The Best Lesson From The Best Seafood Ever

Hey, guys. Welcome back to my blog. Hope you guys stay healthy and eating😊💪

This is my second article to share tasty and memorable food. I believe there are moments and stories from our food that we ate. Anyway, for those who are new here, let me introduce myself first. I am Felix, a person who love to eat so much. Last week, I have told you guys about my journey to find and taste the Indonesian "Tom Yum" which was so delightful and delicious called Garang Asem. You can read my previous blog below 👇

120 Hours Trip Awaiting 'Indonesian Tom Yum'

The chapter of chicken is ended, now let's move to chapter that can bring you dive in trough the sea until 400 meters depth to see an incredible 'treasure'. Can you guess what is it??🤔😏 

Yes, you are right. Today's topic is about fish (blub blub). Do you like to eat fish? If you like it, what kind of fish dish you like the most? Let me know in the comment sections 👍🐟

For me, fish is interesting because this food is kind of segmented. Why? Because some people said that fish's smell and taste are not really good (they usually called it fishy). I like fish, but I know their pain. So, at the same time, I wish they got an opportunity to taste the good quality fish dishes that cooked by the expert and experience cook. No fishy, no worry, and make the tummy happy. Yeay 🥳🥳 

And now, I am going to share the most delicious fish dish that I ever ate. Wanna know about it??? Well, I think you guys are familiar with the fish called tuna. Tuna is a very popular fish in the world. Japanese as 'the land of seafood' often to use tuna as sashimi. Italians usually add this kind of fish to their spaghetti which makes the spaghetti become more umami and rich of flavors. Even for the vegetable lovers, tuna is accompanied by their beloved vegetables and mayo as their salad's filling. I usually eat tuna accompanied with other food, such as pizza or spaghetti. Mamma mia.. 🤌🤌

There are 5 kinds of tuna, there are yellowfin, bluefin, skipjack, albacore, and bigeye tuna. In Indonesia, especially my hometown in Jakarta, tuna is quite popular. There are lots of markets here sell this kind of fish affordably, especially skipjack tuna. Here, we usually called skipjack tuna as cakalang. Cakalang is one of the most iconic fish in Indonesian culinary. We can find a bunch of cakalang in North Sulawesi province. Based on the information I got from the internet, cakalang also have an important role in Indonesian's economy growth. So that, I like it so much and I hope people from Manado, North Sulawesi proud of me (just kidding) ✌️

There are quite many variances to enjoy cakalang. The most popular ways are enjoing it with chili, woku soup (Manadonese's authentic aromatic and sour-savory soup), or by adding the Manadonese traditional chili called dabu-dabu (dices of chili that mixed with dices of fresh tomatoes), and many other recipes that I couldn't tell it here. You can explore more fascinating recipes on the internet (Oh my God, writing these kinds of the recipe make me so hungry now). But in this article, I really enthusiast to share my first experience to knowing my 'fish friend', because it was unique and unbelievable 😱🤭

It's story time! Hmm... I remember when I was in primary school, approximately when I was 9 or 10 years old. At that time, my little brother's friend is Manadonese. Let's say his name is Michael (not the real name). Michael's mother at that time gave us cakalang fish floss. 

Anyway, for those who don't know about floss, floss is processed meat with soft and fluffy texture. Usually, floss is using pork or beef, and it was common for my family to have breakfast with rice and floss. We were shocked, because it was a new thing for us to eat and see the fish floss. When we opened the cover of the floss, we were also confused because the texture was quite rough and looks not that fluffy. And according to my mother, it smelled fishy and tasted not good. This 'culture shock' had led us to a doubt, led to a question whether it was good or worse.

But, after I breathed the smell of the floss, I felt so happy. It was increasing my eating desire. After I tried a little bit and mix with the rice then, first bite happened and BOOM.... It was a taste that I never tasted before. Something like 'fishy' but not literally fishy in negative way. Shortly, I really loved it even my family opposed to me this time. I could say the best floss is using cakalang, not beef or pork. 

If I imagine the entire sea as a kingdom, cakalang is the king, the chili is the king's crown. Cakalang and chili is the perfect combination for me. Imagine, the spiciness from the chili and the freshness and savoriness from the fish make this dish become stunning and fragrance. In Indonesia, we called it "Sambel Cakalang", which means cakalang that fried with chili and another aromatic. I tried this dish around 1 month ago. My father bought Sambel Cakalang from his friend then he brought it home. When he put the dish on the table, oh my God, looks very appetizing, red, and smells perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic for that Sambel Cakalang because there was no excuse to take a photo.  When I mixed that spicy fish to the warm rice, it just made you addicted and just want to eat more and more 🤤

Appearance of Sambel Cakalang (Generated by: ChatGPT)

Even though, it is difficult to find a restaurant that sell cakalang. We usually only find cakalang in Manadonese restaurant in Jakarta. I am still exploring and looking another opportunity to eat cakalang again. But the thing you need to keep in mind is trying Sambel Cakalang, especially if you are the 'spicy food maniac'. It will lead you to order another rice or another portion of Sambel Cakalang too (it is real, it is based on me and my family testimony).  Highly recommended ✨✨

And I have just thought about the life lesson that we could earned from this story. As a human, we have different sense of tastes. We need to respect to other's subjectivity about the taste. Besides that, I believe that we are a valuable human, and we would to be loved with the right person. As my mother did, she just smelled 'fishy' and judge the floss badly. There is always a good thing in the right person's point of view even the cover seems not good. I pray that we able be loved in the right circumstances, or hopefully we will find the place that made us feel be loved 😍💖💝

Thank you and see you next week with different journey too🤩