1. Two feet long aloe vera
It’s called lidah buaya in the local parlance, except these monstrosities grow up to 2 feet long (!). The shortest one is easily 1 1/2 foot and the girth is pretty impressive too.
2. Sukkari dates
The appearance of dates means the fasting month of Ramadan for Muslims is around the corner. Sukkari dates hails all the way from Medina in Saudi Arabia and it’s hard, dry and intensely sweet. The appearance is conical and Sukkari dates are considered a delicacy – premium items that’s very much in demand according to the people at Hero (a grocery store chain in Jakarta). It retails for IDR 35,000 (RM 12) for 100 grams and I ate a couple thanks to the person manning the place.
They also sell Anbara dates – the largest date species in the world, and the polar opposite to Sukkari dates texture-wise. I had Anbara dates a couple of years ago and it’s soft and chewy unlike the “grainy” mouthfeel of Sukkari dates.
3. Short bean sprouts
This is something I’ve never seen before despite trawling the specialty grocery stores back home. It’s simply called “short taugeh” and you can see the bean with just a hint of sprout. The unusual retarded sprouting process is pictured next to regular bean sprouts for comparison. It looks like an adolescent trying to grow facial hair. 
Posted: 1:55 am Jakarta time (GMT +7)
ive never seen the short bean sprouts either! wont that just make them beans? hehe
Heh! Good one Natalie! 🙂
Yeah, I guess that would just make them plain ol beans…
the ipoh taugeh is even shorter. 🙂 the shorter it is, the better!
I’ve never seen short Ipoh taugeh. Ipoh taugeh always has a fat, long and juicy sprout, at least from the ones I’ve seen.
The bean sprouts in Ipoh produces the characteristic huge, thick and juicy girth of Ipoh taugeh. 🙂
I’ve never seen these short bean sprouts. Do they harvest it before it’s fully mature e.g. take them out once they start to show signs of sprouting? 😀
The taugeh looks creepy!
Yeah it does eh bro?
I’ve never seen anything like it. 🙂
The advantages of travelling!! Getting to see so many new things! 😀
Yup, that’s part of the appeal of travel for me – experiencing new culture, meeting new people and trying new things. 😀
i like the native name for aloe – croc’s tongue.. except crocs have no tongue. lol
Eh? You mean the reptile and not the shoe brand right?
I’m pretty sure crocodiles have tongues. 🙂
We have long aloes like that here too… Those short bean sprouts look like white tadpoles.
Interesting! I’ve never seen the large and long aloe vera plants. 😀
always nice to bump into interesting things outside Malaysia 🙂
Indeed bro!
It’s the reason I love traveling. 🙂
Come on man, never seen those before? 🙂
Nope, I have honestly never seen these things before. 😀
The huge aloe, the sprout less bean sprouts and the Sukkari dates.
I’ve had Anbara dates before though. 🙂
Hey Huai Bin, I think the Indonesian aloe vera is long partly because of their soil. Now that I’m looking at it, it sure looks a little like the miniature crocodile toy. Their radish surely looks about the same as ours.
Can’t help but wonder if the farmers had injected something to stop the bean from sprouting at its normal size…
Interesting! It’s the soil that makes it grow to such monstrous proportions eh?
Hmm…good question about the aborted sprouting process. Maybe they just harvested it as soon as it shows signs of sprouting?
It’ll be interesting to see how they do it. 🙂
I remember seeing those long aloe veras in Malaysia before but them stunted bean sprouts is something new.
Interesting! I’ve never seen the huge aloes before. 🙂
So you saw the longest lidah buaya and the shortest beansprout in Jakarta. Interesting 😀
Heh! Yeah both extremes of the size spectrum.
It was interesting. 🙂
sounds uh… healthy, if somewhat unusual, the sprouted beans i mean (won’t even call them bean sprouts). i wonder how best to cook those!
It *looks* healthy too. 🙂
Yeah, I wonder what recipe calls for beans sprouts like these. I bet it’ll taste a bit different since it doesn’t have the sprouting bit, just the bean an a wee bit of sprout.
never seen those short sprouts too. did they trim off the tail?
the aloe vera looks good and fleshy. perfect for making tongsui:D