Photo impression: Food market Bandung

While we visit Indonesia we see food markets quite often: a kind of collection of food stalls clustered together with tables for eating. You can order food and sometimes eat it under a kind of canopy or sometimes in the open air. We got supperfrom places like this several times but the very best experience we had at a Food market Paskal in Bandung. Spacious, clean and beautifully decorated with plants, cute lamps and many stalls. 

Paskal food market

The great thing about food markets is that each stall only sells one or a few products. So if you find something that is gluten free, the chance of cross-contamination is a little less. It is often also written on the stand what is being sold (in Indonesian, mind you). So with some prior research it is possible to see if food is safe.

In Bandung we spent an evening at Paskal food market, the largest I have seen in Java. This is a photo impression of how the evening went and what kind of food I ate here.

I did not keep an extensive record of what it all cost or but I have written down what each dish was called. It was a bit complicated because the diet card had to be discussed at each stand. Not every stall was a success, sometimes I received too little information to make a good choice or I thought it was too scary. I spoke extensively in English with a number of sellers about the ingredients and was able to try several new dishes however.

At this food market, you had to order from a stand, pay at one of the cash registers, spread around the market area. Then walk back and hand over the receipt. A bit of a hassle.

Food stalls

The first dish of the evening. Es goyobod is a drink made with coconut milk, ice cubes of syrup and pieces of colored jelly (from beans). The bowl contains meat with rice, chicken and cabbage. This was not strictly speaking an Indonesian dish, but something Japanese I believe. 

Next stop: satay (see photo above). Served with peanut sauce that I didn’t eat. I made sure I asked if it was really only meat and not secretly mixed with anything else

Pisang goreng

Pisang goreng or fried banana. The banana is breaded with wheat, rice or tapioca flour or even breadcrumbs. I spoke extensively with this seller before daring to order a ‘regular’ fried banana. You could also order them with chocolate and cheese! I think I found this the most creepy thing to eat as it looked so gluten and communication didn’t go smoothy.

Bakso or Baso means meatball, made from ground meat with a little tapioca flour. It is a popular snack that you can often buy at street vendors as well. Various types of Bakso were sold at this stall and not all were gluten-free. It was unclear exactly how and who some were not. I also found the broth (beef) a bit exciting to eat.

Brain cake

Otak otak is a type of ‘cake’ made of fish mixed with tapioca and spices. We got this folded in a banana leaf in which it is also roasted. Otak means ‘brain’ in Indonesian because of the similarity in color and structure to a brain. The seller of the otak otak stand had a few other ideas about where to eat with my gluten-free diet!

Bola Obi are deep fried oil buns made from sweet potato, sugar and in this case tapioca. Although this dish is traditionally made without gluten, it is smart to ask what kind of flour is used in the preparation. The gentleman who sold this knew exactly what were the ingredients and could tell it in English: the only reason why I dared to buy this. The snack is mainly sold in the western part of Java. At these stalls was a large wok in which he prepared only Bola Obi. Super tasty, fluffy and fat at the same time.

I confess I was completly stuffed at the end of the evening, but also satisfied. Some sellers know very well what exactly they are selling: they could tell about the ingredients. At certain stalls I just got a confused look when inquiring. I did not get sick at all and it turned out to be a good start to our time in Indonesia!

Would you like to visit the Paskal food market yourself? Here you will find the address and more photos of the food available here.

Want to know more about food in Indonesia? Read the article Essential information: gluten free in Indonesia.