*Update* Unfortunately, this trip in 2015 was the first and last time I was lucky enough to try Nasi Sek; while the food will undoubtedly still be the same, the signs for ‘Nasi Sek’ have since disappeared and it has become a culinary tradition of the past. Don’t be too disappointed though, Pariaman is still a fantastic place to visit, with excellent food. On with the original article…
Pariaman is a city (and region) about 56km from Padang. It is a favorite destination among the locals for a day at the beach, and with a long stretch of beautiful white sand coastline it’s easy to see why.
Recently we ventured to Pariaman with friends, but it wasn’t the beach we were in search of; we wanted nasi sek. Along the road that runs parallel to the beach (but far enough inland to not be on top of it), are plenty of warungs proudly displaying signs that read ‘nasi sek’.
Bayu informed us that the ‘sek’ in nasi sek – food that is traditional and specific to the Pariaman region, stands for ‘seribu kenyang’ or ‘1,000 rupiah, full’. My ears perked up, 1,000 rupiah for a meal that will fill you up is incredible (1000 rupiah is 0.05 pence). Everything quickly fell into place when one of our friends asked, sarcastically, ‘tahun berapa?!’ – what year?!
Needless to say, it definitely wasn’t 1,000 rupiah – six of us ate and drank for about 100,000 rupiah (or about 5GBP or 7USD), which is pretty average, and the food was wonderful.
Nasi sek is very similar to nasi Padang in that you are served a lot of small plates of food and pay for what you take (this includes food that you mess with but don’t eat.. it’s only fair). The main difference is the rice; instead of being given a plate of rice per person, or a large bowl to help yourself from, nasi sek is served with ‘nasi kucing’. This translates directly as ‘cat rice’, but don’t worry! A better translation would be ‘kitty sized portions’ – small portions of rice wrapped in banana leaves; when you run out of rice, just grab another little parcel.
The food itself consists of the usual West Sumatran fare; mainly fish (but with chicken options for those less inclined towards fish..), served in a variety of styles (barbecue, fried, curried..), with a selection of sayur (veggies) and sambal (sauces) to go with it. Missing were the more traditional Padang items such as rendang, and it was maybe a little less spicy than we’re used to at home, but in honesty the selection was so good we hardly noticed.
It was delicious.
While we sat and ate we were, however, set upon by an elderly lady selling crackers. If we hadn’t been a group of Indonesians (except me..), I don’t think she would have bothered. She stayed for about 10 minutes telling us how well her crackers would go with our meal, and I have to say I admired her selling tactic. She tried everything, even telling Bayu that he is lucky to have such a beautiful wife but that I should eat her crackers to improve fertility.
Well, when the time comes, if we need any help I’ll know where to find her..!
Jen is an English girl who found herself in Sumatra one day and never went back. A wife, mother, traveler and book worm, she has lived in Padang long enough to speak the language and unearth plenty of useful hints and tips for the weary traveler…
