Top 20 Traditional Food of Java with Authentic Taste Must Try

Traditional food is so tempting to taste when you visit a certain area. Well in java, there is so much typical food that you can try to fill your longing of the best food to devour. Below will be listed some of them.

1. Lumpia (Fried Spring Roll)
Everyone knows one of the typical food of Javanese is Lumpia. Lumpia is much better tasting if eaten while still warm. Especially if you add the sauce or cayenne pepper and the flavor would satiate your hunger.

Furthermore, Lumpia has a variety of contents filling, some use chicken, eggs, vegetables and also shrimp to further enhances the taste. If you go to Java then don’t forget to try this one food.

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2. Petis Tofu
This food comes from processed tofu. The name is called Tofu Petis and it comes from Semarang. You can have Tofu Petis as a snack or can combine with rice while consuming it. The main ingredients for this food are of course fried Tofu.

The difference between this Tofu with another tofu food is the black sauce that came with it whose name is Petis. This Petis are made from soup fish or shrimp that are cooked until it became thick

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3. Salty Eggs
Salted eggs are a generic term for egg-based dishes that are preserved by salt. Most salted eggs are duck eggs, though they do not rule out any other better-tasted eggs. These eggs taste really salty. This food made from duck egg is famous from Brebes, Central Java.

Usually, these salty eggs are eaten with rice, but there are also those who eat only the salty egg instead. Salted eggs are best consumed within a month or 30 days.

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4. Mendoan Tempeh
This food is famous in the Banyumas and Purwokerto region. Tempe Mendoan is almost the same like fried tempeh as it’s normally covered with flour prior to cooking. The difference is only with the name Mendoan, which means cooking using hot oil in short period of time so the Tempeh is not too ripe.

Nowadays, Tempe Mendoan not only exists in the area of Banyumas and Purwokerto region. Almost in all areas of Central Java, there are stalls that sell this food as many people like it.

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5. Enting-Enting Gepuk
Enting-Enting Gepuk is a typical Salatiga snack made from groundnut. The basic ingredients are peanuts that are crushed or grind having been mixed with thickened sugar and then compacted until it smoothened.

Then, the food that already fused with Java Sugar is all group into one. The smoothing process must be kept so that the peanuts oil do not leak out so as to preserve its taste and flavor

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6. Gandul Rice
If you come to Pati, then do not forget to try Gandul rice. This is different than other rice, as this Gandul rice is served with banana leaves. The taste of the rice is also much tastier than the usual rice.

Normally, Pandan leaves is also added when cooking Gandul rice to let the fragrance of the rice become much more favorable and can increase the appetite. This Gandul rice is the most delicious food when you eat it in the city of Pati with fresh sauce plus a side dish of smoked beef that will certainly be a complementary food worth having.

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7. Liwet Rice
Liwet Rice is a rice food from the city of Solo, the difference between Gandul Rice and Liwet Rice lies in the serving and the side dishes. The Liwet rice is served with parts of the chicken and sometimes used squash also to increase the flavor.

On the other hand, to make Liwet Rice then the rice is cook with coconut milk from the old coconut to make it tastier and smell good, you should try this food when visiting Solo.

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8. Rondo Royal
If you’re not from Central Java then this food is usually not that familiar to you. In fact, this food comes from Jepara as it’s material is Cassava. To make it then you put the cassava into the dough and then fried it using flour, and finally, you’ll get Rondo Royal.

Meanwhile, you can usually get this food in the stall lining up the street as this food is quite widespread there in Java

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9. Soto Kudus
Soto Kudus is one of the culinary food originated from Kudus area, Central Java. Like other Soto, Soto Kudus also has a distinctive taste with clear and fresh sauce. When you go to Kudus then you should try Soto Kudus. The difference from other Soto is the serving that uses a small bowl.

In addition, there is 2 version of Soto Kudus, the one with chicken meat and the one with buffalo meat. But you can just go to Kudus to try delicious Soto there and feel the warm sensation when you devour it.

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10. Gethuk
Gethuk is a food that is essentially cassava. Actually, the food not only exist in Central Java but also in Jogja as they had also their version of Gethuk. Gethuk has an original color that is white, but now there are various colors available to make it more interesting. In addition, there are also exist fried Gethuk which also has the same delicious taste.

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11. Wajik
Wajik is made from glutinous rice cooked with Java sugar. Usually, it tastes sweet because it uses Java sugar and the color of Wajik is brown because that’s the color of Java sugar.

However, nowadays, many Wajik has varying colors, as there are green, pink, red Wajik. If Wajik color is other than brown then the Wajik is using plain sugar instead of Java Sugar

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12. Dawet Ireng
When you are visiting Purworejo and feeling thirsty, then you can try to find Dawet Ireng that is available there. Dawet Ireng is different with Dawet Green as this Dawet is using Javanese Sugar hence it colors rather blackish. The black color in this Dawet is obtained from the natural material of ash straw that’s edible.

In addition, Dawet Ireng is so refreshing to consume when the weather is hot and you put ice cube in it to further refresh your thirst.

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13. Mangut Beong
This typical food comes from the city of Magelang, so you need to visit the city to try this dishes as it located nears Jogja. Also in Magelang, Central Java, you can taste Mangut Beong that’s a fish similar to Catfish but with much better tasting.

On the other hand, Beong fish is a typical fish that is located on the Progo River and has a delicious taste with the meat that is soft and crunchy

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14. Brekecek
This is a typical food from Central Java, precisely from the area of Cilacap. Although the name sounds weird when you taste it then you will be addicted to it as it suits your tongue. Brekecek is a typical food based on Pathak fish.

However, there are also those food variations that uses material from the head of a sea fish. The name Brekecek actually consists of two words, namely Brek and Kecek. Brek has the meaning of being dropped, while Kecek means shake or mixed with spices.

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15. Grombyang Rice
Grombyang rice is also one of Central Java’s special food, precisely coming from Pemalang area. The naming of this food comes from the way of the serving, that is the soup with much more plentiful volume than the content, so it looks shaky in a bowl thus it’s called Grombyang rice.

Furthermore, this special culinary is made from buffalo meat, rice, and gravy as the serving and uses a small bowl and equipped with buffalo satay.

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16. Fried Getuk
Normally Getuk is not fried, but for this one is fried and Fried Getuk is a typical food of Sokaraja, Banyumas, Central Java. The taste of this fried Getuk is deliciously sweet. The ingredients for making this food are the cassava and the sweet taste of Javanese brown sugar. It is said that this fried Getuk was first discovered accidentally in 1918 by Sanpirngad, a rice seller in the Sokaraja area.

In addition to rice, he also sells Getuk, but the Getuk that he sold is not selling well so the leftover of the Getuk food that he had in his stall was fried so it can be sold for the next day and apparently fried Getuk is even much tastier and became the favorite among the community there

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17. Jenang Kudus
If you know Dodol Garut then you’d find this food to be familiar. The only difference is that the food comes from Kudus Central Java and usually bought as a gift souvenir from people who travel there. Jenang Kudus is usually sold in the form of long pieces and wrapped using clear plastic and you can buy it in kilos or per box.

Furthermore, the taste of this Jenang Kudus is sweet and the texture is soft. The taste of Jenang Kudus is not just a favorite for the people of Indonesia as in fact, this Jenang Kudus has even reached overseas market

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18. Ongklok Noodles
If you take a trip to Wonosobo area, Central Java, then do not forget to taste the famous Ongklok noodles. This noodle culinary is a boiled noodle mixed with cabbage and chopped meat. The Sauce on this noodle is made using tapioca, so it will be thicker than the normal noodle gravy.

On the other hand, to enjoy the Ongklok noodles then you can choose cow satay, tempeh or tofu as side dishes. This noodle is called Ongklok noodles because it uses Ongklok which is a kind of small basket made from woven bamboo and is used to assist in boiling the noodles while in cooking.

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19. Garang Asem
Garang Asem is one of the typical foods in Central Java, such as Semarang, Kudus, Demak, Pekalongan, and Pati. This one food is processed using chicken cooked with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves. The taste of Garang Asem is sour and also spicy and it must be very tasty when you try to devour it. Garang Asem is usually eaten with rice and other side dishes, you can choose side dishes such as fried tempeh or even tofu

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20. Lamongan Soto
There is one type of soup that is typical of Lamongan city and also easy to find in other areas. This Soto Lamongan has a different taste with other Soto because it uses the different sauce and much tastier.

The unique sauce is called Koya and it’s kind of a savory powder made from prawn crackers added with garlic and also it’d be best to taste Soto Lamongan by going there yourself and experience the cozy atmosphere.

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There are many foods that hailed from Java as they had rich history and culture thus enable them to produce much more unique food that’s uniquely delicious. Hence, many people like to come to Java as they can find the hospitality of Javanese people and also to taste their mouth-watering food. Therefore, these all information about Traditional Food of Java may help you who want to know more about Indonesian food from Java Island.