SHIBITSU NOODLE - When the Dumb Noodle Makes You Speechless

Jumat, 07 November 2008

SHIBITSU NOODLE - When the Dumb Noodle Makes You Speechless

If you are a noodle freak, please pay a visit to Shibitsu noodle house at Jalan Raya Bantul No. 106 when you are in Yogyakarta. It only takes you minutes to get there from Malioboro, 500 meters south of the Pojok Beteng Kulon (West Fort) to be exact. Do not be deceived by the name sounding like Japanese word; the warong is owned by a pure Yogyakartanese and it has been running for 25 years. This warung makan is mostly crowded compared to the surrounding dining places.

In addition to the crowdedness, I was preliminary astonished by what I found in this dining place. This place is famous for its name bakmi bisu that means the dumb noodle. There are several fun ideas with regards to the term. First, the noodle is so delicious that we will be speechless while eating it. Second, the seller of the noodle is really a dumb person. While ordering one plate of fried noodle to the woman preparing the ingredients, my first guess was wrong because she turned to be able to speak. However, finally I found out that one of the guesses was correct. The following is the complete story.

In addition to ordering one plate of fried noodle, I also ordered a glass of hot, sweet tea. While waiting for the order to come, I gradually found out one of the reasons that this place is famous for its name bakmi bisu or dumb noodle. It turned out to be the waitress who served the noodle who was dumb. There was another person who helped the seller while she cooked the noodle by speaking no words while fanning the ember in the brazier.

It took quite a while to wait for the order to come. This condition was understandable since they only used one coal-fueled brazier to cook all orders of the customers. While waiting for the main course, the hot, sweet tea was served. Unlike the other places, which served a glass of tea only, this warong served an additional, small jug for reserved tea. In addition to different way of serving, the taste of the tea is also different compared to the other tea served in other places. The first sip while tasting this tea leaves distinct sensation. We may quote the tag line of a tea product, namely wasgitel (stands for wangi/fragrant, sepet/astringet, legi/sweet, and kentel/thick). The aroma coming out of the hot tea results in characteristic tea aroma fragrance. The blackish brown color of the tea shows the thickness and astringent taste left on the tip of the tongue. It is completed with elegant sweetness of the crystal sugar dipped into the tea. It has been quite long that I did not taste such a tea. The last time I tasted so good tea when I did a social culture research in an area in North Tegal.

After waiting for about 20 minutes, the noodle fried was served by the dumb waitress. At a glance, the appearance of the fried noodle is just similar to the noodle in other places. The color is a little brighter because not too much ketchup was possibly put into the noodle. The fried noodle consisted of two kinds of noodle, namely the yellow noodle and thin rice noodle. It was also garnished with small chops of chicken and celeries. The first scoop of this noodle into my mouth made me speechless. The spice was so thick and absorbed thoroughly into the noodle. At first, the spice looked too much for the noodle but the suspicion immediately disappeared after the next scoops.

Fresh green chilly was also served on the serving table and they are so good accompaniment to be eaten together with scoops of the noodles. The unforgettable thing from enjoying this dumb noodle was the hot tea after the main course. These noodle and tea complete one to each other with each one's specialty to make unforgettable culinary tour for you. Finally, I was happy that I made correct guess in the beginning of this article. Shibitsu noodle makes me speechless and dumb while enjoying its delicacy.