Fairy Mahdzan: The Cock Crockery

This is me at a McDonald's in Thamrin-Jakarta which had a screening contraption installed right at the entrance. Authorities were taking precautions against idiots who have nothing else better to do but bomb American franchises in the city (as occured in Makassar just after Hari Raya 2002)

The Cock Crockery

by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan

(27-Jan-2004) | Readers Say

My host family in Jakarta is just about the most accomodating group of people on God's green earth. Their sole purpose in life during my stay is to feed me constantly, a practice largely fueled by their unfounded anxiety that I was going to shed my well-fed figure at any minute if I so much as went through one hour without food.

Ibu Tri, the petite chirpy lady who is my host mom, would always offer me a bowl or plate of something or other to eat, even when the need was unnecessary. "Anak Malaysia gemuk-gemuk ya!" she would always say, marvelling at how more hearty my appetite seemed to be in comparison with her begeng (skinny) and now grown-up children (also my insane Indonesian friends) who apparently chose to eat very little when they were younger. Needless to say I filled in a void for Ibu Tri's motherhood fantasy to feed a person in the house with such enthusiasm for food consumption as mine, even if it was only for two weeks.

Once, barely two hours after I had a rice and chicken lunch, Ibu Tri came waltzing to my room with a bowl of bakso she had ordered from the tukang lewat bakso outside her home. "Makasih, Tante," I said, sheepishly taking the hot bowl from her hands. I couldn't believe how she genuinely seemed to think that I was still hungry when I could hardly even draw in air to my lungs, let alone food into my stomach. Apparently my bulging tummy played no role whatsoever in indicating this to my host mom.

But of course I started eating the hot and spicy bakso, mostly out of politeness. Thank goodness bakso isn't exactly a heavy dish to eat, especially as a soup and all.

As I'm hearing myself slurp down the mie noodles from the bakso soup and chewing away at the rubber-like texture of the meatballs (all of this while hissing intermittedly from the spiciness of the sambel as beads of perspiration formed on my nose, of course), I remembered a trivia my friend Nadiyah once so eagerly parted with me about Indonesian street food vendors. Her words were resonating within my inner thoughts like an echo:

Kalau lo beli makanan dari abang-abang tukang lewat, mangkuknya pasti ada gambar ayam jago!

I stared into the depths of my half-empty bowl; if what Nadiyah said was true, then my bowl would bear this alleged rooster imprint. I slowly raised my bowl to eye-level:

And there it was, the ayam jago on my mangkuk of bakso! I wondered why I had never noticed the fowl before, considering how many times I've had tukang lewat food. After I made this seemingly insignificant self-discovery, I started noticing that wherever I went to eat street food, the chicken sketch was to be found on the side of my bowl.

I commented to my Indonesian friends about this, only to hear laughter in response as I usually get whenever I make a passing comment about something so common yet so characteristic of Indonesian pop culture.

"Ya Far, karena itu mangkuk yang paling murah alias gratis!" Carol explained while we were slurping down noodles in Glodok, adding that the ayam jago bowls were the most inexpensive type of dishware any Indonesian street food vendor could ever use because it came free with every purchase of a particular brand of penyedap rasa (food seasoning). Must be one universally popular food seasoning brand if all the food vendors have so many of the free ayam jago bowls!

As ordinary as the drawing of a rooster on the side of a soup bowl might seem, it is one subtle detail that makes me miss the ambiance of simple and inexpensive dining in Indonesia.

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WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT The Cock Crockery:

#47. bakso.... emang ga ada yang ngalahin rasanya.... biar makan tiap hari juga ga bakalan bosen deh...

Posted by max - Website on 10-Nov-2007, 11:41 MYT

#46. Fairy, gue suka baca tulisan-tulisan lo...
sangat "membumi"....
kalau lo mau dateng ke Jakarta, kabarin lewat e-mail gue... gue punya temen-temen yg gila makan, jadi kita bisa jalan-jalan hunting makanan. ok?

Posted by muli on 3-Nov-2006, 11:41 MYT

#45. Waaaaaaah Ada ayamnya...Karena orang Indonesia dulu suka sama Ayam...Heheheheheheh ehehe
Posted by Danang on 5-Nov-2005, 05:06 MYT

#44. What a great observation! What a familiar sight that reminds me of my childhood. I grew up with this bowl. Yes, it is everywhere, even in Sumatera. I think the bowl is made in China.
Posted by Bloggie on 11-Feb-2005, 21:33 MYT

#43. setelah baca hasil jalan -jalan anda ternyata benar juga ya. jangankan di jakarta di kota malang dan beberapa daerah lain seperti surabaya dan jogja juga banyak digunakan "mangkuk ayam jago" dan lagi yang beli tuh banyak banget apalagi para mahasiswa, bisa kena "chinesse restaurant syndrom" dong.walau mereka pada tau tapi tetep aja jajan juga!
Posted by amie - Website on 28-May-2004, 09:12 MYT

#42. Since Joey talked about indonesian movies which reminds me of Tusuk Jelangkung 2 but never really Tusuk jelangkung 1. Nice movie most of what i seen indonesian movie da best compare to the local movie here just same like the music not progressive.

hhhmmm BTW where can we meet up for the Tourism show mid vally that if u wante to meet up since very hard to meet cos usually u reluctant to meet us here.
Posted by NORMAN on 25-Apr-2004, 04:36 MYT

#41. Iza, Now that they have AirAsia, I think you should try go to Bandung via AirAsia then take the Argo Gede to Jkt..

Posted by jazzmate on 22-Apr-2004, 11:04 MYT

#40. waduh, mangkuk ayam jago udah ngetop di malaysia,kukuruyuuuu k.
Posted by buitenzorg on 10-Apr-2004, 16:59 MYT

#39. oooooh nyummmm!!!
Posted by Sharizal Shaarani - Website on 29-Mar-2004, 12:25 MYT

#38. AKU LaPARAN melihat makaNAn di dalam nih tapi hAiran juKGHAk kamu semuak nih engaGGAK GEmuk2....maintain ghituk..aduh2..enak sunnguh ..kelaparan2 nih

Posted by kim kom on 23-Mar-2004, 22:17 MYT

#37. First of all thanks everyone for the input on my possible Bandung trip. Now that Air Asia is flying straight there, hey maybe my friends and I can just fly there.

BTW, I had noodles last week at Rain Nudle and guess what, they use mangkuk depicting the same ayam as in Fairy's article. Wow really bizzare!

Iza
Posted by Iza on 19-Mar-2004, 10:04 MYT

#36. Dear All, Air Asia has added Bandung, Jakarta & Surabaya as their regional destinations. They're running a promo right now KL-Bandung RM99.99 only!! Now all the ladies can go shopping at Bandung's outlets over the weekend (not forgetting spa, massage, cream bath etc )
Posted by Sabs on 17-Mar-2004, 12:46 MYT

#35. bakso... my mom's fave indo dish!! suka betul dia dgn bakso ni... saya... erk... belum penah rasa lagik... apa jenama food seasoning tu agaknya? yeah, must be a really famous one! enjoyed your posts btw...
Posted by crimsonskye - Website on 17-Mar-2004, 11:02 MYT

#34. Saya pernah makan bakso dua kali. Dua kali juga saya pening sebab byk sgt. bawang.

Cerita anda mengingatkan saya satu keluarga Indonesia yg. baik dgn saya yg. suka masakkan bakso utk. saya. Miss them very much!
Posted by syati - Website on 16-Mar-2004, 21:42 MYT

#33. Fuh.. akhirnya.. ada jugak khabar makanan lezat dari 'sana'... ku pikirkan tiada.. bisa kenyang kembali nih.. Thanx..
Posted by Azilah Daniah on 16-Mar-2004, 18:51 MYT

#32. Now this title suits well,,,,Do you know how much is the price of each Cock Mangkok(bowl)
Posted by aliakbar - Website on 15-Mar-2004, 14:59 MYT

#31. nice article...i luv bakso too!!! but in Penang there is no 'ayam jago' bowl, just plastics...yea plastics!!!!! why don't u write about Indonesian movies even u're not a film students. That would be great coz u're staying there for so long.

I love to watch INA movie that always brings us to the world of 'ilmu hitam'. Because we're in the same culture...same tradition and of course we are also come from their 'klan' just before this. ( HIstorian never told a lie....thats fact!!!!! coz u know.. my ' friends here won't accept it. BUt i'm sure her parents is 'JAWA'. huh!!!!!)

Keep on writing....i'll always waiting for a new articles...

Posted by joey on 13-Mar-2004, 16:06 MYT

#30. BASRI: Apa saja yang boleh dibuatkan cerita sebenarnya, tergantung pada minat and kerajinan.

AREED: Hello! Thanks for that website, nanti I will check it out.
Posted by Fairy on 12-Mar-2004, 17:20 MYT

#29. hai fairy!

Lame giler tunggu loh punyer artikel baru keluar dong si!

I'm one of ur fan and x-tually, i memang minat giler ngan apa² yang related ngan indonesia.

nak ucap terima kasih gak sebab ur artikel tentang 'Project Pop makes dangdut hit' tu banyak membantu dalam my final assignment.

lagi satu, nak bagi tau lah yang baru² ni, i ada discover satu websitte baru yg ada koleksi cerpen² from indon.

www.sriti.com

hope u will enjoy it k!

ciao! da....
Posted by areed on 12-Mar-2004, 17:17 MYT

#28. Miss you lah Fairy, dekat sebulan tunggu
entry baru. Bukan sahaja makanan,
mangkuk gambar ayam pun boleh jadi
modal penulisan ya.

Dulu kalau makan nasi biasanya guna pinggan ceramik gambar bunga bunga, sekarang orang ramai guna
pinggan pvc. Kalau fast food guna
pinggan kertas pun ada.
Posted by basrie - Website on 10-Mar-2004, 15:52 MYT

#27. IZA: I believe you can take the Argo Gede train to go to Bandung from Jakarta. Here is a website of the Argo Gede train schedules. The trip takes about 3 hours, more or less. I hear the Argo Gede is quite ok.

And of course I think 4 days is more than enough for shopping!

BAGAS: Ya, I was busy juga early of the year, banyak perubahan hidup. Hidup mangkuk ayam jago! Hehe.
Posted by Fairy on 10-Mar-2004, 10:21 MYT

#26. kemane aje sih fai? dateng-dateng cerita mangkuk bakso itu mangkuk masih dipakai tukang bakso keliling kok, saya baru pulang dari indonesia 2 hari lalu. tapi yang di restonya udah gak pake lagi
Posted by bagas on 10-Mar-2004, 10:09 MYT

#25. By the way any information about the film Tusuk Jelangkung 2. i just wanted to know more about this horror movie since people says that it is more exciting to see it compare to m'sian one Mistik
Posted by man on 9-Mar-2004, 02:17 MYT

#24. Dear Fairy, First of all I missed your blog when it went off line for a while. Glad you are back
BTW, I am planning a shopping visit to Jakarta and Bandung in mid-June with a few friends. We are planning to take a train to Bandung. Do you know wht the train trip from Jkt to Bandung will be like? Comfort and the time it will take. BTW is 4 days enough (just for shopping) Iza
Posted by Iza on 8-Mar-2004, 11:59 MYT

#23. duh! of course i miss u!!! ahakz! i updated my weblog too! new site, new server, new url, new design, new me!
Posted by hazrul - Website on 8-Mar-2004, 01:26 MYT

#22. haha.. baru habis makan bakso juga ni. 1 day nak try makan sana la, coz b4 this take away je... haha.. semata nak cek bowl apa derang pakai.
Posted by im on 7-Mar-2004, 23:23 MYT

#21. nice article!! at last got new artikel..hehe..yeahp ! i miss ur stories...hehe!
Posted by linah - Website on 7-Mar-2004, 19:35 MYT

#20. KOM: Thank you, saya sudah betulkan artikel saya, harusnya saya bilang mangkuk itu hadiah dari penyedap rasa dan bukan kecap (pernah dibilang sama teman saya juga sih but I forgot about it). Terima kasih for the input.

EKA: I've not been to Lampung yet, I'd like to visit all of Indonesia one day if at all possible! You live in SS3? That's not too far from where I stay. You're one of many countless half-Malaysian half-Indonesians who have written to me ever since I started writing about Indonesia on my website.

Who knew that writing about this simple subject matter of 'mangkuk ayam jago' would bring good memories for some; I'm happy to have triggered them.
Posted by Fairy on 5-Mar-2004, 16:58 MYT

#19. Fairy, it's a truly interesting article about something I've been living for years and taken for granted.
Posted by doerayme - Website on 5-Mar-2004, 16:45 MYT

#18. Hello Fairy,
Funny how this morning while driving to work I wondered about you and your articles, guess I miss reading your thoughts ; )
I think the "mangkuk ayam jago" was also very popular in Malaysia in the early 80s, I remember as a child marvelling at the beautiful, smooth picture and the quality of the crockery was fine too, while slurping the soup prepared by my mom.
But I think it is only used by the poor, I barely remember that it came free with the purchase of something, mebe powder detergent or something, not ketchup definitely.
I think that's the nostalgic side I found in Jakarta when I first visited it, why I like reading about it so much. Malaysia has progressed so far so fast, lost so much history, culture, tradition to "development". But places like Jakarta brings back memories of a time long past in Malaysia....some things are worth more than all the money in the world....thanks Fairy for bringing back the memories.
Posted by hisham on 5-Mar-2004, 16:07 MYT

#17. Farah,
You can find a good sedap bakso at pasar malam Serdang(Isnin & Jumaat)..kalau nak lagi sedap, kat Parit Ponorogo,Muar...the taste is sedap sama rasa with the one that I had in Jakarta,Tangerang & lampung...
Btw,Far,udah melawat Lampung? if not, you'd better be...the scenery is breathtaking!!! used to balik kg to my embah's house in Lampung.... miss them awready. ( I'm half Indo-half M'sian). datang pindah ke SS3 PJ lepas sekolah dasar.
Posted by Eka on 5-Mar-2004, 15:56 MYT

#16. Hi Fai... Gosh... u really obsessed about bakso ha??? I don't blame you girl, who can resist eating bakso.... Nyum! Nyum! My friend told me there's an Indo restaurant in Brisbane called "Indonesian Tucker" selling bakso. After reading your previous article, my mind can't stop thinking about it. So, my main agenda this weekend is going to that restaurant. Nevermind the 1 hour driving, janji dapat bakso!!!
Posted by anen on 5-Mar-2004, 15:32 MYT

#15. mangkuk itu bukan karena murah, but mangkuk itu hadiah dari pembelian penyedap rasa salah satu produk penyedap rasa (bumbu masak)
begitu lhooooo
Posted by kom on 5-Mar-2004, 14:07 MYT

#14. , u r great ,fairy, most of the things that u wrote here, was a very common things in indonesia(like ur friend said), but its became very intresting article to read,

i am waiting for ur next article.

anyway, let me know if i can join u to write more about indonesia, or may be just give u some more idea about what u should to write in ur next article,

thanks fairy, keep going girl,

Chai ci pui
Posted by chaicipui on 5-Mar-2004, 13:35 MYT

#13. SURIA: how funny that your tukang bakso in KL has brought those rooster bowls all the way from Indonesia. I guess there's no other authentic way to eat bakso ya?

Lina: Mana ada tukang lewat di Malaysia? Kalau ada pun, kayanya nggak pake deh mangkuk ayam2 jago. Mangkuk itu ciri-ciri khas Indonesia (and some Indochina countries, as narrated by my Indonesian friend Sylvia who is living in Mandalay).

If you read my Bakso Bola Tenis article, you will also see the 'ayam jago mangkuk' in the header photo. See if you can spot it.
Posted by Fairy on 5-Mar-2004, 09:48 MYT

#12. I have been in Indonesia for long , I havent noticed it myself, haha i just saw one yesterday, Good research Farah..very nice easy to read article ,

well Iwas eagerly waiting for your new article, good work done !!!
Posted by aliakbar Campwala on 5-Mar-2004, 09:33 MYT

#11. Of course I missed you, silly
Masih tetap ngiler sama gambar2 makananmu, nak! How about tukang lewat di Malaysia? Do they use Ayam Jago too?
Posted by Lina - Website on 5-Mar-2004, 06:24 MYT

#10. that reminds me while reading this articles... in the past i did got a chicken as a pet dunno come from where(i think came from kampung Baiduri) called Jago it sounds like Jaguh but i think thats not the right meaning .Had it for few years then somebody stole the chicken wonder wat happen to it
Posted by norman on 4-Mar-2004, 23:57 MYT

#9. Some misunderstood the articles which is not about da food but the bowl .

As u know everyone missed u..(nih lagu Kangen utkmu) hehe .When do u think i n my fren can meet u b4 i start 2 get busy. N about ur articles about Borobudur n Taman Sari Water castle very interesting(thinking wanted to ask u more but dunno u got da previous message or not)
Posted by MAN on 4-Mar-2004, 23:46 MYT

#8. Ha Ha ha! After I read this article, I went out to the gerai attached to my house, and check what mangkuk is Mat Bakso (that's what we call him) using. I laugh when I look the bowls. YES! Gambar ayam jago! I tak pernah perasan before, pasal I tak makan bakso. But then again, if I makan pun I will not notice the mangkuk, until someone point it out to me.

Agaknye, mangkuk tu dapat dengan kicap ABC.. pasal Mat bakso is using kicap ABC too.

Fairy's wonderful article enables me to understand my jiran better. And improve my jawa too. And, I am soooo missing those articles...
Posted by Suria on 4-Mar-2004, 23:15 MYT

#7. On the contrary Aiie, the focus of this article was more on the 'ayam jantan' bowl, not the food.
Posted by Fairy on 4-Mar-2004, 17:21 MYT

#6. arghhh not again...fooooood!
Posted by aiie on 4-Mar-2004, 17:17 MYT

#5. Hey Elle & Nonie, glad to hear some readers have felt my absence.

Mbak SYL, ah gimana nih, tenggorokan banjir melulu! Yes I did read about your mangkuk ayam jago story in January, I was pleasantly surprised that we both had the same inclination to write about it. Yes I will be in Malaysia, I'm always in Malaysia, except when I'm in Indonesia lah. Jadi dateng ke sini gak?
Posted by Fairy on 4-Mar-2004, 17:12 MYT

#4. Hi, Far.
Wow! A nice posting!
Rasanya tenggorokan ini banjir pas lihat gambar baksonya......
I also posted the same bowl with cock image on it - see my posting in the first week of January.
Will you be in M'sia this month?
Posted by SyL - Website on 4-Mar-2004, 16:53 MYT

#3. yea! miss ur entry which makes me hungry each time... haha
Posted by nonie on 4-Mar-2004, 16:32 MYT

#2. Yalah ...dah lamanyaa...welcome back..
Posted by elle - Website on 4-Mar-2004, 15:49 MYT

#1. I'm back online, writing and feeling well. Has anyone missed me?
Posted by Fairy on 4-Mar-2004, 12:00 MYT

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