Let's Get Sweat with Bothok Mercon in Sragen

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As the super-duper spicy food hunter, I was so excited when my friend, Budi Prabowo invited me to taste extreme spicy menu in Sragen, a city in Central Java Indonesia. We finally decided to try that menu for breakfast. We took around 45 minutes from the center of Solo city to reach that stall. The "guide"for directing to the place is "Jembatan Gawan (Gawan Bridge)". When people already pass that bridge from Solo city, they are already close to that stall. Reaching that place is also another kind of enjoyment because people will pass both big area of industry and green farmlands in Sragen.

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The One and Only Main Menu

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The stall only has one type of main menu, "bothok mercon". The name of the main menu is used for the name of the stall "Warung Makan (Stall) Bothok Mercon". So, what is "bothok mercon"? Generally, "bothok" is whatever food in which all the ingedients are covered by banana leaf and steamed for several minutes. Commonly, it is fish-base menu though it can also be tofu/tempe or any other meat-base menu. Meanwhile, "mercon" is Javanese word which has literal meaning as "firecrackers". Thus, the name of "bothok mercon" is used to represent that eating that menu people will feel like having firecrackers on their mouth. Indeed, the name really represents the taste. People can get sweat and sweat just in early minutes when they eat "bothok mercon". The price is also affordable for the local people there. It is only IDR 5,000 per portion.

Drink and Get More Sweat

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There is also special beverage here. It is the super hot tea with "gula batu (rock candy)". Of course, it stimulates people eating to get more sweat. Uniquely, people may add more tea without any limit and without any extra charge. When people cannot bear the spiciness of that menu, they may eat fried tofu, fried tempe, fried cassava, or various kinds of rice crackers to reduce spicy sensation. That's A Beautiful Life

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Another interesting image to see in that place is the group of farmers eating there. After working in farm land, they can be there for many hours even though they have finished their dish. They talk about daily life until share knowledge about farming. Watching how they can be very relax, people may feel the enthusiasm of farmers in having social life and may say "what a beautiful life!"

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