3 PM Tahu Time With Appa

Since I WFH from Jakarta to Amma’s dismay, Appa and I have started a mini tradition we uncreatively named Tahu Time.

It’s Tahu Time!

Tahu Time happens almost daily at 3 PM. The time I log off from my Melbourne time work and Appa wakes up from his power nap to eat Tahu (tofu) together while sitting at the massive work table my parents put outside of our bedrooms. Tahu (tofu) is a common street food in Jakarta, and the best ones are the fried version sold on the roadside – hence Amma’s dismay.

Tahu Gejrot

There are many varieties of Tahu street food.

There is Tahu Gejrot (originated from my birthplace Cirebon), a kind of tofu soaked in a spicy and tangy sauce. Tahu Gejrot is our ultimate favourite.

Tahu Pedas

Meanwhile, our current fave, making the most frequent appearance at 3 PM, is Tahu Pedas (Spicy Tofu). A new street food fad in Jakarta, this medium-sized tofu is filled with veggies and enough bird-eye chilli to make some of you cry. Sold for AUD30c per piece, Tahu Pedas is a *chef kiss*.

Tahu Sumedang

Another regular contender is Tahu Sumedang, fried tofu with nothing inside. Think, a fried tofu skin still in the shape of tofu. Since there is no feeling, we can eat many pieces, usually with fresh bird-eye chilli.

Tahu Sumedang has been a childhood snack of mine. Whenever we travelled back and forth to Cirebon, we would pass Sabang and Sumedang, where the tofu originated. On these roads, there were abundant roadside Tahu Sumedang, sold in rattan buckets containing 50 pieces and more.

Tahu from Pondok Sate Djono Jogya

Luckily, we don’t need to travel for hours to get the best Tahu Sumedang ever since we discovered Pondok Sate Djono restaurant some years ago. Located within walking distance from my parents’, this famous city-wide restaurant has the best tahu Sumedang we have ever eaten in Jakarta. It’s sold in a box of 10 pieces or more with a side of homemade spicy soy sauce as dipping. It’s so good, especially when eaten when it’s still piping hot. And we love it so much that it’s not uncommon for us to serve it to guests from far away.

—

Then there were hit and misses, like Tahu Telor (Tofu with Eggs), which we bought to appease Amma, whose UberEats account we abused to buy all the tofus – hence her dismay. We also tried and didn’t like Tahu Aci, Tahu Petis and Tahu Susu.

It’s now day 12 of our Tahu Time, estimating ten to twenty Tahu between us daily. That is a lot of fried tofu to eat in two weeks. I don’t doubt that Tahu is no longer the reason why we both refused to call it quits yet.

Even now, typing this after another Tahu galore with Appa, I am acutely aware. I will miss absurd Tahu Time and him once I fly back to my other home on the other side of the world.

Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.