8 West Java’s Most Popular Cuisines You Need to Taste in Your Lifetime

Not only its beautiful natural charms and attractions, the culinary diversity in Indonesia is also something that stands out among others. One of Indonesia’s food called Rendang is even nominated as one of the most delicious foods in the world.

Now, we’re going to dive into the culinary experience in West Java, a province in Indonesia that’s well known for its tasty cuisines. Knowing the foods without even having the chance to taste them will be one of your regrets. We have gathered the list of 8 West Java’s most popular cuisines you need to taste in your lifetime.

1. Karedok

If Mie Aceh is one of the popular local cuisines of Aceh, then Karedok is the one from West Java. This cuisine is for you if you want to taste something tasty but stay healthy.

Karedok is made from fresh vegetables that are served with savory peanut sauce. This cuisine is somehow similar to gado-gado or pecel, other popular cuisines of Indonesia. However, the difference lies on the fact that the vegetables in Karedok are not cooked.

The vegetables are cucumber, basil leaves, long ben, bean sprouts, eggplant and cabbage that are sliced and topped with peanut sauce. It’s like salad with traditional Indonesian’s sauce.

2. Soto Kuning

Next, West Java has Soto Kuning, a savory cuisine with its iconic yellow soup. The word kuning itself means yellow in Bahasa Indonesia. The color comes from the use of turmeric as one of the spices that adds not only color but also flavor.

This cuisine consists of many types of meat including chicken, meat and the organs. It goes perfectly with a plate of warm rice and a spoonful of sambal if you want to spice it up. If you like this type of foods, you can also try the local cuisines of Makassar that are commonly served as soup.

3. Tauge Goreng

The word tauge means bean sprouts while goreng means fried. However, contrary to its name, the bean sprouts in Tauge Goreng is not fried. It’s because the bean sprouts are boiled.

But, the name goreng itself is said to come from the frying pan that’s used to boil the bean sprouts. The bean sprouts are served with noodle, rice cake and oncom sauce. Oncom is a food that’s similar to tempeh but is originated from and super popular in West Java.

4. Tahu Gejrot

This cuisine is rather simple yet delicious and satisfying. Tahu gejrot is a cuisine made from tofu, which is called tahu in Bahasa Indonesia. The tofu is fried and then sliced intobite size and put in a ceramic plate.

The sliced tofu is then poured with special sauce that’s made of simple syrup, sugar, chilli, onions, and petis – a kind of shrimp or fish paste. The taste of the sauce is spicy and sour, really go well with the tofu. If you’re interested to know more about Javanese cuisinese, you can also check East Javanese cuisines you should try.

5. Surabi

Surabi is one of Indonesian traditional cakes. It can be easily find in many warungs along the street of West java. Its dough is made from rice flour which is then cooked in traditional clay furnace.

The texture is fluffy and sweet, which is the original flavor of surabi. But, it has been modernized and now there are many selections of flavors that can be choosen according to your taste.

6. Batagor

Next is batagor. Batagor has been well-known not only in West Java but also in the entire Indonesia. Indonesians love to make the name of their foods memorable by telling what exactly the food is made from.

The word batagor stands for baso tahu goreng which means fried tofu and meatball. The fried tofu and meatball that’s made from tapioca flour and fish are then poured with spicy-savory peanut sauce. It’s a delicate cuisine that you can try to fill up your empty stomach.

7. Empal Gentong

The next popular West Java cuisine is empal gentong. The word empal means meat and gentong is a kind of barrel that’s used to cook the meat. SO basically, empla gentong is a meat cuisine that’s cooked in a gentong.

The cooking process is still quite traditional as it uses firewood to cook the empal gentong. It’s done in order to preserve the authentic taste of the cuisine. This is a perfect cuisine to eat with a plate of warm rice and a spoonful of sambal.

8. Nasi Tutug Oncom

Last but not least, West Java has nasi tutug oncom. As you’ve read on third cuisine, tauge goreng, which is served with oncom sauce, this cuisine also takes oncom as its main ingredient.

The oncom is grounded and mixed with the rice. The word tutug itself means grounding. So yeah, if you understand the word, you basically have ideas of what the cuisine is.

Anyway, this cuisine is super delicious and savory. Even without adding other side dish to accompany the nasi tutug, the taste is already incredible. You can just eat the grounded oncom and rice alone.

Since all of the cuisines above are affordable, you have no worries to spend your money and get a taste of each of them. Also, since you’re in West Java, don’t forget to pay a visit to the beautiful beaches in West Java.