There is special and popular chicken cuisine in Indonesia, called Taliwang Chicken. Why taliwang? Because this spiced chicken is from Karang Taliwang Village, Cakra Utara, Cakranegara sub district, Mataram City, Nusa Tenggara Barat Province. Or usually called Lombok Island. Lombok Island is located east from Bali Island. Lombok island culture still influenced with Balinese culture, so foreign still confuse when he/she go to Lombok, he/she think that Lombok is Bali.
You can see food stall or maybe restaurants in Indonesia which sell Taliwang Chicken for its main menu. For example, in Jakarta, you’ll get it in Panglima Polim IV Street. Although the food stalls or restaurants are far from NTB (Nusa Tenggara Barat), the spice and condiment still made in Taliwang, so the taste is always original.A Taliwang chicken spice is just simple. Dried red hot chili pestle with small hot chili and terasi (condiment made from pounded and fermented shrimp or small fish). Pestled chili then frying, add water and little bit lemon liquid. For roasted spices, you only prepare garlic and salt. Pestle garlic and salt together. Usually, Taliwang chicken use 3-4 months chicken for the main material.
Usually, taliwang chicken is eaten with kangkung or water spinach, called as pelecing kangkung. Pelecing kangkung maybe like salad for western cuisine. This salad made from kangkung, mixed with beans sprout, burned coconut, terasi, garlic, and chili. For the hot condiment, it made from terasi, tomato, small chili, lime, and peanut.
You know, Lombok kangkung is different from water spinach in Indonesia. The leaf is smaller, but the stalk is big and long.
Another menus as side dish is beberok, chili condiment mixed with small purple eggplant, kind of beans, tomato, small chili, and terasi. That mixed material splash with coconut oil. Add with red onion, lime liquid.
Original article by Susi Ivvaty dan Khaerul Anwar, edited and translated in English by reog, source: Kompas.