Sago, the main staple….

Food in Papua is unique on its own. Their main staple is Sago, a starch extracted from various palm stems. Typically in Papua, sago is sold in blocks as seen below ;

The sago above is then made into various dishes including Papeda, and Sago Bakar. These dishes are often paired with soupy cuisine such as fish stew and for the Sago bakar, paired with sweet tea or coffee.

This is what Sago Bakar looks like below. They are pink-ish and are hard on the outside but soft on the inside. They crumble when dipped into a sweet hot tea or coffee, and make a great snack for tea time.

Fish is also the main dish…..

Since papua has many islands surrounding it, fish is their main dish. If you visit the islands around Papua, there are many affordable fish and most of the dishes are also made of fish.

However, due to people from other islands migrating to Papua, that contributes to the availability of eastern cuisine in the region. In fact, I was surprised that it’s easier to find a meal from Java than from Papua itself.

Ways to grill the fish

Coming from Java, it was interesting to see the use of coconut husk and fibers. They are used to grill the fresh fish and gave a nice aroma to it.

The grilled fish above is then served with this spicy salad called Sambal Dabu-Dabu.

When you live in places like Biak Numfor, it's so easy to eat and you'll never feel hungry. You can simply catch a fish, grill it and if you need a drink, you can simply climb a short coconut tree. How fun, right?

For the carbs, we also had grilled sweet corn at that time. It was really sweet and sweetest than what I normally had back home.

Tempting, right?

Best dessert, Keladi Tumbuk!

Another staple from Papua is Keladi or in English known as Taro. Over here, they added shredded coconut to it and make it a lot sweeter, perfect for afternoon dessert over a coffee. Interestingly, this is served in a fancy cafe but typically, you can find this anywhere at the market as this is a popular snacks here.

There's one thing I wanted to try which is pretty exotic around here called "ulat sagu", it's a type of worm from palm trees that are unique around here and is rich in protein. I don't know why I can't find it in the city easily. There's only one place that does that which actually was a fine dining, color me surprised!

So, maybe one of these days I can easily find them. Anyway, stay tuned for more of my adventures here 😊