Nasi Kuning (Indonesian Yellow Rice)

India brought over spices and curry

Arabian shish kebab became satay

The Dutch devoured nutmeg and cumin

The Chinese fled with black beans and vegetable seeds

Soy sauce landed here grew sweet

Numerous islands dot the dining table’s coastline

Nobody can colonize spices

Turmeric dyes my fingers yellow

Padan leaves give off their strong scent

Fiery chili peppers refuse to kowtow

Hot as volcanic lava

Rugged as ocean rock. Only

Rice is our common language

Rice our consoling mother

Rice encompassing all colours

Rice soothing a stomach’s old wounds

Translated by Leung Ping-kwan. The original poem appeared in The Politics of Vegetable, published by Oxford University Press, 2006. © Betty YY Ng