Betawi cuisine

Betawi cuisineis rich, diverse and eclectic,in part because theBetawi peoplethat create them were composed from numbers ofregional immigrantsthat came from various places in theIndonesian archipelago, as well asChinese,Indian,Arab, andEuropeantraders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city ofBatavia(today modernJakarta) since centuries ago.
The Betawi cuisine developed and evolved with influences from various cuisine traditions brought by waves of newcomers to the port-city on the north coast of WesternJava. From the small port ofSunda Kalapa, it grew into an active hub of international trade, primarily involving Indonesian,Chinese,IndianandArabtraders. By early 16th century, drawn by thespice trade, thePortuguesewere the first Europeans to arrive, followed by the Dutch later in the same century. During colonialVOCera, foreign communities were kept in enclaves under Dutch colonial rule, as the result the culinary concentration grew in each area:Tanah Abangfor Arab cuisine, theGlodokandKuninganarea for Chinese food and Tugu in North Jakarta for Portuguese.
Betawi cuisine is in fact really similar toPeranakan cuisine, as both are hybrid cuisine heavily influenced byChineseandMalay, as well as Arab and European cuisine, to neighboringSundaneseandJavanese cuisine.Nasi udukfor example, which is a savoryricecooked incoconut milkand served with several side dishes, may be a local version of the Malay dishnasi lemak.On the other hand,asinan, cured and brined pickled vegetables, andrujak juhi, vegetables served with shredded driedsquidandpeanut sauce, demonstrate Chinese influences. Because of this common heritage, some of Betawi cuisines, such asasinanandlontong cap go meh, are shared withChinese Indonesian. Betawi cuisine also shares some recipes and dishes with neighboringSundanese, such as both of them are familiar withsayur asem,gado-gado(lotek) andsemurjengkol.Another examples arenasi kebuliandsoto betawithat usesminyak samin(ghee), which indicatesAraborMuslim Indianinfluences.
A gastronomy expert suggests that some Betawi dishes can describes the past condition of Betawi people reside in Batavia. For example,kerak telorwas created due to the low quality of localglutinous rice, with theeggand other toppings added to make it more tasty and satisfying.Soto tangkar, which today is a meat soup, was mostly made from the broth ofgoatrib-cage bones in the past because meat was expensive, or the common population of Batavia were too poor to afford some meat back then.
Today, many authentic Betawi dishes are hard to find even in its native land. This is partly because as a cosmopolitan city, Jakarta also features dishes from many far-flung parts ofIndonesia, as well as international cuisines — which is a myriad dishes for Betawi cuisine to compete with. Moreover, Betawi community were pushed out of the inner city to the marginal suburbs in and aroundGreater Jakartain the wave of development.Nevertheless, some Betawi restaurants are striving to preserve their heritage cuisine, such as raregabus pucung,andpecak gabus, snakehead fish (Channa striata) inpecaksauce.
Betawi cuisine uses rice as staples, numbers of its dishes are revolved around rice, either steamed, cooked in coconut milk asnasi uduk(coconut rice), or compressed asketupatsayurorlontongsayurrice cakes in vegetables soup. As aMuslim-majority community, Betawi people favourbeef,muttonandgoatmeat, as they adhere to Islamichalaldietary-law which forbidporkconsumption. Fishes are consumed too. Unusual for a coastal city, there are hardly anyseafooddishes in Betawi cuisine. But there are plenty of freshwater fish dishes, using local varieties ofsnakeheadfish andcarp.
Popular Betawi dishes includesoto betawi(beefoffalsin milky broth),sayur asem(sweet and sour vegetable soup),sop iga sapi(beef rib soup) andkerak telor(spiced coconutomelette). Most of Betawi dishes are cooked in deep-fried, stir-fried, barbecued or braised methods, and feature a delicate balance of sweet, sour and salty flavours.