More Remote, More Interesting

Like most chefs, Ragil Imam Wibowo says that local sourcing is the foundation of an exceptional menu. Unlike most chefs, however, the 46-year-old will journey to distant reaches of the archipelago in search of exotic, rare or unknown ingredients.

YOU’RE IN OPEN boat battered by five-meter waves in the Molucca Sea. It’s 45 minutes into a half-hour trip, the skies have gone dark, land is nowhere in sight and food is the last thing on your mind.

Unless you’re Ragil Imam Wibowo.

A cherubic figure with an easy smile and lime-green glasses, Ragil frequently crisscrosses the nation to devise the menu for NUSA Indonesia Gastronomy in Kemang, South Jakarta. The restaurant offers a fine dining take on traditional Indonesian cuisine that’s delighted local gourmets since opening in 2016.

Ingredients there are exotic-like the neither-dry-nor-sticky rice Ragil found it comes, one small bag at a time from the interior of Kalimantan carried out by a Dayak shaman from Adan Krayan. The rice is said to be a favorite of the Sultan of Brunei.

On the menu, there’s also a flavorful slow-braised duck (organic, of course) that’s been matched with mushrooms from a remoteforest in Bangka. Thriving, locals say, only when there’s a thunderstorm followed by sunshine, the delicate and rare mushrooms cost millions of rupiah per kg.

Keeping NUSA’s menu vibrant means Ragil and his wife of 18 years ,the architect Mei Batubara, go off the grid for culinary adventures three or four times a year.

These are not trips for the faint hearted, Mei said. “Our friends say, ‘Let us know when you’re travelling! We want to come along!” she recalled. “We say, sure-but can you survive without a bathroom?” travel with the pair includes homestays and backpacking, along with lugging coolers and zip-close bags for their discoveries.

Ragil, a five-time Iron Chef Indonesia winner, fell in love with visiting local markets when travelling the country as a corporate chef. “From Java-from east to west-the food in the traditional markets is basically the same,” he said. “But in Sumatera. Aceh is different from Padang-from Tapanuli. The diversity is much greater.”

His philosophy is simple: “More remote menas more interesting.”

Mei and Ragil frequently travel with no itinerary, escorted by culinary ystudents or local chefs. A former cooking show host, also excited to shar their knowledge with interested, passionate visitors, Mei said.

For example, in Solok, West Sumatera, Ragil said he was amazed to find villages full of large, fresh sapodilla (sawo) that could be never found in Jakarta, since the good stuff gets sold before reaching the capital. Ragil brought one of the farmers to NUSA, where he received a standing ovation.

But sometimes it’s not so easy. Ragil recalled eating a delectable dish of fried bananas at one Makassar market. There was a knock-out ingredient in the sambal that the seller wouldn’t identify. Is it…terasi (shrimp paste)? Ragil asked. No. is it…ikan roa (garfish)? No, no, no, was the reply.

The next daiquiy, Ragil returned and met a woman selling plastic bottles full of an ugly, brown, cloudly liquid. He had a taste. Eureka. This was the mystery ingredient, the woman said. It was bakasang, a terasi-like liquid made from fermented tuna intestine and eggs. The best paste comes from the eggs, which are soaked in salt water for 40 days.

Ragil returned to Jakarta with a bottle-and the woman’s number, She’s now a supplier.

In Papua: Ragil was amazed by live squid the changed color from green to black before his eyes in Sorong. In Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; Ragil dined on fried crickets at a rollicking seaworm festival. (Pro tip: Ragil says festivals bring out the best food sellers in any region).

It was in Sanighe Islands Regency in North Sulawesi where Ragil agbain firted with death, dining on daluga, a local tuber, which-like fugu, the Japanese blowfish-is deadly if not prepared right.

The key is to harvest a daluga that’s neither too old nor too young. It’s a secret that’s closely guarded by local eleders. Ragil said he looked for pieces that “were not too poisoned”.

If you wnt to explore Indonesia, visit NUSA and chef well share his stories, “Food is always key to opening doors,” Ragil says. “Food is what makes people come together.” [From : The Jakarta Post | Words: Christian Razukas]