Siomay Bandung Dumplings – a fleeting visit to Paris van Java

Mt. Tangkuban Perahu, Bandung

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I’m spending the next three weeks in Indonesia to do some work for my research project. This is possibly the longest time I have spent in my home country in my entire adult life. In the next 3 weeks, I’ll be doing some island hopping and am looking forward to adding at least another three Indonesian cities to my travel list.

The first stop is a fleeting day trip to Bandung, about 3 hours south east of Jakarta, which is also the capital of West Java province. Leaving the craziness of Jakarta at the crack of dawn, I finally reached Bandung at 9am. As soon as I arrived, I was instantly reminded of the Jakarta I grew up in… the fresher air, the cooler climate, the (slightly) slower pace of life, the becaks (cycle rickshaw), and generally nicer people.

The 19^th century colonial romantic feel of Bandung (the Dutch used to call it Paris van Java) is long gone. Now, the small streets of Bandung are starting to struggle with the amount of increasing traffic of Jakartans on their weekend pilgrimages. But come on a weekday and you’ll avoid all the hecticness.

Bandung is known for many things: cheap shopping outlets, the place where Indonesia’s bright minds and technocrats are bred (Bandung has numerous technological institutes and is the breeding ground for many successful tech start-ups). But most importantly it is a food haven. I only had about 6 hours to explore Bandung, so I made sure I tried to do as much as I could.

First stop after my morning meeting was the quick trip to Tangkuban Perahu, a semi-active volcano located 20km north of Bandung. Indonesians are obsessed with legends, myths and mystical stories. So of course Tangkuban Perahu is no exception. Legend has it that a local boy who was banished from his village as a child, Sangkuriang, came back to his village and then fell in love unknowingly with his mother, Dayang Sumbi. When Dayang Sumbi found out who he really was, she made ridiculous demands and excuses to avoid their impending marriage. Finally, she demanded him to build a boat and a dam in one night as a condition for their marriage, which she thought would be impossible. Apparently Sangkuriang is a pretty efficient labourer and almost succeeded in doing so. In panic, just before sunrise she sabotaged his construction. When he found out the truth, he became mighty annoyed, kicked the boat which turned upside down and became the Mountain Tangkuban Perahu. I know that folklores are meant to be imbued with morals and deeper meanings, but I have yet to understand the moral of this story. As in.. what life lessons do secret incest love story and giant boats teach??

The main attraction in Tangkuban Perahu is the easily accessible crater of Kawah Ratu. You can drive up to the lookout point just about the crater. It gets very cold here (like 15C), so bring a jacket. You also have the option to go down closer towards the craters (with a guide) to reach the Ciater hot springs.

My Sundanese (West Javan) lunch at Restaurant Sangkuriang, Bandung
This whole thing cost me $3. I had to doggy bag so much leftover since I was lunching alone that day! 

Next stop was to sample the food and shopping. Inspired by the weird love story of Tangkuban Perahu, I stopped by for a late lunch at Restaurant Sangkuriang (Jalan Karang Sari 5, Setiabudhi, Bandung) for a traditional Sundanese (West Java) meal. The restaurant had a very village (kampung) feel with small bamboo huts (“lesehan”) you can dine in. A lesehan restaurant means you sit on a mat with your fellow diners around a small table and eat with your hands. Expect very cheap, simple yet tasty food (traditionally eaten for lunch during breaks from working in the rice paddies).

On the way home, I made a quick stop at some of the factory outlets at Jalan Dago which sells very good quality export excess clothing. The prices are unbelievably cheap. But unfortunately (fortunately for Mark), I wasn’t too inspired and didn’t end up buying anything. There is also another upmarket version of the factory outlet, Rumah Mode (Jalan Dr. Setiabudi, Bandung), which is slightly more expensive than those in Jalan Dago.  

One of the most famous culinary exports out of Bandung is probably the steamed dumpling dish, Siomay Bandung. Typically served with chilli sauce or peanut sauce, it’s the perfect bite-sized shopping-break snack!

Homemade Siomay Bandung dumplings

Siomay Bandung steamed dumplings

Makes about 30 dumplings

Ingredients

200g chicken breast

200g white fish fillet

100g prawns, without tails

6 tablespoons corn flour

4 cloves of garlic

4 shallots

2 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Wonton wrappers, 30

½ cup of carrot, shaved, for topping

2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters, to serve

3 boiled potatoes, cut into quarters, to serve

Steamer pan or large pot with bamboo steamers, to cook

Method

Filling. In a food processor, grind the chicken, fish and shrimp together into a pulpy consistency. Add corn flour, garlic, shallots, fish sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper into the mixture. Continue grinding all the ingredients together until mixed evenly.

Build a little production line. Grab a wonton wrapper. Take a tablespoon of the filling, place in the middle of the wonton wrapper. Using wetted finger tips, scrunch up the edges of the wonton wrapper around the filling to form the open-top dumpling. Make sure the filling fit snuggly inside the wonton wrapper. Take ¼ teaspoon of shaved carrot and place on top of the filling. Using the back of the teaspoon, pack the carrot into the top layer of the filling. Continue until all the filling is used up.

Boil water in a large pot. Line the steamer tray or bamboo tray with baking paper. Place the dumplings on the trays, leaving enough space in between. Place tray on top of the pot, ensuring the water level doesn’t touch the tray. Steam covered for about 7 minutes or until well cooked.

Serve with hard-boiled eggs, potatoes and sambal kacang.