Cirebon: That Duck Place

[Chems Castills]

Your heart beat faster, a moment of anticipation...even how may times you are told that nothing good will come from indulging from it, yet you still come back for more.

In its cholesterol yummy goodness Bebek Goreng had become my comfort food since I had arrived here in Cirebon. Back home bebek (or duck) is not usually part of a staple diet at least where I came from. It was the one of the first restaurants we were introduced to when we first got here. We went to H. Salamet Bebek Goreng. Everbody knows that duck place.Like Coronel Sanders of KFC, he had this amazing epiphany on how prepare the fried duck.

You can smell the sweet aroma of the fried duck just passing it by when riding the angkot. It had become a subtle conditioning to the senses. The smell alone will trigger your stomach juices to tell you, how can you pass down a treat like that?

Deep fried in oil it until its brown crispy, always perfectly juicy down to the last finger looking morsel.Sheer perfection. Juicy (oil juice) duck skin and succulent meat that is literally falling of from the bones are filled with flavors.  

It is usually served with rice and the ever present sambal hijo. Sambal here is Indonesia is like water I think. It is the way of life, just like the Blackberry. I am this very strong feeling that in the event that sambal runs out will be the end of Indonesia as we know it. 

A true comfort food.