Rawon is a unique Indonesian dish with origins in East Java. This flavorful soup is usually made with slow-braised beef and other traditional Indonesian ingredients such as lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger, and chili. However, the key element is buah kluwek, the Indonesian black nut.
This unusual Indonesian spice is highly toxic when raw, and always needs to be fermented before consumption. It is ground with other ingredients and spices, giving the dish its earthy and sour taste and the unique dark black color. The origin of the dish is believed to be the city of Surabaya, the capital of East Java.
MOST ICONIC Rawon
Rujak is a traditional Indonesian fruit and vegetable salad, known for its bold combination of sweet, spicy, sour, and savory flavors. A beloved street food and household dish across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, rujak typically consists of fresh tropical fruits and raw vegetables, tossed or dipped in a thick, spicy palm sugar and tamarind dressing.
Unlike Western fruit salads, rujak is distinct for its complex flavor balance, with the dressing often made from palm sugar (gula Jawa), tamarind paste, peanuts, salt, shrimp paste (terasi), and bird’s eye chilies, creating a deeply umami, tangy, and fiery sauce.
VARIATIONS OF Rujak
MOST ICONIC Rujak
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Rujak cingur is one of many versions of Indonesian rujak, a fruit salad which consists of different tropical fruits, usually served with a spicy and sweet dressing. Rujak cingur is a unique variety, because apart from fruits, it also incorporates vegetables and a rare ingredient – animal muzzle.
Traditionally, beef or buffalo muzzle is used in rujak cingur, while fruits and vegetables are served boiled or raw. The dish is assembled and covered with generous amounts of spicy Indonesian dressing made with shrimp paste, peanuts, sugar, and chili.
MOST ICONIC Rujak cingur
Throughout Indonesia, soto is known under various names such as the Makassar coto or the Pekalongan tauto. However, this traditional Indonesian soup is usually associated with the island of Java, where it is believed to have appeared in its original form.
Nowadays there is no right way to prepare soto because the varieties are numerous and usually adapted to local cuisines. Although it is believed that soto was developed because of a strong Chinese influence in the country, it is more likely that the soup was created following common cooking traditions of the area and utilizing the ingredients which were available in abundance.
VARIATIONS OF Soto
MOST ICONIC Soto
Soto ayam is possibly the most popular variation of the traditional Indonesian soto soup. This chicken-based version usually includes compressed rice cakes such as lontong, nasi himpit or ketupat, vermicelli or noodles, while turmeric gives it a specific yellow color.
Other ingredients that may be used are onions and garlic, white or black pepper, ginger, cumin, lemongrass, coriander, and sometimes koya, a mixed prawn cracker and fried garlic powder. It is commonly served topped with boiled eggs, fried potato slices, Chinese celery leaves, and fried shallots. Sambal, a hot chili paste, krupuk, deep-fried crackers, or emping, traditional Indonesian chips may also be used as accompaniments to the dish.
VARIATIONS OF Soto ayam
MOST ICONIC Soto ayam
As the name suggests, this traditional soto variety originated in Lamongan. It is mainly prepared with chicken cuts that are slowly simmered in broth, along with a spice paste that usually consists of lemongrass, coriander, caraways seeds, galangal, garlic, turmeric, and ginger.
The chicken is then shredded, and the dish is typically served with noodles, cabbage, scallions, boiled eggs, prawn crackers, or other garnishes. Soto Lamongan can be served as a standard soup, but sometimes the main ingredients and the broth may be served in two separate bowls.
MOST ICONIC Soto Lamongan
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Fried duck is an Indonesian delicacy that is prized for its crispiness as well as its tender, succulent meat. The duck is usually cut into pieces, boiled or steamed, and then deep-fried until crispy. Before it is fried, the pieces are generously coated in spices such as garlic, ginger, turmeric, galangal, or coriander.
Bebek goreng is eaten throughout the country and is traditionally accompanied by rice, fresh vegetables such as cucumber or cabbage, and the spicy sambal served on the side.
MOST ICONIC Bebek goreng
Nasi pecel is a Javanese rice dish that brings together a colorful array of lightly blanched vegetables served over steamed rice and generously topped with a rich, aromatic peanut sauce, originating from Central and East Java, particularly in cities like Madiun, Kediri, and Blitar.
At the heart of the dish is the pecel sauce, a slightly coarse, deep brown peanut dressing made from roasted peanuts, chili peppers, garlic, tamarind, coconut sugar, and makrut lime leaves, pounded or blended into a thick, fragrant paste. The result is a sauce that is bold yet balanced, with a satisfying heat and a subtle citrusy lift that complements the freshness of the vegetables.
MOST ICONIC Nasi pecel
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Lemper is a savory snack from Indonesia made by stuffing glutinous rice with either seasoned shredded chicken, fish, or abon (meat floss) which is then rolled in a banana leaf or tinfoil and by doing so, it is transformed into a perfectly packaged snack.
The chicken-filled lemper version is called lemper ayam, while other versions similar to lemper include, for example, semar mendem, which is also shredded chicken with glutinous rice, but it is wrapped in a thin omelet.
MOST ICONIC Lemper
Tahu campur is a traditional dish originating from East Java. Although there is a number of variations on it, this soup is usually prepared with a combination of beef broth, fried tofu, green salad, bean sprouts, egg noodles, sambal petis (bird’s eye chili peppers and dried shrimp paste), spiced fried cassava (lentho), garlic crackers (krupuk bawang), and a spice paste containing garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper.
When served, the broth is usually garnished with fried garlic, fried shallots, and krupuk bawang garlic crackers. This dish is often prepared and sold by street cart vendors in East Java.
MOST ICONIC Tahu campur
