Nasi tumpeng: yellow rice for a birthday in Bali

This morning at 5am, the front door of my house opened, and in walked my mother-in-law. Sounds like a nightmare huh? For a moment I didn’t know what was going, then I remembered Ika telling me, she was coming over to prepare food for a special occasion. After briefly considering bashing her over the head with a mallet, blaming it on being scared of the dark, I backed off, thinking that she might cook something worthwhile. The occasion everyone was getting ready for, was the birthday of Ika’s sister Ningrum. She is 22 years old today, and looks not a day past 14. Both Ika and Ningrum rave about their mum’s cooking, which I attribute more to brainwashing than taste. When I eventually got up, the kitchen was an Indo food factory, with smelly stuff being sliced and diced.

On the kitchen counter was a bowl of water, with different kinds of peeled garlic, an onion and various chili’s in. The dish that was being prepared was called nasi tumpeng, which means ‘rice pyramid’.

Several hours later I returned to the house and saw the spread. The centerpiece was a pyramid of yellow rice, circled by carrots, cucumber and various dishes, including fried tempeh, noodles and chicken. There were more side dishes that Ika described for me. These include:

•Sambal goreng ati – boiled chicken liver, chili with coconut milk, garlic.

•Ayam kecap – chicken with garlic, onion, pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, cooked with margarine.

•Perkedel kentang – potato fried, then mashed, then add garlic and red garlic, vegetables and egg, then fry again.

•Mie goreng – fried noodles with cabbage, tomato, spring (green) onion. Noodles are a symbol of people wishing the person a long life.

•Kering tempeh – tempeh, chili, garlic, red garlic fried with brown sugar,

Nasi tumpeng is traditional all over Java. Ika said is various warungs in Bali she sees the exact same dishes, but it may not be called the same thing. In Java, if you have money, you buy birthday cake, but common people make nasi tumpeng, because its cheap and everybody likes it.

Nasi tumpeng can be served for other special occasions, not just birthdays. Today it took 3 hours to make. You can eat nasi tumpeng for lunch, dinner, anytime. Ika said water is usual for a drink, unless you have some particular preference.