Why Indonesian Love Lalapan.

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]La pan may look simple at first glance.

[00:00:02]Fried fish, fried chicken, maybe duck, rice, sambbo, fresh vegetables on the side. Nothing about it is trying too hard to impress you. But somehow it stays in your memory. And take a big bite of that.

[00:00:18]M. Look at how I clean this plate.

[00:00:22]It's a rum.

[00:00:24]When people think about Indonesian food, they often think about the big dishes first. the rich curries, nazi gorang, the sate, the foods that immediately catch your attention. But one thing I've learned from living in Indonesia is that sometimes the simplest meals tell you the most about the people.

[00:00:42]>> Hi guys. In today's video, I'll be trying out one of Indonesia's favorite dishes. They call it laan.

[00:00:53]Today I found myself sitting at a smaller room on the side of the road here in Lombok eating something called Laapan. Laapan is not just about what's on the plate. It's about the feeling around it. It's about people gathering after a long day at work. Friends sitting together late in the evening.

[00:01:10]Motorbikes parked outside small wones.

[00:01:13]The sound of frying oil in the background. Someone laughing loudly from another table. Someone squeezing lime over sambble. Someone reaching across the table saying try this. Hello. I want to order laan leap.

[00:01:30]>> Uh some laan laan.

[00:01:34]Yeah.

[00:01:35]>> In here.

[00:01:36]>> In here. Yes. And um >> esuk.

[00:01:43]>> What? What? What do you have? What drink? Estee. Okay. Estee. Okay. A lot of dishes here are not powerful because they are complicated. They are powerful because they carry people's everyday lives inside them. And Laapan is one of those foods. The vegetables are always so fresh. slices of cucumber, basil, cabbage, long beans chopped and placed beside the hot food almost as if balance itself is part of the meal. Sambble beside it doesn't feel optional either.

[00:02:12]It feels essential like the heart of the plate. And if you've ever eaten Indonesian sambbo, then you already know sambbo is never just something spicy.

[00:02:22]Every sambbo tastes slightly different depending on who made it. Some are smoky, some are sharp with light, some hit you immediately, some taste like tomatoes, and some taste deeply of shrimp paste, garlic, or chili roasted over fire. And somehow people remember sambbo the way people remember home cooking. So guys, today I'm trying Laapani. One thing I've come to learn about Indonesian dishes is that the most satisfying dishes are mostly the simplest ones. So here I have my chicken dipped in sambal.

[00:03:04]Wow. This sambol is quite spicy and um salty. It's unlike the other sambles I've tasted. The other ones had a hint of sweetness and saltiness, but this is mostly salty and just a little bit sweet and really spicy.

[00:03:23]And now this is what they call eanle.

[00:03:29]This is catfish. I'm not such a big fan of catfish. But you know what they say when you're in Rome, do what the Romans do. And apparently laapan is mostly enjoyed with ekle, which is catfish. I'm also going to be dipping this eanle in the sauce. Oops.

[00:03:51]One thing I have to say about this fish is that it's really tasty. It's packed with flavor and it has been fried to perfection. It falls right off the bone when I try to pick it up like this. It's very smooth consistency. It's really flavorful. Oh, and I also noticed that with Laapan, they don't have like um lemon to squeeze or anything for your chicken, but they do what they do have is this leaf. I don't know what this leaf is called.

[00:04:17]>> Kimi. So, I'm going to take that.

[00:04:32]So, I tried everything without rice. And you know what they say, no rice, no power. So, some rice, some chicken, some sauce.

[00:04:47]Maybe I'm going to also get some kmano.

[00:04:58]I'm also going to try. They have some cabbage here for me. Dip both into the sambar like this and take a big bite of that.

[00:05:10]M. As you guys can see, it's night time.

[00:05:14]And I've been told laapan is usually enjoyed during the night time. And this is us here. Simple, slow bite, enjoying a simple meal, and it tastes so good.

[00:05:26]Every time I come to shoot these videos, I always say to myself, today you won't eat so much. But then there's something about the sambble that makes me want to eat and eat and eat and eat. I don't know. Can you guys tell me in the comment section what it is about sambble that makes you want to eat? So spicy, but I still want to eat.

[00:05:49]I don't know what they add to the chicken, but it's really tasty.

[00:05:56]So, I just got my tea here. You guys know that I always get ext. But today, I'm going to try out this tea and let you guys know what I think about the tea.

[00:06:07]Okay, so it's got a peachy taste. I think it's peach iced black tea. Yeah, I like it, but not as much as SJO. SJO is my number one. You guys know that.

[00:06:20]Look at how I clean this plate.

[00:06:23]It's a rum.

[00:06:25]One thing I'm going to say about Laapan is that it's quite a very simple dish that's packed with so much flavor. So guys, the soup took a little bit long to come, which is why I already had my laan. Initially, I wanted to have the soup before the lal pan, but yeah, the soup is here now. So, let's do a taste taste together. So, in the soup, I can see some noodles, some bean sprouts, some shredded chicken, and I think this is coconut, and some crispy fried onions, and I can see a boiled egg here.

[00:06:57]Now, let's test.

[00:06:59]Okay, for starters, it smells really good. And let me taste the broth.

[00:07:07]Ooh, I can taste the strong flavor from the bean sprouts. It kind of tastes nutty. I don't know why. Maybe there's some there's some peanuts in here. I don't know. And now I'm going to try the boiled egg. I'm just going to cut a piece of them. Ooh.

[00:07:21]Okay. I like the egg yolk. Well done.

[00:07:28]M.

[00:07:32]So good. Let's try the chicken with a little bit of coconut on it as you can see.

[00:07:43]And again, it's salty. Good soup.

[00:07:50]It has some cabbage as well. Before I moved to Indonesia, I used to think learning a culture only came through speaking the language fluently. But now I realize food is also a language.

[00:08:02]sometimes an even deeper one because when somebody cooks for you, you start understanding people without needing many words. And sitting there in that smaller room with these two kind women preparing Laapan for us, I realized something else too. Some of the best food experiences don't happen in expensive restaurants. Sometimes they happen in places with plastic chairs, handwritten menus, and simple kitchens where recipes are repeated so many times they become muscle memory. The women moved with such ease while cooking. No measuring cups, no timers, just instinct. The kind of cooking that comes from making the same dish hundreds and hundreds of times. And honestly, that's something I admire so much about Indonesia. There's a deep resourcefulness here, a deep understanding of flavor. People know how to create comfort from simple ingredients. They know how to make food feel alive. Even the way Laalapan is eating feels communal to me. You don't rush it. People sit, talk, eat slowly, share stories. And I think that's something many parts of the world are slowly losing. So guys, after enjoying my laan, I came across this restaurant that sells a drink called Dawette. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. And I decided I should taste it today because it looks kind of interesting. I'm going to show you guys what it looks like in a bit. Yeah. So, come with me.

[00:09:27]After the la pan, I came across a drink that's loved across Indonesia. Dawette.

[00:09:33]At first glance, it looks similar to chendo, but every region seems to have its own version and its own story behind it. Dawette is a traditional drink made with soft green jelly, coconut milk, and palm sugar syrup.

[00:09:50]So, this is a mixture of brown sugar and some uh coconut milk. I I suppose. And I'm guessing this is jelly. And this is also something that also looks it looks kind of like jelly. So I've been told the black one is called ching chao. And then the green one I don't know. Let me just taste it.

[00:10:13]It tastes like it's made from rice flour. The bombberas. Let me taste the chow.

[00:10:23]I think the drink itself tastes very good. Let me taste.

[00:10:28]It tastes caramel like. I can taste the strong intense flavor of the rice. It somehow tastes like rice. And then I can also taste hints of coconut. It's sweet.

[00:10:39]It's savory. Just a little bit of salt.

[00:10:42]Oh, it's a little bit sour. Interesting stuff. It's It's quite refreshing to be honest. But this type of flavor is new to me and it needs some time to get used to. The fact that it's cold makes it refreshing, but it's almost like I am drinking a liquid version of rice, coconut milk, a brown sugar.

[00:11:04]It's quite an interesting composition of ingredients and flavors. Would I order this drink again? I don't think so. But it does really taste it has got a good taste to it. I don't know what it is about it. I think it's about the it's the rice taste. My final judgment is um it's not for me, guys. This is the first time that I'm saying this on this channel, but I guess it's not for me.

[00:11:27]And um cheers. Thank you. But yeah, not every flavor is meant to feel familiar immediately. Some tastes grow on you slowly. And just because something tastes different or strange at first, doesn't mean it isn't good. I think when you experience another culture through food, also learn patience. you learn to stop comparing everything to what you already know and instead allow yourself to experience something for what it is.

[00:11:59]So guys, that was it for today's video.

[00:12:02]I guess I'll be coming back to this restaurant because I just looked at their menu and they've got so many good uh interesting dishes that I would like to try out that I've never tried out before. And yeah, that was it for this video today. If you guys like videos like this, be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. Share this video with somebody you love. And from me and my crew, we say bye-bye.

[00:12:26]In so many places, eating has become rushed, fast, functional, something squeezed in between schedules. But meals like Laapan remind you to pause for a second, to sit with people, to laugh, to share sambul from the same plate, to eat food made by human hands. And maybe that's why street food will always have a special place in my heart. Because street food often carries the real rhythm of a place. Not the polished version prepared for tourists, the real version. And today, sitting in this little woon in Lombok, eating laan prepared by two kind women by the roadside. I felt that again. A reminder that some of the richest experiences in life don't always look luxurious.

[00:13:06]Sometimes they come on a simple plate beside the road with sambbo, rice, fresh vegetables, and people who make you feel welcome without even trying.