On my 25th birthday, my family gave me a notepad with recipes of dishes we enjoy in our family. My father contributed four recipes. The first is for fried rice as he made it when I was small, the other are “Three Menus of Political Prisoners”.

They are “head vegetables”, cooked in so much water one could see his or her reflection; “plastic vegetables”, because the young papaya was cooked so long it resembled plastic; and “valve vegetables”, because the stalks of the water spinach looked like tyre valves. When I got the note pad, I did not consider cooking these recipes.

​But some time ago, my daughter asked me what kind of food was given to her grandfather while he was in prison. Maybe one day I should try the recipes, so she will know.

Ken Setiawan
​#1965setiaphari #living1965