nAsI UDuK BABe SAMAn

(doc. NCC)

Kebon Kacang 9
Los A 16-17
Pasar Gandaria
Jakarta Pusat

For catering/delivery:
H.M. Nooh & Cecep Iskandar
(Babe Saman’s sons)
Gang Kebon Kacang III/82
RT 003/03
Tanah Abang
Jakarta Pusat
Tel. 314 1842

37 years and still soldiering on. As is the norm, this is a nasi uduk eatery by night and a market stall by day. This picturesque, Orientalist dream corner eatery once favoured by New Order heavyweights, and is still packing in everybody from students to celebrities, pressed shirts to night owls, with its delightful inner sanctuaries, offers pretty pint-sized nasi uduk wrapped in banana leaves with excellent, sweetish fried chicken to be savoured with peanut sambal (mediocre) and—a more recent innovation—fried sambal ulek reeking of fresh tomatoes (superb).

The eatery is named after its founder, Babe Saman, who died in 1995; now his two sons, H.M. Nooh and Cecep Iskandar, run the business. It started out selling rice, eggs, butter and live chicken—until the number of chicken far exceeded their capacity to keep them and live chicken became fried chicken. And a rather good one, too, which resulted, in 1963, in the small nasi uduk warung that continued to gain strength until reaching its peak in the 80s when they sold an average of 300 rice “pouches” and 200 chicken. Those days are over, and now they only average 60 chicken a day (but spread around three outlets, including at Jakarta City Centre). They no longer close at 3 or 4 am, but right on midnight; the whiz behind their finances, their very own mother Hj. Nunung, who passed away in 2005, is also no more. Still, no one is complaining.

What’s the secret of the chicken? Cuka aren, apparently—a kind of vinegar mixed with palm sugar essence, and good local (kampung) chicken. The savour of the rice also comes from pure coconut cream, not—as with many cases—from flavour enhancers—with a dash of cloves. It’s not exactly cheap cooking—5 litres of rice uses up to three coconuts, and real cuka aren costs Rp 10,000 a bottle—but that’s what it takes to stay above the fray.

Try the fried ox lungs as well. The average price of a deep-fried item is Rp 7,000.

Price range: Around Rp 60,000 for 2
Operating hours: 15:00 – 00:00

sUMBer : JgfG.viVAnewS.coM
POSted bY : arMStrONG_PRODucT@YAHOO.co.ID