Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Kebayoran Lama market: shapes and textures

I'm told you're supposed to put these flower petals in your bath to make it more luxurious. Too bad we don't have a bathtub!


A stack of lemongrass. I love its herby, lemony, vibrant flavor. Vietnamese food would be lost without it, and it's also crucial to Manadonese food, our favorite Indonesian cuisine.



Pete (peh-teh) beans, also known with affection or horror as "stinky beans." They lend a special pungency to chili sauce.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

those flowers are gorgeous!
they remind me of peonies, one of my favorites because they seem to have about a million petals per stem.

Anonymous said...

I believe traditionally (and for marriage ceremony) the flowers are used for the Indonesian 'mandi' not the western soak-in-the-tub thing, where you put the flowers in the tub and let it settle a little bit then you scoop the water with a bath ladle.

Trish said...

Ah, thanks for the clarification, kemsey! We only have a shower, not a mandi. I suppose we could put them in our laundry tub and then scoop them out ... that doesn't seem very satisfying, though.