Jakarta is one of the most popular cities among its neighbors; it is home to some of the top restaurants, but it is still the street food that has made the city famous.
People can eat some of the most basic and delectable recipes. In Jakarta, there are various street food markets where individuals may meet like-minded people while sampling delicious food and learning new recipes.
The street food scene draws people together, from common foodies to celebrities, to experience unpretentious local delights by combining excellent food with delightful and relaxed local settings.
Table of Contents
Here are the 5 amazing food you can find on the street in Jakarta:
1. Ketoprak
Ketoprak is a dish made out of sliced fried tofu, steamed rice cake (lontong or ketupat), sliced cabbage and cucumber, bihun (thin rice vermicelli), bean sprouts, and peanut sauce, with krupuk and fried shallots on top. The fried tofu might be regarded as the dish’s showpiece, as it is freshly fried right after the diner orders it, ensuring its freshness and hotness.
The peanut sauce is produced with a thick mixture of ground peanuts and palm sugar, garlic, chili pepper, salt, and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).
A typical street snack is ketoprak. It began in Jakarta and has since expanded throughout the island of Java. While the clients are placing their orders, the vendor prepares the ingredients at home and mixes them in front of them.
Small booths or carts along the street sell it in individual quantities. The cook frequently asks the diner if they want it light, medium, spicy, or extra hot when it comes to spiciness.
The amount of chili used determines the level of heat. Depending on the outlet and the ingredients included, prices range from IDR 8.000 to 15.000. A firm-boiled egg is occasionally included.
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2. Gulai
Gulai is a sort of Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean dish with a thick, spicy, and luscious curry-like sauce. Typical ingredients include poultry, goat meat, beef, mutton, various types of offal, fish, and shellfish, as well as vegetables such as cassava leaves, unripe jackfruit, and banana stems.
Gulai is commonly referred to be Indonesian curry, although it is also a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore. Gulai is a typical word for curry dishes in the country, however, Kari is widely recognized in Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean cuisine (curry).
Gulai ingredients and recipes vary slightly around the archipelago. In Jakarta, for example, gulai is typically light yellow, whereas, in Sumatra, it has a reddish tone. The gulai in Palembang is made up of components including garlic, shallot, turmeric, turmeric leaf, and pineapple.
The ruku-ruku leaf (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is a must-have element in the Minangkabau regions of West Sumatra, while the corriander is preferred in its Javanese counterpart. Another distinction is that tamarind is frequently used in Javanese gulai, which gives it a somewhat sourer flavor than other gulai varieties.
3. Bubur Ayam
Bubur Ayam is a chicken congee from Indonesia. Rice congee with shredded chicken flesh, celery, tongcay (preserved salted vegetables), fried soybean, crullers (youtiao, also called cakwe in Indonesia), and both salty and sweet soy sauce, and occasionally topped with yellow chicken broth and kerupuk (Indonesian-style crackers).
It is not spicy, unlike many other Indonesian meals; sambal, or chili paste, is served separately. It’s a popular breakfast dish supplied by street vendors, warungs (small local businesses), fast food joints, and five-star hotel restaurants. Vendors selling Bubur Ayam routinely pass through residential streets early in the morning.
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4. Nasi Goreng
Nasi goreng is a fried rice dish from Southeast Asia that is typically served with meat and vegetables. It is endemic in Malay-speaking communities in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, and has gained popularity in Sri Lanka as a result of migration from the Malay Archipelago, in countries like Suriname as a result of Indonesian immigrant communities, and in the Netherlands as a result of its colonial ties with Indonesia.
Nasi goreng is distinguishable from other Asian fried rice dishes by its smokey scent and caramelized yet savory flavor nuances. There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for nasi goreng, and the ingredients and methods of preparation differ widely from one household to the next.
Nasi goreng has long been regarded as a traditional Indonesian dish. It was officially acknowledged as one of Indonesia’s five national dishes by the Indonesian government in 2018.
It can be eaten in simple variants off a tin plate at a roadside food stall, eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or collected from the buffet tables of dinner parties in metropolitan centers such as Jakarta.
Premixed packaged seasonings for nasi goreng are commonly accessible, and frozen nasi goreng may be obtained at convenience stores all around Indonesia.
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5. Sate Padang
Sate Padang, or Padang satay, is a Minangkabau specialty satay made with beef sliced into small cubes and topped with a spicy sauce. The thick yellow sauce prepared from rice flour, beef and offal broth, turmeric, ginger, garlic, coriander, galangal root, cumin, curry powder, and salt is the dish’s most distinguishing feature.
Many Sate Padang in Medan includes chicken, goat, lamb, and mutton in their preparations. In Medan, fried shallots are also served on top of sate Padang with lontong as a side dish.
Sate padang, sate padang panjang, and sate pariaman are the three types of sate padang. The color of the sauce distinguishes the three varieties. Sate Padang Panjang is normally served with a yellow sauce, whereas Sate Pariaman is served with a red sauce. The sauces are prepared differently, and the flavors of both sate are distinct. Sate Padang has a flavor that is a combination of the two.
To make the flesh soft and juicy, fresh beef is boiled twice in a big drum filled with water. The meat is then chopped into sections and spices are sprinkled on top.
The broth is then combined with 19 different spices that have been smoothed and swirled with various types of chile to form the sauce. After that, all of the seasonings are combined and cooked for 15 minutes. The sate will be cooked with coconut shell charcoal right before serving.
