Missing Hometown's Food (Pontianak Culinary)

A throwback to my last year's post, I have promised to share my hometown's food to this blog. FINALLY! I could fulfill my promise. I will share 9 of hundreds delicious foods of my hometown. 

I was born and lived for 18 years in Pontianak, West Borneo (click here if you don't know about Pontianak). Pontianak (坤甸, Kūn diān) is close to Malaysia, so people generally speak Bahasa with Malay accent. Chinese-Indonesian generally uses Teochew and Hakka for daily conversation. It's also used by the Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. So, don't be confused if the name of some foods sounds weird and not familiar. 

Chai Kwe (Choi Pan) 

First food, Chai Kwe (also familiar as Choi Pan)! It has been my favorite hometown's food. I never miss to eat this food when I go back. Chai Kwe consists of 5 flavors: soybean, yam, chives (kucai), bamboo sprout and  bengkoang. Yam, bengkoang and chives are my favorite. This food is easy to  be found, you can find this in the morning at the market or in the afternoon and evening at restaurant or cafe.  Anw, I can eat 20 pcs in one meal :> oops. 

Koi Sai Tin Kwe

Next is Koi Sai Tin Kwe. I'm not sure about the name, but my mom told me that is indeed the name and she said that there is no Indonesian name as Indonesian doesn't really eat this. Koi Sai means chicken's sh*t and kue means cake, so Koi Sai Tin Kwe means... umm (fill the following blanks by yourself). The names of this food are super weird and disgusting, but the taste is good. Mom said that the black color was made by Daun Kentut (Fart Leaves). Omg, the facts about this cake are too silly. This cake is a little bit difficult to be found, I found this in the morning at the market. It also reminds me about the trend of black colored food in nowadays. 

Egg Tart 

Egg tart is the third. Pontianak's egg tart is quite similar with Hong Kong's egg tart but it has a bigger size. It is baked on a plate and cut into 8 pcs (click here to see original size). I love this egg tart more than Balinese or Portuguese as it has a bigger size of the custard. I can easily find this in the market or traditional cake shop. Nowadays, there are chocolate, green tea, oreo flavor, but my favorite is always the original one,

Crab Noodle (Bakmi Kepiting) 

Pontianak's Crab Noodle (Bakmi Kepiting) is quite famous in Jakarta. There are 2 options to enjoy this noodle, with soup and without soup. Mostly, the restaurant also serves Kwetiau and Dumplings. And, I prefer the noodle with soup. This food could be enjoyed at breakfast or lunch. 

Chicken Rice (Nasi Campur) 

In Pontianak, this food is called Chicken Rice. I don't know the story of its name, but it's totally different with Singapore Chicken Rice (hmm.. the roasted chicken is almost the same btw). There is no Hainanese rice in this chicken rice, and there are many pork with less chicken inside. In Jakarta, this food is called Nasi Campur. Until this time, many friends of mine ask me why it's called chicken rice in my hometown, and I just answered with laugh haha. I enjoy this food for lunch, btw. 

Tiam Mie (Sweet Fried Noodle)

Sweet Fried Noodle? Weird? It tastes good, guys. The sweet taste was made of palm sugar. It's quite difficult to find this food since not every person can cook this noodle. My mom has ever tried to make it by herself, but it was too sweet. Btw, I enjoyed this for lunch. 

Che Hun Tiaw + Bongko

Che Hun Tiaw is just like Indonesian Cendol with plain color, and Bongko is just like Selendang Mayang with green color. It can refresh me up in the super hot weather of my beloved hometown. Mix up two of them is an option, some people enjoy Che Hun Tiaw or Bongko only, but I love to mix them up. I can easily find it in the afternoon.

 Lek Tau Suan (Green Beans Dessert) 

Sharing about Lek Tau Suan reminds me to my dearest ex-roommate. She made this for my friends and me when we were living in the dormitory. Lek Tau is green beans that have been peeled off and Suan means diamond as the beans shine like a diamond, they said haha. The best part of this Lek Tau Suan is the Chakwe or dough fritter, I won't eat it without chakwe. I can easily find this at the market, but it's definitely cheaper to make this at home. This is so easy to make, the ingredients are simple and easy to find. There are many recipes about it on the internet. 

Tofu Pudding 

Last but not least, Tofu Pudding! It's a combination between pudding and Soy milk. Sweet and soft are perfect are two words that suitable to describe it. Tofu Indonesia has many variants of their product, such as tofu tart, tofu ice cream, tofu bean curd with many flavor and topping. And, they have opened their store in Kemanggisan, Jakarta, but I have never gone there. Maybe I should go there and introduce Tofu to Fili :)

That is my story about my hometown's culinary. Hopefully, there will be part 2,3,4 and 50, I hope you guys will never get bored about my hometown hahaha. Well, for those who are going to have a culinary trip in Pontianak, you should follow Kuliner Pontianak on Instagram. This account was made by my friend ((and I was helping her to make the logo :>)). And, I got my references about Pontianak Culinary from there. The caption of the photos is detailed enough, location until prices. The way she describes the food is fun. Hopefully, I could do a collaboration with her someday :)

Btw, me and Fili are in the last term of our university life! We are doing our final project now. We pray that this project will be completed smoothly and finished on time, yohooo! Wish us luck! :>

Yey! 

Yelny