Dear Steemit friends:
You might heard of a place in China called Hainan, it's famous because it is the only tropical island in China. Most people will choose to visit Hainan's Sanya prefecture, the most southern part of the area and is considered a holiday heaven and also one of the most natural environments un-spoilt by pollution.
However, today i'm taking my Steemit friends to a lesser known treasure for this edition of Miss. Delicious. We'll be making a visit to a an Indonesian restaurant in Hainan's Wanning Xing Long. Wanning district is located along the South East coast of Hainan. There is an Indonesian village here. You must be curious as to the story and history of how this place came to be. Let's dive in and see!
Istana is the name of the restaurant and it serves authentic Indonesian style foods. From the entrance of the building, you can already feel the implicit charm of the Indonesian culture and more important the food that awaits.
The restaurant was established by an Indonesian returnee. Today she's already 71 years old!
46 years ago, the owner of the restaurant together with her husband came over to Hainan, Xing Long originally as farmers, but as of 2010, the area has been blessed with her authentic Indonesian food with the opening of this restaurant.
At the entrance, there are some displays of some of the foods you can find here. All very vibrantly coloured. It certainly made the restaurant extra appealing and made me savour the opportunity more.
As you go inside the restaurant, you feel as though you are in a different country with different cultures. The whole place is decorated with lots of carved wooden art pieces, oil paintings, and wooden figurines. It's certainly a distinct display of the Indonesian handcraft and art, wonderfully paying homage to their unique culture.
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This is their tea house.
I really love this water fountain. It's got a really strong ethnic design to it that really add's to the overall feel of this place.
They also have a small collection of traditional Indonesian clothes.
The traditional atmosphere is bolstered by a subtle soundtrack of traditional Indonesian folk music. At many points, I felt like getting up and dancing lightly and gracefully to the music.
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In one of the corners, there is a wall of old photos, pictures and newspaper clips. It tells the story and history of this restaurant and even the history of the Indonesian village.
In 1959, the Indonesian government prohibited the trade and habitation of Chinese migrants domestically, and set forth years of political turmoil that resulted in an Anti-Chinese policy. It is for this reason that the Indonesian village came to existence.
The overseas Chinese under immense pressure from the Indonesian government, began seeking refuge back in the new reformed China. Under the then Chinese Prime Minister, Zhou Enlai, China constructed new homes for these overseas Chinese at Hainan's Wanning Xinglong farming district. These are pictures of the overseas Chinese before their return home.
This is a picture from 1993 of Jiang Zemin (President of PRC at the time) greeting the overseas Chinese.
This old news paper article discusses the lives of the overseas Chinese people who have come to their new home.
Indonesian ambassadors gift to the overseas Chinese.
Next, you must be very curious to see the food menu. On this menu there is a QR code that gives you WiFi access. Very convenient!
The picture of the old lady on the menu is the restaurant owner herself. There's a little introduction about her and her experiences.
The dishes on the menu are so brightly coloured and all look very inviting.
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Finally the first dish arrives, and it is the Crabs from the picture on the menu!
This is the Court Crabs, from the colour, lustre, shape and form, it is exactly the same as shown in the menu. That's really quite impressive!
Vegetable salad.
Indonesian Prawns, the colour is so vibrant and it is cooked with an Indonesian curry paste sauce.
Musa Basjoo pork spare ribs. The meat is full of flavour, slightly crispy and very fragrant.
Bali Island sauce sea fish. The sauce is sour and spicy making it a perfect appetiser.
Some very green Chinese Vegetables.
Beef Brisket curry. The sauce is thick and very fragrant.
Even the curry sauce on rice tastes excellent.
Because today was my grandfather's birthday, the restaurant owner kindly gave him a free dish called the "Long life noodles." In China, this is a dish that the elderly eat to celebrate their birthday. The dish is a blessing for long life and well being.
Of course, aside from the god of longevity (my grandfather), each person also eats a bit of the noodles. All for long-life!
This is a huge plate of Indonesian style fried rice.
Finally, the sweet and fragrant pastry cakes.
The food on the table reminds me very much of a home cooked Indonesian overseas Chinese banquet.
And me and my family are just like guests to their banquet.
I hope you enjoyed today's story and historical background to the Indonesian cuisine. It's always wonderful visiting a restaurant that has such heritage and historical significance. Of course, the food was also fantastic, but moreover the sentimental value of how this place came to be is priceless.
也许你们听说过中国有一个地方叫做海南，它的出名是因为海南是中国唯一的热带海岛省份，大部分人们选择去海南旅游是因为最南端的三亚，那里是度假的天堂，更是天然的洗菲氧吧。但是今天，我要带着Steemit朋友去探索海南不为人知的一面，今天美食天堂的目的地是海南万宁兴隆的一家印尼餐厅。
伊萨娜印尼餐馆ISTANA是一家正宗的印尼风味菜系餐厅，门口木头的房屋和印尼风情的人形雕塑很有韵味。这家餐厅由一位印尼归侨创办，她如今已有71岁。46年前，她随丈夫从印度尼西亚来到海南兴隆华侨农场，做得一手正宗印尼菜的她在2010年开起了这家餐厅。门口的菜牌颜色艳丽，好像在勾引我进门。走进餐厅，各种印尼木雕、油画、生动的印尼风情小人儿工艺品展现了原滋原味的印尼风情。这里是喝茶的茶室。我特别喜欢这个水池，非常有民族特点, 有很有家的感觉。店内摆着印尼的传统服饰。并且播放传统印尼民歌，让人听了想要翩翩起舞。
屋子一个角落的照片墙，挂着许多充满历史的老照片，就讲述了这个餐厅的故事。这里会形成一个印尼村，是由于1959年印度尼西亚政府限制华侨华人经商和居住,以及以政治斗争为目的进行长期的排华政策。华侨们开始纷纷要求返回刚刚成立的新中国居住, 依据当时的国情,周恩来总理立即决定在海南万宁的兴隆华侨农场为归国华侨建立他们的新家。这是华侨们回国前的合影。这是1993年江泽民总书记慰问华侨的照片。这片旧报纸介绍了华侨来到兴隆这片新的家园里的生活。印尼大使增送华侨的根雕。接下来你们是不是迫不及待要看看菜单了。上菜了，这第一道就是图片上的大螃蟹了。这是宫廷蟹。芭蕉叶包排骨，肉很新鲜,吃起来又脆又香。巴厘酱焗海鱼，这个酱是酸辣的，好开胃。绿油油的青菜。咖喱牛腩一口下去浓浓的咖喱香连它的汤汁泡饭都是无比的美味。因为今天正好是我的外公生日，所以老板贴心赠送了长寿面，这是中国为老人祝寿的时候必吃的面，有健康长寿的美好预意。并且是寿星和在座的每个人都要吃上几根，分享幸福。这是一大盘印尼炒饭。最后是香甜的糕点。这一桌美食更像是印尼华侨贴心的私房菜。而我们就像是在他们家中做客的客人。今天的美食和故事就分享到这里，我们下一篇继续哦。