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What to eat in Java? Top 68 Javanese Foods

Last update: Sun Feb 16 2025
Top 68 Javanese Foods
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01

Meat Soup

JAKARTA, Indonesia
4.6
Soto Betawi
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Soto Betawi is a hearty beef soup consisting of chunks of meat and offal that are slowly simmered in a coconut milk broth, which is usually enriched with various spices such as lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, kefir lime leaves, and coriander. When served, the soup is accompanied by different condiments that typically include tomatoes, scallions, sweet soy sauce, and emping crackers.


Because of its name, it is believed that the dish originated in Jakarta among the Betawi people, and today it is one of the most popular dishes in the city, usually sold at various street stalls, restaurants, or hawker-style establishments. Soto Betawi is traditionally enjoyed with steamed rice and pickled acar on the side.

MOST ICONIC Soto Betawi

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02

Street Food

MADURA ISLAND, Indonesia
4.6
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Sate Madura is a traditional dish and a type of sate originating from the island of Madura, hence the name. The dish is prepared with chicken or mutton pieces that are placed onto skewers and grilled. This type of sate is different from most other types since the meat is cut into thinner chunks than usual.


The skewers are accompanied by a dark sauce made with a combination of kecap manis (sweetened soy sauce), palm sugar, fried shallots, shrimp paste, peanut paste, candlenuts, salt, and garlic. If made with chicken, the dish is served in peanut sauce, while the mutton version often comes served in kecap manis. 

MOST ICONIC Sate Madura

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03

Meat Soup

SURABAYA, Indonesia
4.5
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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

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04

Snack

BANDUNG, Indonesia
4.5
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One of the most famous snacks in Indonesia is batagor, a fried fish dumpling served in a traditional spicy sauce. It has roots in the Chinese culinary tradition, which has left a trace on many Indonesian dishes. Although this famous snack is reminiscent of the more famous Chinese dumpling, its distinguishable characteristic is that it is fried, not steamed.


The most common fish used to make the dish is wahoo, but tuna, mackerel, and prawns can also be used. Potatoes, tofu, or cabbage are also occasionally added to the dish. Batagor is the perfect snack because of the way it is served. When fried, the dumplings are cut into small bite-sized pieces and covered in peanut, soy, and chili sauce with a splash of lime juice. 

MOST ICONIC Batagor

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05

Rice Dish

JAVA, Indonesia
4.4
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Bubur ayam is the Indonesian version of chicken congee, a thick rice porridge topped with shredded chicken and various savory condiments. This breakfast staple probably originates from the Chinese rice porridge, but it employs regionally available ingredients and toppings to create an authentic Indonesian dish.


The process starts with boiling chicken (usually darker, on the bone pieces), and the same broth is typically used to cook the rice until it becomes dense in consistency. Besides rice porridge and shredded chicken, bubur ayam can employ a myriad of other ingredients. 

MOST ICONIC Bubur ayam

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06

Rice Dish

JAKARTA, Indonesia
4.4
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Nasi uduk is one of numerous Indonesian rice-based dishes. The rice in nasi uduk is cooked in coconut milk together with lemongrass, cloves, pandan leaves, and cinnamon. The process results in wonderfully fluffy, fragrant rice, and right before it is served, each portion is usually topped with fried shallots.


It is a dish rarely eaten on its own, but rather served with a variety of side dishes and condiments. Most commonly a variety of stewed and fried meat, rice noodles, eggs, tempeh, tofu, fried anchovies, and rice crackers are served alongside rice.


Regular sambal, the spicy Indonesian hot sauce, or peanut sambal are the most common condiments served with nasi uduk. 

MOST ICONIC Nasi uduk

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07

Rice Dish

JAVA, Indonesia
4.4
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This traditional Indonesian dish consists of rice cooked in coconut milk that is usually seasoned with turmeric, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves. Even though yellow rice is the star of nasi kuning, the dish is assembled out of other Indonesian dishes and complements, such as fried chicken, potato fritters, sliced omelet, fried anchovies, shrimps, or fried tempeh.


Sambal, the traditional Indonesian chili sauce, and serundeng (spicy fried coconut flakes) are often served as condiments. Nasi kuning is always served neatly organized on the plate, and the rice should always be placed in the middle. It is traditionally associated with the island of Java, which is considered to be the place of origin of this authentic Indonesian dish.

MOST ICONIC Nasi kuning

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08

Dessert

JAVA, Indonesia
4.4
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These Indonesian rice balls are prepared with glutinous rice flour shell that is wrapped around a palm sugar filling. The outer shell is usually colored green, traditionally with the help of pandan or dracaena leaves, while the whole cake is coated with desiccated coconut.


The origin of klepon is typically associated with Java, while the same treat is better known as onde-onde or buah melaka in some parts of Sulawesi, Sumatra, and Malaysia. It should be noted than on Java, the term onde-onde typically refers to Chinese jin deui rice balls. 
09

Street Food

PURWOKERTO BARAT, Indonesia
4.4
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Tempeh mendoan is a variety of fried tempeh that hails from Purwokerto. Thin slices of tempeh—fermented soybean product—are dipped in batter that is enriched with ground coriander, sliced scallions, and garlic before they are deep-fried.


This tempeh variety is only shortly fried, creating a crispy outer layer, while the tempeh remains soft and juicy. The name of the dish stems from Banyumasan language in which mendo roughly translates as half-cooked. This tempeh is best served with sambal, other types of chili-based dips, or kecap manis—Indonesian sweet soy sauce. 
10

Sauce

JAVA, Indonesia and  one more country
4.4
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Sambal terasi is a traditional and Malaysian sauce and a variety of sambal. It's made with a combination of red chili peppers and shrimp paste (terasi) as the main ingredients. Various other ingredients are added to the sauce such as garlic, shallots, tomatoes, onions, lime juice, oil, sugar, and salt.


This fiery sauce is used as a condiment or an accompaniment to many dishes such as Malaysian lam mee noodles. In Malaysia, sambal terasi is known as sambal belacan.

Serve with
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Sambal
11
Sauce
EAST JAVA, Indonesia
4.3
12
Fried Chicken Dish
EAST JAVA, Indonesia
4.3
13
Stew
JAVA, Indonesia
4.3
14
Salad
JAKARTA, Indonesia
4.3
15
Pancake
JAVA, Indonesia
4.2
16
Stew
CENTRAL JAVA, Indonesia
4.2
17
Pancake
JAKARTA, Indonesia
4.2
18
Salad
JAKARTA, Indonesia
4.1
19
Feast
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
4.1
20
Rice Dish
EAST JAVA, Indonesia
4.1
21
Fried Chicken Dish
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
4.1
22
Rice Dish
SURAKARTA, Indonesia
4.1
23
Meatballs
SURAKARTA, Indonesia
4.1
24
Cake
JAVA, Indonesia
4.0
25
Dessert
JAVA, Indonesia
4.0
26
27
Snack
JAVA, Indonesia
4.0
28
Rice Dish
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
4.0
29
Rice Dish
JAVA, Indonesia
3.9
30
Street Food
JAVA, Indonesia
3.9
31
32
Stir-fry
JAVA, Indonesia
3.9
33
Meat Soup
MALANG, Indonesia
3.9
34
Pastry
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
3.9
35
Street Food
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
3.8
36
Vegetable Soup
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
3.8
37
Salad
SURABAYA, Indonesia
3.8
38
Stew
SURAKARTA, Indonesia
3.7
39
Noodle Dish
BANDUNG, Indonesia
3.7
40
Salad
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
3.6
41
Dessert
JAVA, Indonesia
3.6
42
Street Food
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
3.6
43
Vegetable Dish
JAVA, Indonesia
3.6
44
Dessert
JAVA, Indonesia
3.5
45
Rice Dish
CENTRAL JAVA, Indonesia
3.4
46
Snack
JAVA, Indonesia
3.4
47
Salad
JAVA, Indonesia
3.4
48
Dessert
JAVA, Indonesia
3.2
49
Soup
CIREBON, Indonesia
4.4
50
Rice Dish
PATI, Indonesia
4.3
51
Beef Dish
SURABAYA, Indonesia
n/a
52
Rice Dish
TEGAL, Indonesia
n/a
53
Stew
JAVA, Indonesia
3.7
54
Beef Dish
SURAKARTA, Indonesia
3.7
55
Stir-fry
SURABAYA, Indonesia
n/a
56
Egg Dish
JAKARTA, Indonesia
3.6
57
Stew
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia
3.5
58
Meat Soup
JAVA, Indonesia
3.4
59
Snack
JAVA, Indonesia
3.4
60
Salad
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
3.3
61
Vegetable Dish
JAVA, Indonesia
3.2
62
Fruit Salad
SURABAYA, Indonesia
3.2
63
Breakfast
BANDUNG, Indonesia
3.1
64
Soup
EAST JAVA, Indonesia
n/a
65
Vegan Dish
WEST JAVA, Indonesia
3.0
66
Noodle Soup
JAKARTA, Indonesia
n/a
67
Sweet Bread
JAKARTA, Indonesia
n/a
68
Stir-fry
JEPARA, Indonesia
n/a

TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 68 Javanese Foods” list until February 16, 2025, 2,891 ratings were recorded, of which 1,940 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.

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