Due to today’s lunch at home, and the fact that I’m reading a novel with cuisine as its primary concern, I’m inspired to pick up where I left off and make another post about the wonderful necessity that is food.

Here it goes.

So, the menu above is 1) a steaming plate of rice; a staple in our everyday diet, 2) sautéed kale 3) fried soybean cake or “tempe” as we call it, and 4) spicy tuna mackerel with a side plate of sweet soy sauce with small cuts of chilli.

When combined together, I have a fulfilled stomach with all the nutriments beneficial to my body and they can make up a go-to meal in an Indonesian household because of how effortless they are to cook. Even without red meat in sight as a source of Vitamin B and iron, this meal still gives us balance without that heavy feeling in your stomach throughout the day. I brought the kale and fish together with the rice and as they entered my mouth, savory sensations exploded around my palate. Then, I reached out for the tempe, dipped it in the soy sauce-chilli concoction and there was peaceful balance in the sweetness. Utter bliss. Now, this explains why I am a slower eater in the eating table because I like to savour the case of food in my mouth as there’s a sense of art within. But, what I’m trying to say to all of you follows.

When I finished my meal and that little burp, I thought to myself, “I will never be tired of this”. Sure, I occasionally crave a beef kwetiaw or a hot plate of spicy minced chicken with basil leaves in a Thai restaurant – to think about it again, their ingredients to ours are along the same lines. However, let me get it straight:

As delicious as a wide assortment of pizza, pasta, and steak in this world (which I love, don’t get me wrong), nothing truly beats the amazing set of dishes lovingly made with ingredients that sprout out of my country’s soil.