Enough to make you Boke!

Deep Fried Rat

4 mature rats or 8 small rats
10-15 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbs. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Skin and gut the rats, removing the head and toes. Mix garlic, salt, and pepper into a paste, spread on the meat, then place in direct sunlight for 6 to 8 hours, until dry. Fry in deep vegetable oil for about 6-7 minutes, until crispy and yellow in color. Serve with sticky rice, sweet-sour sauce, fish sauce, or a hot chili paste, and raw vegetables.

In Indonesia many eating traditions are related to social class and region. The Javanese and Balinese have Waroeng, a particular dining custom which takes place in their homes or in waroengs, simple traditional huts found in each village that serve as meeting places where the inhabitants can eat and talk together. This custom goes back several centuries to the days when the Hindu kingdom of the Majapahit still governed Java. When the Hindus were defeated and exiled to Bali in 1525, the tradition was carried with them. Today these waroengs are restaurants furnished with large tables and benches where people can gather for meals and discussion. The essential has not really changed, I would imagine that 500 years ago they were still stinking shitholes.

Indonesian food is supposed to be excellent and tasty, I for one have not really explored this fully, but some of it is OK. My premise is that if you don’t get the shits, don’t puke and don’t get the oral cavity stripped by the amount of Chilli in the food it may be considered passable. The national dish is called nasi goreng, fried rice with finely chopped meat, shrimps and egg, and Oh yes, and I nearly forgot, Chilli!

The food varies from island to island.

In Kalimantan, you can enjoy the biggest fresh water shrimp you've ever seen. (Basically the size of Lobsters – Prawns on steroids)

In Bali, enormous prawns and frog's legs from the rice paddies are a considered a special treat. (If it walks, crawls wriggles or squirms, catch the bastard and cook it)

Sumatra in general and the west coast around Padang in particular pride themselves on having the spiciest food in all of Indonesia. Nasi Padang is a specially spiced rice dish, and deng deng is a meat dish generously seasoned with hot chilies. (Read fucking Red Fucking Hot).

Fresh fish is a specialty of Sulawesi, as are grilled pork and buffalo - the meat is grilled in bamboo poles and generously sprinkled with tuak (palm alcohol). Now that stuff I do not mind, the only problem is if you get this on a kebab skewer, fresh from the BBQ there is a possibility that more exotic additives like tikus (field rat) and paniki (fruit bat) will be on the stick! . Oh yes, Sulawesi is not the place to be a dog! They are rather favoured as an appetiser!

For a quick bite to eat, the local population eat from the kakis limas (literally "five legs"): little mobile stalls where they buy rice and soups that are kept hot over charcoal. What you have to remember is that the water is not potable, at least not for westerners. It must be boiled first. But being Indonesian they tend to serve water that has been merely heated up. You have to ask for "medidih duapuluh menit," meaning water boiled for 20 minutes. Failure to do so ensures the shits like you have never had before.

Most of the pkace is, as youy will have realised a culinary adventure that I refuse to undertake.