Rice rolled hot in banana leaf, served with fried chicken, tofu, tempeh, salted fish, raw vegetables and sambal.
What makes it nasi timbel
Rice wrapped hot in banana leaf.
Fried chicken, tofu and tempeh beside it.
Lalapan and sambal terasi — never without.
Where it comes from
Timbel began as food carried to the fields: rice wrapped while still steaming in a banana leaf, which keeps it warm, presses it firm and scents it faintly. Unwrapped at a Sundanese restaurant, it's the centre of a spread.
Around it come ayam goreng, fried chicken first simmered in spice; fried tofu and tempeh; a piece of salted fish; lalapan; and sambal terasi. Sayur asem, a sour vegetable soup, often comes too.