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Indonesia, the fourth-most-populous country in the world, comprises some 17,000 islands that stretch over a vast archipelago of diverse culinary habitats. Even if you've spent years looking into every Indonesian nook and cranny in New York, pay a call on this monthly bazaar, and you're sure to discover something new.
Read more in my latest story on Culinary Backstreets; for dozens of additional photos, see my album.
Tepache (10 pesos, about 50 cents at the time) is a tart beverage lightly fermented from pineapple rinds; it has a twang but little if any alcohol. Traditionally it is sweetened with piloncillo, unrefined cane sugar. The honeycomb, leaning beside this vendor's tepache dipper, suggests a different recipe, although it might also testify that he harvests and jars his own honey; at the time I didn't think to ask for clarification. Another cup, please.
Ambulant tepache and honey vendor
Tianguis Sullivan
Open-air market on Calle James Sullivan between Calles Manuel María Contreras and Jose Rosas Moreno, Mexico City
Sunday, mid-morning till late afternoon
(Saturday's market reportedly offers much less produce, much more apparel, and equally good cooked food)
(From a March 2017 visit)
Cool salads on a summer afternoon: carrot and horseradish, sauerkraut with carrot, and beet. Unadvertised, the beet was dosed with horseradish, too. The salads are prepared from German recipes, according to the Polish-born owner; they provide a link, at least in spirit, to the original owner of the German-style townhouse that Park Deli occupies today. "Delicatessen," above the awning, dates from the construction of the building, in 1931.
Park Deli was to close on July 31, 2017, but won a series of reprieves; it is still in business as of early 2019.
Park Deli
209 Nassau Ave. (Russell-North Henry Sts.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
718-383-2080
www.ParkDeliGreenpoint.com
Closed Sunday
(This venue is closed.) Chicken cradles ginseng: This hand-drawn artwork depicts samgyetang, a Korean soup featuring a whole young chicken, traditionally stuffed with short-grain or glutinous rice, garlic, and dried jujube, in addition to ginseng root. Samgyetang is served hot, but following the logic of "fight fire with fire" it is especially associated with the most sultry days of summer.
Each year three such days, over the course of a month, are determined in advance by the lunar calendar. In 2017 the first, chobok, was on July 12; the second, jungkok, was on July 22 (when this photo was taken); the third, malbok, falls on August 11. Hot chicken soup, most agree, is wonderful in winter, too.
Haewoondae
75-32 Broadway (at 76th St.), Elmhurst, Queens
718-397-5834
Northeastern Thai larb moo (pork liver, stomach, ear; $7) and tum poo plara (green papaya, salted crab, pickled fish; $9). The first is terrific; the second is an acquired taste. Do nibble around the crab legs, but don't bite down on the carapace!
Hug Esan
77-16 Woodside Ave. (77th-78th Sts.), Elmhurst, Queens
929-328-0392
www.HugEsanNYC.com
Closed Wednesday
All in keeping with the outdoor color scheme at this Bangladeshi restaurant: fish, fish, and more fish. First are a curried pair of pabda, a small river catfish whose sweet filets easily part from the spine; second is a section of boal, a larger, bonier catfish, softer-fleshed and slippery-skinned. Both dishes seem to employ chile powder primarily for color; their seasonings might include ginger, garlic, onion, turmeric, and mustard oil.
The third, loytta shutki (at Ruma's, transliterated as lotia sutki), is by sight scarcely recognizable as a fish. Shutki is a type of bhorta — literally "mashed," a category of Bangladeshi dishes that rely more heavily on chile as well as on mustard oil, garlic, and onion — prepared from dried fish. The loytta in question is also known as Bombay duck.
Not shown from our table for two: a pair of bhortas, one prepared from potatoes, the other, from lentils; palate-cleansing personal salads; a broad plate of rice; and the terrible mess that comes from lack of practice eating fish and rice with fingers only (total, $22 before tip). Also witnessed: the late lunch of a solo diner. The counterwoman made him a plate of rice flanked by two vegetables; the kitchen cooked up an off-menu masala omelet. Further visits to follow.
Ruma's Kitchen
37-01 61st St. (at 37th Ave.), Woodside, Queens
718-899-9100
www.Facebook.com/Rumas-Kitchen-107741526477926
As noted in the New York Daily News, the Nepali name "jhol momo" literally translates to "soup dumplings." However, this order of chicken jhol momo (also available in beef, $6 per bowl of eight) doesn't conceal broth-soaked fillings, as do the Shanghainese soup dumplings called xiaolongbao. Instead, the entire dumpling order, fully wrapped and steaming hot, is soaked in a cold, particularly soupy sauce. The Momochai sauce reportedly includes garlic, tomato, green onion, and cilantro; published recipes also employ chile peppers, turmeric, cumin, ginger, and many other seasonings.
Once combined, the cold jhol and hot momo rapidly come to terms. You can bite into a momo, or even take it whole, without burning your mouth; you can polish off the jhol decorously, with a spoon, or enthusiastically, from the bowl.
Previously, under former management (with, evidently, a different momo-maker, as evidenced below): This snug purveyor of Himalayan dumplings and bubble tea serves three varieties of momo. Ours was a split order ($6 for eight), all veiled in the same pale skins but distinguished by their contours. If you do your thinking in English, you'll guess at a glance which of these were [C]hicken and which were [B]eef. Both were juicy; let's hope the same is true for the [V]egetable momo, however they shape up. Also shown: spicy pickled radish and carrot ($3).
Momochai
57-16 Woodside Ave. (57th-58th Sts.), Woodside, Queens
347-730-6089
www.Facebook.com/MomoChaiLove
Overhanging the sidewalk within easy reach, but not yet ripe
Woodside, Queens
Tacos de carnitas (24 pesos, about $1.20 at the time) and de costillas (35 pesos, about $1.75). My photos don't adequately capture the volume of carnitas, which, pending salsa, was sufficient to distribute between a pair of hand-pressed tortillas. Likewise for the ribs: two costillas, two tortillas.
Rincón Tarasco
Av. José Martí 142 (entrance on Av. Patriotismo), Miguel Hidalgo, Escandón, Mexico City
+52 55 5277 2548
(From a March 2017 visit)
Pumpernickel-onion bagel encrusted with sesame seeds: Black Russian ($1.25).
Bo's Bagels
235 West 116th St. (Frederick Douglass-Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvds.), Manhattan
917-902-8345
www.BosBagels.com
Thank you!
