Finding traditional bites for sweet lovers

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Take a stroll around Melawai, Blok M, in South Jakarta early in the morning, around 5 a.m., and you will be accosted by the sight of street vendors selling a wide variety of colorful and tasty traditional snacks, still piping hot and with a delicious aroma.

Don't bother to come after 7 a.m., though, as they will all be gone by then. Sold out.

The place is a center for traditional snacks, where many vendors buy them to sell elsewhere. And it is one of the few places where you can buy traditional snacks.

These days, it is more difficult to find a shop where you can get kelepon than one offering a brownie or cappuccino muffin. Well, it is cosmopolitan Jakarta after all.

Besides Blok M, you can find the snacks in the traditional markets, or street vendors. A few bakeries, like Mon Ami -- one of their branches is located on Jl. Pakubuwono, South Jakarta -- also offer them.

Their scarcity is a pity because traditional snacks are just as tasty as any other desserts, good as a mid-morning snack or for the late-night munchies.

Here we give you some of our favorites.

Kue Lapis

What? A steamed cake made of rice flour. Lapis literally means layers, and this cake is layer upon layer of delicately placed sponge.

What does it look like? Rectangular and stripy -- white and brown, or white and green or any other color, wrapped in plastic.

How should it taste? Sweet, a bit greasy and rubbery. A good kue lapis should not be too rubbery; when you bite and chew it, you can feel the rice flour as it is not smooth. It should smell good, especially the green one, as the color comes from fragrant pandan leaf.

Combro

What? A fried snack made of scraped cassava and filled with oncom (fermented cake made from soybean sediment, doesn't sound too appetizing but it is).

What does it look like? Sort of like a chicken nugget, but round. Some make it flattened, some make it like meatballs.

How should it taste? Crispy and salty, and the oncom is a mix of sweet and hot flavors.

Kelepon

What? A round steamed cake of sticky rice filled with brown sugar and sprinkled with scraped coconut.

What does it look like? Small, green (from the pandan leaf) balls with white scraped coconut. Usually arranged on small banana leaves, four to five of them at once.

How should it taste? As with kue lapis, it should not be too sticky nor too smooth. The green cake is salty but sweetened by the sugar, which should melt as we bite into it.

Onde-onde

What? Round fried cake made of rice flour, sprinkled with sesame seeds and filled with sweetened ground mung beans.

What does it look like? Brown, but the sesame seeds provide a bit of decoration.

How should it taste? A bit crispy, not limp, but not sticky.

Kue Ku

What? Round steamed cake, filled with sweetened ground mung beans.

What does it look like? Red, shiny, placed on banana leaf.

How should it taste? Sticky, but not overly so, and sweet.

Martabak

What? A thick folded crepe. There are two types of martabak: asin (savory) and manis (sweet). The savory one is filled with minced meat or chicken, while the sweet one is filled with cheese, milk and chocolate sprinkles.

What does it look like? Like a thick folded crepe, silly.

How should it taste? Their downfall is when they are too thick and sticky, or too spicy. It should be not too sweet, and the pancake crisp and chewy.

Cendol

What? A cold drink made of coconut milk with small, doughy rice- flour droplets, sweetened by brown sugar.

What does it look like? Brown with green droplets.

How should it taste? Fresh and sweet. Be careful if you buy it on street as the vendors often use artificial sugar.

Kue pancong

What? Baked cake of grated coconut and flour. Sundanese people call it bandros while Javanese call it gandos.

What does it look like? White, a bit brownish as it is baked, and in a half circle.

How should it taste? Soft and salty (it smells good from the coconut). Many people like it because it is not as sweet as other desserts, but it's nice too when you sprinkle it with sugar.

Dadar Gulung

What? Rolled pancake filled with brown sugar and grated coconut.

What does it look like? Usually green, wrapped in plastic.

How should it taste? Not crispy, a bit rubbery, and the pancake is salty.

Lemper

What? Snack made of steamed glutinous rice with meat or other stuffing and wrapped in a banana leaf

What does it look like? Cylindrical, wrapped in plastic.

How should it taste? Deliciously salty, and the meat or chicken usually is sweetened.

Apem

What? Cake of rice flour with leavening.

What does it look like? Like a muffin, but much smaller, with cracked surface.

How should it taste? Spongy, sweet.

Kue putu

What? Steamed cake made of flour and palm sugar eaten with grated coconut. Usually sold by traveling hawkers, but an increasing rarity.

What does it look like? Cylindrical, green.

How should it taste? Soft, not sticky; quickly falls apart as you bite into it and the sugar melts in our mouth. Best eaten hot.