ESL Blogs

Hi everyone! I hope your week is as delicious and sweet as these dishes. :)))

Ramadan is near to the end. I was so busy that I couldn't write much in this month. However, I planned to write about this not long ago. :)

I'd like to tell you why I gave the title above. It's true that these these sweet dishes could be eaten or drunk in other months. However, in Ramadan, a lot of seasonal vendors will appear at every road which many people or vehicles pass by, especially near traditional market or town square. They sell various kinds of sweet drinks or snacks two or three hours before iftar. 

Who cares about dessert or appetizer? No body would prohibit us which one to eat first. We get used to consume sweet dishes as the first menu for break fast. ^^

NOT ALL of these dishes are Indonesian sweet dishes. However, you can easily find all these dishes during Ramadan in Indonesia OR where Indonesian people sell food, and MOST IMPORTANT, we're talking about delicious sweet food. :p :D So, let's start with the most popular menu. )))

1) KOLAK PISANG (banana kolak)

picture sources: https://www.pegipegi.com/travel/5-fakta-unik-yang-kamu-harus-tahu-soal-kolak, http://www.foodris.com/product/246130/kolak

This Indonesian dessert is based on palm sugar or coconut sugar, coconut milk, and pandanus leaf. Beside banana as the main ingredient, we can add many variations such as  pumpkins, sweet potatoes, jackfruit, plantains, cassava, and tapioca pearls. This can be served warm or at room temperature. However, in this tropical country, not a a few people eat this dessert with iced cube, we call this ice banana kolak. 

2) ES CAMPUR (mixed ice)

Picture source: http://www.agrowindo.com/peluang-usaha-es-campur-dan-analisa-usahanya.htm, https://www.foody.id/bandung/es-campur-pa-oyo-cimahi

The ingredient consists of shaved ice, coconut, various fruits, grass jelly, syrup, condensed milk. In fact, people made many variations for this. They sometimes add some other ingredients as well. This Indonesian dessert is not only very popular in Ramadan, but also in other months.

There are two other similar dishes. Please check yourself. ES DOGER -  ES TELER. I'd like to post only the pictures. :)

Picture sources: http://www.superkidsindonesia.com/culinary-580-es-doger.html, https://lifestyle.okezone.com/read/2018/02/09/298/1857450/kisah-es-teler-tukiman-yang-melegenda-dan-dicintai-semua-kalangan

3) [Immitation of] ES KOPYOR (kopyor ice)

Picture sources: http://www.momylicious.com/2014/07/es-kopyor-imitasi.html, https://www.pictasite.com/hashtag/KOPYOR

To make the real one, you need kopyor coconut, coconut water, coco pandanus syrup, and shaved ice. Dredge kopyor coconut and mix all of them. Done! However, kopyor coconut may be a little expensive. That's why, many people make the imitation one. The ingredient will be mixed with water and jelly. People made plain jelly (colorless jelly) mixed with coconut milk to make the same texture and taste like real kopyor. This one is also very popular menu especially in Ramadan. 

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The following two are non-Indonesian origin of dessert drinks. But they are very common drinks in my country, much consumed especially in Ramadan.

4) ES BLEWAH (blewah ice)

picture source: https://www.playworld.id/piknik/view/5364/ragam-minuman-pembuka-puasa-yang-paling-populer, http://www.kulinersehat.info/resep-membuat-es-blewah-yang-segar, 

This is very easy to make. You just need to buy blewah (kind of cantaloupe), then shave it. Mix with the sweetener (sugar dissolved in water or melon syrup) and water. If you want a bit cold, just add ice cube. So easy, right? :)

5) ES CENDOL (cendol ice)

Picture source: https://marymemasak.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/es-dawet-es-cendol/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiMxPTD3OJY

This is commonly found in South East Asia, wiki. Es cendol (or dawet in Indonesian) is an iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of worm-like green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It's easy to eat this. You don't need to chew it, it will directly go to your stomach. lol

Honestly, there are more dessert and sweet drinks but let's stop here. lol

Some info are from wikipedia, modified.

Mini dictionary (en.oxforddictionaries.com)

• vendor: a person or company offering something for sale, especially a trader in the street.
• town square: (with the) the principal square in a town, often centrally located and used for markets, festivals, etc
• iftar: the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan
• dessert: the sweet course eaten at the end of a meal
• appetizer: a small dish of food or a drink taken before a meal or the main course of a meal to stimulate one's appetite
• shaved ice: a dessert consisting of very thin shavings of ice, or crushed ice, flavoured with syrup or other sweet ingredients

Have you ever known or eaten these dishes? :) I hope you like it. I appreciate your time to visit and read my blog. Thank you so much.

Lots of smiles. ^_^