Munduk

I finally got to taste a real bubur injun (also injin) this morning. After my attempt, the restaurant variety of the Indonesian black rice sweet dish was more soupy than rice pudding consistency. The rice was also softer, indicating a longer cooking time than I had had patience for. The addition of sliced banana was a nice touch and it was not so rich as my version.

Bubur injun

The idea of staying in Munduk was to take long hikes into the steep and windy paths of the surrounding countryside to see how people there live. The paths from the village were slippery with moss and the torrential rain that fell during the night. Amazingly, people still manage to navigate the extreme gradients of the narrow paths on motorbike.

Up the garden path

Our walk took us first to Air Terjun (waterfall) Melanting - at least a view of it from afar. It looked a long way down and, indeed, it was. We soon came upon a set of steps leading to its base, some 85 metres and 449 steps (I counted them) down.

Melanting waterfall

Last night's downpour meant the waterfall was flowing with full force. We sat a while watching the water pounding the rocks with the spray and wind caused by this buffeting our faces. It was a naturally awesome sight.

At this altitude, trekking is cooler but still thirsty work. Having polished off a couple of litres of water already, we stopped at a lonely hillside café in amongst the jungle trees.

At Warung Junction, we sipped a restorative ginger tea and the owner, Made, persuaded us (without very much real effort required) to try his "modified" pisang goreng, which he dubbed "Bananes Madé" after his own name. These were breaded, not battered, giving the bananas a goujon-like crunch, and topped with strips of cheese and chocolate sauce. After initially being sceptical about this salty-sweet combination when first tasted in Langkawi, I thought this variation of textures and flavours worked well.

Bananas + cheese + chocolate

The proprietor was super friendly and invited us to his house for dinner in the evening. We accepted.

Rejuvenated, we carried on upstream (and uphill) to Red Coral waterfall. This was more of a straight jet of water onto the flat rock surface below than the romantically tumbling white foam of Melanting. We later learned that this is because the river has been dammed at this point.

We circled round to the rice terraces and small villages on the south side of the main road, nodding, smiling, and exchanging pleasantries with the people that live there. We noticed a real energy and industriousness. Construction was going on in the hills, with people building new homes, restaurants, and temples.

In the evening, we made good on our promise to visit Made at his home. Dinner turned out to be he and his wife serving us as though at a restaurant, which was sweet but a little awkward, as they took it in turns to engage us in conversation. The food, however, was unequivocally delicious.

Young bamboo soup

Made was keen for us to taste a seasonal specialty, jukut ambong. This is a soup of young bamboo shoot, which, like soto, uses as its base a stock flavoured with turmeric for a distinctive yellow colour, as well as ginger and pepper.

Rijstafel

Next we were served a lovingly prepared 'rijstafel', as Made styled it, using the Dutch term for several small dishes served with rice. Tofu and tempeh fried with kecap manis was crunchy, chewy and sweet, while blanched bitter cassava leaves were balanced by sweet lemongrass, and perkedel jagung (corn fritters) fresh from the fryer were perfectly light, soft and fluffy inside while being crunchy outside.

Kolok pisang

Kolok pisang was for dessert. Banana slowly simmered in palm sugar releases all the sweetness from the bananas as they start to disintegrate and, I imagine, would go down well with children everywhere. It belongs to that category of foods that taste far better than they look.

Dragonfruit

Unsure of whether we were overstaying our welcome after second Balinese coffee (grounds in, like the Greek), Made ushered through to his pitch-black garden (when it's night out here, there is precious little other light). Using his phone as a torch, he illuminated a dragonfruit tree. As a member of the cactus family, this had long thick spiny green tendrils, in amongst which hid pink-purple jewels. Made sliced off the alien-looking fruit and prepared it for us. The succulent white flesh was quite the sweetest and tastiest I have tasted.