Jengkol

Hey Sri, ou are really good at telling stories! They are always interesting and fun to read!

I remembered (because you are doing the remembering in the present) a moment when I was in high school. My friends and I were gathering and talking about some stuff. We had long a conversation, but I don’t vividly remember our talk except something about cuisine. Some talked boastfully about their culinary experience tasting some foods from various countries. Those foods sounded luxurious and unfamiliar in my ear; therefore, I always failed to spell the names correctly. I listened carefully to every word they said, hoping that there was any new knowledge or information I could pick up, but it got boring eventually. Perhaps it was because of my ignorance that I couldn’t bear with the way they described things. It was more like lecturing than telling about an experience.  I responded with a few (word order) gestures like nodding, smirking, smiling, yawning and minimal verbal repetition like “yes yes no no”. I was a good listener, needless to say, and I didn’t have any special experience about related to culinary arts. I never ate unusual foods except mom’s cooking and street food that I considered the best. So I kept listening till they were bored and gave me a turn to speak.

After being a hearer listener (more common) for almost one hour (almost left them, but my feet seemed to be nailed down), then a friend asked me if I had any culinary experience. I answered “no” without any elaborating. She went further by asking me to tell them about unusual or special homemade cuisines. I told her and the other friends, trying to emphasize that there were no unusual things, that every day was always special. Something that was usual for me could be unusual for them, so I told them about one of my favorite foods, Jengkol. Everyone was laughing at that time. Though it is quite popular in my country and some countries in South East Asia, it was not its popularity that made them laugh. They just could not believe that I liked Jengkol and proudly declared it in front of them. Jengkol lovers normally keep their relationship with Jengkol secret to avoid teasing and mockery.

Those who are not familiar with this foodstuff may wonder what Jengkol actually is and why do people mock Jengkol eaters. Like many other foods, Jengkol has some characteristics. It is just a type of vegetables, a species of the flowering tree of pea family. Its Latin name is Archidendron paucifloru, the beans are round, flat, thin, brown, skinned, but the beans itself are yellowness. Those are general ones. The most vivid feature from Jengkol is its odor; what should we call it? Aroma? Smell?  Jengkol haters and most people would stick to call “smell” rather than “aroma”. Its odor is strong enough to make your breath stinky, and leave quite unpleasant disturbing smell in your bathroom. Therefore, you need to clean and rinse your bathroom completely after peeing. Its unpleasant smell is actually generated from the amino acid (djenkolic acid) which is mildly toxic. Teasing and mockery are not due to the toxicity of Jengkol, but because of its strong smell by the way. Only few people know that Jengkol is mildly toxic. Well, I am still alive and super healthy though, probably because I don’t eat jengkol every day.

Jengkol is delicious, and is one of the most exotic foods I should say. My favorite is Rendang Jengkol and Jengkol balado. Jengkol needs to be peeled, cleaned, halved, and soaked in water overnight. Then stew it until it is half tender. Drain it and wash again; pound it till flat. Then you will get soft and chewy texture. The last step is seasoning. The mashed seasoning are used is pretty much the same with those used in beef Rendang, such as, garlic, chili, pecan, turmeric. You just need to sauté the mashed spices, then add some ingredients like lemongrass, bay leaves, and ginger till they are fragrant. We also need to add coconut oil to make it tastier. Put Jengkol and stir them till it is cooked. Rendang Jengkol is best served with hot rice. The taste is not worse than Beef Rendang (one of the tastiest foods in the world).

No matter how long I talk, I supposed that my friends would not have stopped teasing or mocking. I saw them laughing. It was just the matter of tastes and choices. But at the end of conversation, I asked them a question. Have you guys already tasted Jengkol? They were laughing, louder at that time and said of course not. How could we taste such a horrid smelly food? Hahahahha. Then I told them, if you have never tasted it, then your culinary experience is (because when you said it, it was in the present) terribly incomplete. I left them and went home. I asked my mom to cook Jengkol. I enjoyed eating it and forgot my friends for a while.

I have never tried Jengkol, but it looks delicious! Now I kinda wanna try it XD

Those who are not familiar with this foodstuff may wonder what Jengkol actually is and why do people mock Jengkol eaters. Like many other foods, Jengkol has some characteristics. It is just a typical of vegetables, a species of the flowering tree of pea family. Its Latin name is Archidendron paucifloru, the beans are round flat, thin brown skinned, but the beans itself are yellowness. Those are general ones. The most vivid feature from Jengkol is its odor; what should we call? aroma? Smell?  Jengkol haters and most people would stick to call “smell” rather than “aroma”. Its odor is strong enough to make your breath stinky, and leave quite unpleasant disturbing smell in your bathroom. Therefore, you need to clean and rinse your bathroom completely after peeing. Its unpleasant smell is actually generated from the amino acid (djenkolic acid) which is mildly toxic. Teasing and mockery are not due to the toxic of Jengkol, but because of its strong smell by the way. Only few people know that Jengkol is mildly toxic. Well I am still alive and super healthy though, probably because I don’t eat jengkol everyday.

Jengkol is delicious, one of the most exotic foods I should say. My favorite is Rendang Jengkol and Jengkol balado. Jengkol need to be peeled, cleaned, halved, and soaked in water overnight. Then stew it until half tender. Drain it and wash again; pound it till flat. Then you will get soft and chewy texture. The last is seasoning step. The mashed seasoning are used is pretty much the same with those used in beef Rendang such as, garlic, chili, pecan, turmeric. You just need to sauté the mashes spices, then add some ingredients like lemongrass, bay leaves, and ginger till they are fragrant. We also need to put coconut oil to make it tastier. Put Jengkol and stir them till it is cooked. Rendang Jengkol is best served with hot rice. The taste is not worse than Beef Rendang (one of the tastiest foods in the world).

No matter how long I talk, I supposed that my friends would not stop teasing or mocking. I saw them laughing. It was just the matter of tastes and choices. But at the end of conversation, I asked them a question. Have you guys already tasted Jengkol? They were laughing, louder at that time and said of course not. How could we taste such a horrid smelly food? Hahahahha. Then I told them, if you have never tasted it, then your culinary experience was terribly incomplete. I left them and went home. I asked my mom to cook Jengkol. I enjoyed eating it and forgot my friends for a while.