Betawi cuisine developed and evolved with influences from various cuisine traditions brought by waves of newcomers to the port city on the north coast of WesternJava. From the small port ofSunda Kalapa, it grew into an active hub of international trade, primarily involving Indonesian,Chinese,Indian andArab traders. By the early 16th century, drawn by thespice trade, thePortuguese were the first Europeans to arrive, followed by the Dutch later in the same century. During colonialVOC era, foreign communities were kept in enclaves under Dutch colonial rule; as the result the culinary concentration grew in each area:Tanah Abang for Arab cuisine, theGlodok andKuningan area for Chinese food, and Tugu in North Jakarta for Portuguese.[1]
A gastronomy expert suggests that some Betawi dishes can describes the past condition of Betawi people reside in Batavia. For example,kerak telor was created due to the low quality of localglutinous rice, with theegg and other toppings added to make it more tasty and satisfying.Soto tangkar, which today is a meat soup, was mostly made from the broth ofgoat rib-cage bones in the past because meat was expensive, or the common population of Batavia were too poor to afford some meat back then.[1][6]
Today, many authentic Betawi dishes are hard to find even in its native land. This is partly because as a cosmopolitan city, Jakarta also features dishes from many far-flung parts ofIndonesia, as well as international cuisines — which is a myriad dishes for Betawi cuisine to compete with. Moreover, Betawi community were pushed out of the inner city to the marginal suburbs in and aroundGreater Jakarta in the wave of development.[1] Nevertheless, some Betawi restaurants are striving to preserve their heritage cuisine, such as raregabus pucung,[3] andpecak gabus, snakehead fish (Channa striata) inpecak sauce.[7]
Betawi cuisine uses rice as staples, numbers of its dishes are revolved around rice, either steamed, cooked in coconut milk asnasi uduk (coconut rice), or compressed asketupat sayur orlontong sayur rice cakes in vegetables soup. As aMuslim-majority community, Betawi people favourbeef,mutton andgoat meat, as they adhere to Islamichalal dietary-law which forbidpork consumption. Fishes are consumed too. Unusual for a coastal city, there are hardly anyseafood dishes in Betawi cuisine. But there are plenty of freshwater fish dishes, using local varieties ofsnakehead fish andcarp.
Popular Betawi dishes includesoto betawi (beefoffals in milky broth),sayur asem (sweet and sour vegetable soup),sop iga sapi (beef rib soup) andkerak telor (spiced coconutomelette). Most of Betawi dishes are cooked in deep-fried, stir-fried, barbecued or braised methods, and feature a delicate balance of sweet, sour and salty flavours.[2]
Asinan betawi, a salad made from a mix of pickled vegetables, yellow noodles and sweet, sour and spicy peanut sauce, topped with a handful of rice crackers[2]
Bakcang,glutinous rice stuffed with meat and wrapped in bamboo leaf in triangular (more precisely, tetrahedral) form
Lontong cap go meh, lontong in rich coconut milk with chicken opor ayam, liver in chilli, sayur lodeh, and telur pindang (marbled egg)
Lontong sayur, almost identical toketupat sayur, but useslontong instead
Laksa betawi, a Betawi laksa—the thick yellowish coconut milk based soup is a mixture of spices contains groundrebon orebi (dried small shrimp),ketupat, vegetables, boiled egg, sprinkled withbawang goreng and often topped withemping cracker.
Nasi mandi, rice served with either roasted chicken, lamb or other meat.[9]
Nasi tim, steamed chicken rice served with chicken broth soup
Nasi uduk, rice cooked incoconut milk, served with assortment of side dishes according to customer's choice; from eggs (hard boiled or omelette),tempeh,anchovy, to friedempal beef and fried chicken.
Roti gambang (lit. xylophone bread), rectangular shaped brown bread with sesame seeds, flavored with cinnamon and palm sugar. Usually served during Ramadan and other Betawi occasion.
Bubur cha cha, dessert or breakfast dish made of pearled sago, sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, coconut milk, pandan leaves, sugar and salt. The ingredients are cooked in coconut milk, and the dish can be served hot or cold.
Bubur sumsum, whitecongee made from rice flour and eaten with brown sugar sauce.
Cakwe, cruller or fried long bread, served with sweet, sour and spicy dipping sauce.
Kembang goyang (lit. shaking flower), traditional snack made ofrice flour which is mixed with eggs, sugar, a pinch of salt and coconut milk. The dough can be fried after heating the oil and thekembang goyang mold.
Kue ape, a soft-centered cake with a flimsy but crisp crust.
Kue cubit (lit. pinch cake), traditionalpancake that uses flour, baking powder, sugar and milk as its primary ingredients. This cake is related topoffertjes.
Kue cucur, a pancake made of fried rice flour batter and coconut sugar.
Kue gemblong, a rice flour dough covered in sticky brown coconut sugar.
Kue ku, a small round or oval-shaped pastry with soft stickyglutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet filling in the centre.
Kue pepe, a sticky, sweet layered cake made of glutinous rice flour.
Kue putu, traditional cylindrical-shaped and green-colored steamed cake.
Kue putu mayang, idiyappam-like rice noodles with a mixture of coconut milk and served with liquid palm sugar.
Kue rangi, coconut waffle served with thick brown coconut sugar.
Kue talam (lit. tray cake), traditional cake made of rice flour, coconut milk and sugar steamed in cake mold or cups.
Lumpia jakarta, lumpia that usually being deep fried. UnlikeSemarang lumpia that usesrebung (bamboo shoots), Jakarta lumpia usesjicama and served with spicypeanut sauce as a dipping sauce.
Bir pletok, a non-alcoholic drink made from the bark of thesecang tree.
Cendol, an iced sweetdessert that contains droplets of green rice flour jelly,coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.
Es cincau, grass jelly drink served with shaved ice, coconut milk and sugar.
Es selendang mayang, a sweet iced dessert made ofkinca or liquidpalm sugar, coconut milk,pandan leaf for aroma, ice and cakes made of glutinousrice flour orhunkwe (mung beans starch powder).
Sekoteng, a warm beverage made ofginger and milk, poured with peanut, cubed bread, andpacar cina (tapioca pearls).
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