 Seafood seblak | |
| Course | Main orsnack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Bandung,West Java |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Wetkurupuk cooked with scrambled egg, vegetables, and other protein sources (chicken, chicken feet, seafood, or beef sausages), with spicy sauces including garlic, shallot,kencur, sweet soy sauce, and chili sauce. |
| Variations | Seblak kering (dry seblak) orkurupuk seblak which is actually a spicykurupuk (traditional cracker) |
Seblak (Sundanese:ᮞᮨᮘᮣᮊ᮪,Sundanese pronunciation:[səblak]) is aSundanese savoury and spicy dish, originating from theSundanese people inIndonesia. Made of wetkurupuk (traditional Indonesian crackers) cooked with protein sources (egg,chicken,seafood orbeef) in spicy sauce.[1]Seblak is a specialty ofBandung city,West Java,Indonesia.Seblak can be acquired from restaurants,warungs orgerobak (cart) street vendors. It is one of the most popularstreet foods in Indonesia, especially in Bandung andJakarta.
The wordseblak may have originatedSundanese that isNyeblak or surprising, because it tastes spicy and rich in spices. Seblak also refers to ingredients ofSundanese cuisine, made fromcikur orGalangal (Kaempferia galanga).[2]
At first glance, the ingredients and the cooking method ofseblak is quite similar to other common Indonesian food, such asmie goreng orkwetiau goreng, howeverseblak differs with the chewy gelatin-like texture of wetkurupuk, and is mostly quite spicy, owed to the generous addition ofsambal chili paste.[1] A customer might order the degree of spiciness of theirseblak beforehand, although the default taste is quite hot and spicy. Almost all kinds ofkurupuk can be made asseblak, but the most savoury (and usually more costly) version useskurupuk udang (prawn crackers). The wetkurupuk is boiled orstir fried withscrambled egg, vegetables, and other protein sources; either chicken, seafood (prawn, fish and squid), or slices ofbeefsausages orbakso, stir-fried with spicy sauces includinggarlic,shallot,kencur,kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), andsambal chili sauce.[1]
Moistedkurupuk would shrunk into smaller size compared to crispy fried ones, thus a lot ofkurupuks are required to make a bowl ofseblak. Sincekurupuk — especially prawn andfish crackers, are quite costly, the cheaper street food version usually add other carbohydrate sources as a filler in order to lessen the use of wetkurupuk, and to make it more satisfying. These extra carbs are slices ofkwetiau and/ormacaroni. Another popular variant useschicken feet as one of main ingredients.[3]
In earlier days, the termseblak refer to hot and spicy spice mixture made from groundcikur (Kaempferia galanga) andchili pepper. It is also refer to a traditional hot and spicy crispykurupuk crackers originate from rural southernCianjur area before the independence era, this food was an alternative food, which is now called asseblak kering (dryseblak) orkurupuk seblak. However, today it is mostly refer to its wet and savoury version; theseblak basah.[4]
Seblak is relatively a recent invention inBandung, this new street food appeared in Bandung circa 2000s. It is suggested that the dish was originally started as a method to avoid wasting uneaten oldkurupuk; a way to safely (and pleasantly) consume stale oldkurupuk by cooking it with other ingredients, to make it more satisfying. Nevertheless, the pleasantly soft and chewy texture, also its savoury, rich and spicy taste, has madeseblak a street food favourite in Indonesia, especially the Sundanese people.
In 2025, Seblak saw a sudden surge in popularity acrossThailand. The dish became a widespread trend, encouraging many Thai people to seek it out and taste it for themselves. Seblak started attracting significant attention after it was featured on the TikTok account @TheChanisara. In her video, Chanisara mentioned that she had come across a dish she found unusual and showed great enthusiasm while eating it several times. Her post inspired other TikTok users to follow the trend and sample the well-known delicacy from Bandung.[5]
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