese hot favourites!
Curry vermicelli or Curry 'beehoon' -- this eatery is within walking distance to my hotel!
This
Chinese eatery has been running a family owned business for several
generations.
An
interesting place to hang out for an afternoon snack or
homemade ice-cream float to have a feel of the old
colonial ambiance, at the Tip Top Restaurant established since 1934.
Their daily freshly baked, wood-based oven cakes and pastries are very
popular with the local folks.
The Nasi Goreng Special is one of their signature dishes in Tip Top Restaurant.
Chilli farming in Tuktuk village
The Batak local folks in this part of Tuktuk are friendly, helpful and would gladly oblige to cook anything you request; spicy yet do not overburn your taste buds!
(December 2014)