Something Deep-fried to Your Liking

Gorengan, or deep-fried food literary translated, is one of the food that you can most likely find in Indonesia. A wooden cart is what people who sell gorengan use to place and advertise their products. Sometimes, if we're lucky enough, we can see some of the sellers frying the dough inside the cart. Even though deep-fried food is not healthy, gorengan is one of the popular food in Indonesia. Many Indonesians are fond of this particular savory dish, not just because it taste good if you eat it during a rainy day but because it is also come in an exceptionally cheap price. 

One of the gorengan cart near my house

A few days ago, I just found out that one of my neighbor decided to sell gorengan at around the entrance of my housing complex. This particular neighbor of mine, who goes by the name Yanti, is your typical sweet chubby middle-aged lady who always smile and very kind to people. Today, when I was on my way home from school, I stopped by at Mbak Yanti's gorengan cart ("Mbak" is the term that we, Indonesian, use to address a lady who is older than you, but probably younger than your parents) and bought myself some deep-fried tofu and sweet potato balls, which only costed Rp500,00 each. 

The inner sight of the wooden cart which is filled with
numerous gorengan, fresh from the frying pan

Bought two fried tofu and three sweet potato
balls to be indulged during tea time

When we buy some gorengan, the seller will always put them in a paper bag - which made out of newspaper or used paper - and they usually say, "Would you like some cabai rawit with that?" Cabai rawit is the Indonesian term of bird's eye chili pepper that goes swell with gorengan. Most adults prefer to eat gorengan with some cabai rawit because it will make the dish taste spicy and hot. 

Gorengan in a newspaper-based paper bag ready to be indulged

Other than tofu and sweet potato balls, you can also find fried tempe, fried risoles, bakwan, fried carrot-filled tofu, pisang molen, fried banana, fried aci, and fried cassava at your nearby gorengan cart. Tempe is a traditional soy-based product that is very common in Indonesia, and so are tofu and carrot-filled tofu. Pisang molen is a deep-fried dough covered banana, which tasted sweet and crunchy, a bit similar with your regular fried banana. Bakwan is a fried dough, which is usually mixed with shredded carrots and bean sprouts. Risoles is a deep-fried layers of dough filled with carrots and bihun, which tasted savory and crunchy. Fried aci is basically deep-fried plain dough. I'm not a big fan of fried aci, but it sure tasted good and chewy, not to mention it has this particular interesting flavor as its' characteristic. 

It's okay to have some gorengan once in a while, despite the fact that this dish are all deep-fried. There's nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves sometimes, right? Try to eat gorengan with some rice, or with some noodles, because it will bring out the gorengan's flavors.