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Hey all,

my name is Laudita, and I'm from Surabaya, Indonesia (Surabaya is located in East Java). Well, yesterday I tried posting a comment but it doesn't appear here, so I'll just post another comment.

As I have told you all the other day, penyetan is my favorite food and so far, it has been this way since I was 6 years old. I can't imagine myself sitting on a dining table without chili paste by my side (i do now!). The taste of chili paste will restrain you from stop eating (seriously). It is so good that it makes you want to eat more and more. You can adjust the spiciness of the chili paste, it all depends on how many chili you used for the penyetan.

Well, penyetan is very easy to make and doesn't cost lots of money. In fact, you can make the chili paste by spending approximately Rp 1000 (10 cents!!) only, and as for the "objects" that you dip into the paste, it ranges from Rp 250-Rp 3000 (convert it to US $ by dividing it by 10000). Basically, you need chili, salt, prawn paste, sugar, tomato, red onion, and garlic to make the chili paste. Just grind them together and your chili paste is ready!

I usually eat it with chicken, eggplant, egg, tofu, tempe (i don't know what it is in English-- some sort of meat substitute made from cooked soybeans), lettuce, catfish, squid, and the list goes on and on. Not forgetting the rice which is mandatory on every meal.

I love this food because it's not hard to make, cheap, and sort of remind me about the hardship and suffering of Indonesian people during the Dutch colonization. They don't have anything decent to eat, so they made this chili paste to eat with rice. If you go to Surabaya, you'll be able to order penyetan in almost all of the restaurant there (except fine dining, because this food is meant for the "lower-class" people).

Someday, I want to make this penyetan in Bryn Mawr and let you all try it. Don't worry, I can make it less spicy =).
Btw, here's the link of a penyetan picture so that you all know how it looks like.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/penyetan/ayinda/IMG_5636.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/8552/warnyetql8.jpg

Laudita