Ketoprak (the food, not the theatrical performance)

Hello all food lovers!

Today i bought a traditional food called 'Ketoprak'.

Actually, the term Ketoprak can be referred to two different things : 1) a traditional food; 2) a traditional theatrical performance. Of course, I'm referring to the first one.

Ketoprak is known (according to most of the seller) as traditional food from Cirebon, a small city in West Java Province. Well, i don't know if this information is accurate, but as far as i know, most Ketoprak seller come from Cirebon and surroundings.

Ketoprak is very common in Jakarta, but i don't know how is it in other cities. It is considered as 'main course' or 'heavy meal' and not 'snack'. It is common for Jakarta citizen to eat Ketoprak alone for lunch or dinner, since it's quite filling.

Overview

Ketoprak is a kind of 'heavy meal' food that consists of : 'Lontong or Ketupat', rice vermicelli, bean-sprout, and fried tofu; mixed well with peanut-sauce and sweet-soya-sauce, and garnished with fried onion (shallot) and 'kerupuk'.

Ketoprak is considered (at least by myself, hehe) cousins with 'Gado-gado' or 'Karedok', since they use tipical peanut-paste. The differences among them are quite minor. While Ketoprak uses no vegetable at all, Gado-gado uses boiled vegetables, Karedok uses raw vegetables.

Usually the Ketoprak seller uses somekind of two wheeled cart sized about 2m x 60 cm x 2m (length x width x height). The cart is different from regular hand-cart and designed so compact that the seller can carry everything he needs inside. Moreover, the cart is also serves as 'kitchen' where he can do the cookings and preparations there.

Here is the photo of common Ketoprak cart : (I'll edit this later)

Although Ketoprak is considered as street-food, you still can find them at many restaurants and hotels, at higher price of course.

Ingredients

Based on my observation :

1. 2 pcs of Ketupat or Lontong (they are the same thing, only differently shaped), cut into medium pieces
   
2. Boiled rice vermicelli (about 100 grams or a handful)
   
3. Fresh bean-sprout (about 50 grams or a handful)
   
4. 3 pcs of Fried Tofu (they use a kind of white tofu), sliced into small pieces.
   
5. Some sweet-soy-sauce
   
6. Fried onion (shallot) for garnish
7. Kerupuk (processed tapioca chips-very common in Indonesia), they use small sized kerupuk
8. Some seller also use fried egg for garnish, but it is not common

Peanut paste:

1. 3 or 4 pcs of cayenne chilli (small and very hot chilli)
2. 1 garlic
3. a little salt
4. a very little terasi (shrimp-paste)
5. 3 to 4 tablespoons of grinded ground-peanuts
6. some water (about 100 ml)
7. some brown sugar (about 10 grams)

All of these mixed well into a liquid-sauce.

How to cook

The seller will grind the peanut paste manually in the serving plate one by one. 

So if there is ten customers in queue, the seller will grind it ten times (different for each customer).

I once asked a seller, "Why do you have to grind it one by one for every customer? Isn't it easier and faster to grind it all at once in bulk and serve it for all customer?"

He replied, "I grind it one by one for quality reason. If I grind it all at once, somehow the result would be different"

After the peanut paste ready, he will put the rest of the ingredients in top of the peanut paste, and garnish it with soya sauce, fried shallot, and kerupuk.

Where to buy and price

Ketoprak is very common in Jakarta. You can find Ketoprak in almost every corner of any street. But of course, you can find it in hotels and restaurants also.

One of the best Ketoprak (according to me, that is) i ever tried is one at Tanjung Duren Selatan,West Jakarta. It is called: 'Ketoprak Pak Muktar' (Ketoprak Mr. Muktar). He uses fried egg for garnish (at higher price of course).

The price for one portion is 7000 rupiahs (November 2008). If you like, you can ask for additional fried egg, but the price would be 9000 rupiahs.

This price is mostly the same in all Jakarta (only in street of course).

Here is the photo of Ketoprak : (I'll edit this later)

Pronounciation

How do you say Ketoprak in Bahasa Indonesia?

Ke as in the;

to as in torch;

prak as in sprung;

Visit Indonesia

So, if you haven't tried Ketoprak yet. Just fly over here to Indonesia. It's totally different. You'll be surprised at the taste of the peanut paste. Believe me!

Have a taste of Indonesia, my beautiful country :)