PUBLISHED August 14th, 2020 06:00 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 03:47 pm
What better way to explore a new place, especially in one of Indonesia’s most popular tourist destinations, than through its food? We were in Yogyakarta (also known as Jogja) shortly before Covid-19 happened, where we spent three days experiencing its culture attractions, arts, and of course, culinary offerings. Here are our tried-and-tested food recommendations for you to try once we are able to travel again. We don’t know when that is, but one can surely dream of Jogja’s soto ayam.
‘Charcoal-infused’ coffee: Kopi Jos
The coffee in Java is always served strong and black, but if you want to take things a step further, you go to Yogyakarta for kopi jos, a local specialty where a lump of searing hot charcoal is plucked from below the stove and tossed into your cup — don’t worry, you fish it out onto a plate after a minute or two so you don’t swallow any chunks of wood. What’s the point? Some say the charcoal helps to neutralise the acidity in your coffee, but we think it also adds a bit of caramel sweetness to the drink.
The first street stall said to create the drink is Kopi Joss Lik Man (a whole slew of competitors have since opened up shop down the road), which has been around since the 1940s. Make like the locals do and take your coffee with cheap skewers (IDR3,000 per stick kind of cheap) of chicken heart, quail eggs, and more. Oh, tell them you want to take a photo when you order and they’ll invite you up close to watch the sputtering action.
Indonesia’s chicken noodle soup: Soto Ayam
Noodle soups are a staple in Yogyakarta, and it’s obvious why — they’re comforting, tasty, and cheap (from IDR10,000). And the reigning dish? It’s soto ayam (literally “chicken soup”, a popular breakfast item that looks deceivingly ordinary. The broth is clear and light, but there’s plenty of savouriness within. There is thin vermicelli, tender shredded chicken, sliced cabbage, fried shallots, and the secret ingredient: little balls of puffy cassava that add a sweet kick. While many locals flock to the legendary Soto Ayam Kampung Pak Dalbe near the airport, we also love Soto Ayam Lenthok Pak Gareng closer to the city center, right in front of the train station.
A spicy ice cream delight with fruits: Rojak Ice Cream
You’ve eaten rojak before in other Southeast Asian countries, but what about rojak ice cream? Rujak Es Krim Pak Nardi is one of the few such stalls (actually a wooden cart by the road) left in Jogja. Fresh fruits are spiced and drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce, then topped with homemade rojak ice cream (IDR6,000). If you’re daring enough, you can even ask for a spoon of sambal — there’s nothing like a sweet, sour, spicy, and cold treat all at once to remind you that you’re in Indonesia.
The sweetest rice dish in town: Nasi Gudeg
Yes, it’s nasi gudeg, the dish most synonymous with Yogyakarta. Some people love it, some hate it, but you can’t deny the novelty of young unripe jackfruit stewed for hours with palm sugar, coconut milk, teak leaf, and spices like garlic and coriander into a chutney of sorts. The gudeg is typically served with rice, tempeh, krecek (chewy beef skin that’s been cooked in chilli), and an egg that’s been braised in palm sugar. Get everything into one bite and it’ll be surely be a memorable experience. Many of the city’s best nasi gudeg eateries (from IDR25,000) are concentrated on Jalan Wijilan near the palace, including Gudeg Yu Djem and Gudeg Bu Lies.
An age-old salty-sweet dessert: Jenang
Jenang is a colourful, sticky, and salty-sweet dessert that’s aptly served on a banana leaf. It’s also usually a visual spectacle, as vendors scoop from large bubbling metal pots of palm sugar, cassava, jackfruit, jackfruit puree, and rice flour, and coconut milk. One of the most popular spots for locals is Jenang Lempuyangan Bu Gesti — it was also often visited by the former President Soeharto — as well as the unnamed one near the entrance of Beringharjo Market. This is definitely a dessert (around IDR4,000) that holds a place in every local’s heart!
Chinese-inspired spring rolls with coconut sugar: Lumpia Samijaya
Just as you can’t go to Semarang without trying the original lumpia, you can’t go to Yogyakarta without tasting Lumpia Samijaya (from IDR3,000). To clarify, you can only find this at Samijaya, a stall along the iconic Malioboro Street (although there may or not be copies lying around). While the original lumpia is a deep-fried spring roll filled with bamboo shoots, dried shrimp, coconut sugar, and chilli, the ones at Samijaya come a tad moreish with chicken and quail eggs, and have been around for more than 40 years.
Deep-fried catfish: Pecel Lele
Have you ever eaten catfish? Because you have to try Pecel Lele (around IDR28,000), an Indonesian deep-fried catfish dish. While it didn’t originate in Yogyakarta per se, there are a few stalls here that do a damn good rendition of it, such as Pecel Lele Lamongan Pak Bejo on Jalan Affandi and Warung Pecel Lele Cak Gendut on Jalan Bantul. Think deep-fried Clarias catfish is paired with sambal and string beans and cucumber, then tofu, tempeh, and steamed rice. We don’t know why, but many people like to complement the dish with a glass of fresh orange juice too.
Javanese sweets: Onde Onde, Bakpia
Whether you’re a fan of sweet stuff or otherwise, it’s worth taking a stroll down Malioboro Street after sunset to find a whole array of Javanese sweets at a bargain price. You’ll find colourful things like onde onde (not to be confused with the green-coloured rice cakes filled with gula melaka you find in Singapore) — fried balls dotted with sesame seeds and filled with mung bean paste, and bakpia, another bean-filled pastry with a similar appearance to Chinese mooncakes.
Top Image: Herman Saksono