Indonesian Eggnog

Published 04 November 2020

Plying the underground walkways beneath Blok M, Jakarta’s main bus terminal, hawkers entice morning and evening rush hour commuters with steamed or fried snacks. Their pushcarts—basically retrofitted cupboards or TV cabinets tricked out with bicycle tires on the sides and a peg-leg prop in front—go by the name of kaki lima (“five feet,” i.e., three feet for the cart itself and two feet for the itinerant vendor behind). Many kaki lima are gaudily painted and some blare loud Indo-pop.

But the stall of Indra Kurniawan and his wife, Nena, is relatively understated: just a grapefruit-size rotating mirrored disco ball and a stream of cool Sundanese flute music to evoke the misty hills of West Java that rise above Jakarta’s urban sprawl. The Kurniawans sell a Sundanese potion designed to bolster the sick and weary and to rekindle flagging libidos on the cool winter nights in those misty hills. It’s a recipe so simple and so cherished that it is denoted by just the initials of its key ingredients: milk, egg, honey, and ginger ( susu, telor, madu, jahe ). But it requires a deft touch with a wire whisk and a blowtorch, cautions the Kurniawans’ fifteen-year-old son, Rakka, who runs the Blok M stall most nights.

By Melati Kaye