Asinan is basically raw fruit soup. The soupy part is flavored with sugar syrup, sour tamarind, and hot peppers; there's little bits of pepper and fiery seeds floating around. The fruit is mostly unripe -- mangoes, water apples, and something unbelievably sour with the musical name kedongdong -- so it's quite crunchy and tart. Sometimes there's a bit of sweet pineapple scattered around to provide some relief. Oh, and weirdly, there's raw sweet potato too.
As you can imagine, all of this adds up to an explosion in the mouth. This bowl was so tart and hot, we couldn't finish it. Another asinan we tried a block away was a bit milder, fortunately.
2 comments:
Oh I love "asinan Bogor" , both the fruits type and the veggies type. I understand it's too much for your palate, but for us it is mild. Next time, try asinan sayur Jakarta or rujak juhi (cold noodle salad). They are milder and have peanut & vinegar mixture.
Oh, poor you! But, I think, you can ask the "tukang" (or whatever you say) not to give too much chili on the soup. Did you forget to mention "bengkuang" (jicama)? Usually it is part of ingredients also.
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