Culinary Delights

The town offers a variety of cuisine from different cultures as a result of years of migration. Food stalls are usually only open for half-a-day.

The first half of the day is dominated by food like nasi gemuk, mie pangsit, gado-gado, lontong or mie celor. In the afternoon, there’s time to go for pempek, martabak india, martabak mesir, sate padang and martabak manis.

Pempek is a must-try for anyone who visits the town. It is a medium-sized fishcake eaten with accompanying cuko (acetic sauce made of coconut or palm sugar, tamarind and spices). Made from local river fish, it comes in various shapes — round, long, block, curly — and contains various fillings — egg, papaya, tofu, fish skin, lenggang (pempek omelet), selam (jumbo-size pempek with egg filling), satay pempek, and roasted. Although thought to have originally come from Palembang, South Sumatra, the pempek in Jambi has earned its own reputation. Pempek is sold everywhere, but there are more choices in Talang Banjar area.

Like the faithful Robin to Batman, es campur is pempek’s sidekick. Each can give a kick of their own, but they are always better together. Es campur is made of grated ice served with red bean, cendol (green color, rich-flour droplets), cincau gelatin and black glutinous rice, showered with coconut milk and sweetened milk or chocolate sauce.

Another food offering is mie celor [celor noodles]. These big yellow noodles with sticky sauce are usually sold from stationary carts in front of Xaverius 1 primary school, or at the Jelutung intersection. They usually serve until lunch time.

In the city, you’ll find nasi gemuk or “fatty” rice. As the name suggests, this rice is indeed fat-inducing, but whoever created it surely knew the name would not deter anyone from giving it a try. Made of rice cooked in coconut milk, and served simply with chili fish, fried peanut, shredded omelet, and yummy chili sauce, this fragrant rice is too appetizing to ignore.

Fish dishes are also big favorites. The Batanghari River is a constant supplier of freshwater fish for the locals. Therefore, many fish-based dishes have been created, like gulai tempoyak ikan (fish curry with fermented durian paste), gulai tape ikan (fish curry with fermented tuber) and pindang ikan (fish pindang).

Last but not least, there’s Kopi AA. This well-roasted coffee powder is part of the daily routine for many Jambians, especially among the older generation. Traditional coffee houses serve no other coffee, but Kopi AA. It is fragrant and a little bitter, best served hot with creamer.

— Mariani Dewi