Odd enough that it was a Korean who ran this Batak restaurant. What’s he doing in Medan selling Batak food? I don’t know, didn’t ask and didn’t care.
I’m there for Saksang – a dish of stewed pig mixed with porcine blood and loads of chilli. It’s sweat-inducing burn-your-tongue-off brilliance. A tad salty but that’s what white rice is for.
Saksang…pig+blood+chilli+herbs (sweat glands not included)
Other dishes:
Bits of fried chicken?
Some fish head in curry?
Where: ???
I never knew that corn could taste so good.
Smokey with a hint of butter, soaked in coconut cream and grilled over smouldering coals. Best eaten hot off the satay pengkang contraption and slathered in chilli sauce. Wrap it with a brown paper bag lest it napalms the skin off your fingers.
Ears of well-grilled corn
Kind of funky how this photo turned out with the purplish coal fire.
And this is the dude who soaked, cooked and sold them cobs.
Where: On the roadside next to some night market in Medan
Zedy: “Let’s eat Monitor Lizard!”
Me: O.o
We went to a night street market where it’s got Singapore in 1970s emblazoned all over it. No, it’s not like China where they pull out the lizard from a cage and chop it up before you.
Instead we got it from a lanky Indonesian who hid behind his little food cart, reached into an unknown crevice and dropped a few bite-sized pieces into bubbling hot oil. When it reached our table, we couldn’t tell whether it was snake or lizard or chicken (well, you know how everything unusual tastes like chicken).
Photos below:
Chunks of Monitor Lizard
Pieces of snake
The guy must have taken his cue from an American diner where everything is deep-fried. But there are meaty differences. Lizard is sweet; snake a little stringy. Regardless they all go well with Bintang beer.
Turtle soup
For something more exotic, try the Turtle Soup. It’s not for animal lovers or anyone who calls fish “sea kittens”. A little on the salty side but definitely worth a gulp or more.
* Sorry for the lousy photos. I took it with my phone’s measly camera.
Where: Some night market in Medan
Was clearing out my hard disk when I found a whole bunch of photos of Medan. These were taken when I was there for Zedy’s wedding (Dec 2008).
It’s a rundown, Malaysian-ish town with grey streets, old shops, and interesting food such as Batak curries, turtles, snakes and lizards.
Yup, you heard me right -- Batak curries, turtles, snakes and lizards. For the next few days, I’ll be posting my food tour of Medan. Stay tuned… :D 
