On the trail of the treasure of Betawi's culinary secrets
On the trail of the treasure of Betawi's culinary secrets
JAKARTA (JP): Betawi food, the native cuisine of Jakarta, has
traditionally been put on the back burner when praise over
Indonesia's culinary riches is handed out.
Its counterparts from Padang (West Sumatra, laid out before
you as soon as you take your place at the table), West Java
(Sunda) and exotic North Sulawesi (Manado) have grabbed the
biggest share of plaudits for their delicious fare.
Name one Betawi dish? Most of us would have no problem coming
up with Soto Betawi, the rich beef and vegetable broth which
differs from its Central Javanese cousin by using coconut milk as
its base.
We might have more difficulty in identifying a second, but
could still muster up gado-gado Jakarta, with boiled vegetables,
egg and chopped tempeh bathed in a spicy peanut sauce, and
garnished with crackers. Not far behind would be nasi uduk, the
late night soul satisfier of rice steamed with coconut milk and
served with an array of fried chicken, tempeh and other side
dishes.
Yet most of us would be stumped if requested to name one or
two others. Betawi food lives on among the Golden Arches
crisscrossing the city, but it keeps a low-profile.
This is a shame. Jakarta's dishes represent a culinary melting
pot of the peoples from within the archipelago and from distant
lands. They attest to centuries of experimentation and borrowing
from other cuisines to create the unique Betawi dishes of today.
Satay falls haphazardly under Betawi food although its
popularity has rendered it one of the few truly national dishes,
to be found in all pockets of the country. The definitions are
blurry, but generally identified as Jakartan satays are sate
kikil (grilled goat's feet) and sate kambing (grilled goat meat).
Apart from nasi uduk, Jakarta boasts nasi kebuli. As the name
suggests, this is a hybrid version of the Middle Eastern dish,
adapted by waves of Arab traders as they set up home in the
bustling market areas of Tanah Abang and Petamburan in Central
Jakarta.
The capital also has its own sizzling curries and stews to
match any from West Sumatra. Gulai kambing, another nod to
Jakarta's Arab community, is a rich, savory stew of chunks of
goat meat in a highly spiced sauce.
Jakarta is no exception when its comes to the Indonesian love
affair with fried chicken. There is fried chicken in the sour-
sweet soy sauce usually daubed on fruit salad (ayam bumbu rujak),
and broiled chicken flavored according to taste with paprika,
lemongrass or soy sauce.
Innovative Jakartans also used the thick semur sauce usually
combined with beef or tofu and egg stews. Not as spicy as the
rendang sauce of West Sumatra, semur is both tart and sweet.
Higher on the spice quotient is sambal udang kapri (shrimp and
snow peas sauteed in chili) and sambal goreng kentang. The
latter, cubed potatoes fried in chili, is a delectable delight
for the taste buds, which expatriates with a taste for chili will
enjoy.
Jajanan, the cheap snacks ubiquitous in Indonesian towns and
cities, have their place in Jakarta. Three stand out from the
cakes, cookies and savories. The achingly sweet glutinous rice
cake called dodol is a Betawi favorite, and a must during the
Lebaran celebration at the end of the Ramadhan fasting month.
There is also kerak telur, a mixture of glutinous rice, egg,
flour, onion, shavings of fish, and topped with shredded dried
coconut. Among traditional fried snacks, vegetables and shrimp
soaked in batter and fried (bakwan) is often wolfed down as a
late afternoon snack.
The above is but an abridged sampling of the diverse variety
of Betawi dishes, but interested diners would still be hard
pressed to find them on Jakarta's central streets. Unlike Padang
and Sundanese food, Betawi cuisine has not entered the franchise
age of spick-and-span eateries targeted at locals and foreigners
alike.
There is Si Doel in Kemang, a restaurant opened by actor Rano
Karno and named after his character in the popular TV series
about a Betawi family. Betawi and other Indonesian dishes feature
on the menu, the waiters' traditional dress is a stab at
authenticity, and the food is palatable. Yet one has the nagging
feeling that this is not the genuine McCoy, but a prettified
version for consumption in this expatriate haven.
Betawi food does survive among food vendors plying the city's
streets and roadside stalls. A recommended place to buy kerak
telur, which is now hard to find in the capital, is the food
stall at the Gelael supermarket in Pancoran, South Jakarta. For
the squeamish, those accustomed to scrubbing their vegetables in
Aqua and fits of hand-wringing over whether those ice cubes were
actually made from boiled water, a better bet would be the Betawi
food served in supermarket food courts, especially in the Sarinah
basement on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
In the week or so preceding the celebration of Jakarta's
founding anniversary today, the city's hotels trot out sumptuous
buffets in honor of Betawi food. The interested may be able to
catch them in the next couple of days. Better hurry, though, as
Betawi cuisine's annual 15 minutes in the gourmet spotlight is
nearly up.