Rawon

Rawon is a type of Indonesian beef soup from East Java. This dish has a history of more than 1,000 years and is known as a typical East Javanese food. It gets its dark color and nutty taste from the black keluak nut, which is the main spice used. The soup is made by mixing garlic, shallots, keluak, ginger, candlenut, turmeric, red chili, and salt, and cooking them in oil. This mixture is then added to boiled beef stock with pieces of beef.

To add flavor, lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves, and sugar are included. The keluak gives rawon its special dark or black color. The soup is often topped with green onion and fried shallot and is served with rice. Other toppings can include bean sprouts, preserved salted egg, krupuk, and fried black-eyed peas.

Rawon is a dish with a long history, dating back to ancient Java. It was mentioned as rarawwan in an old Javanese Taji inscription from the time of the Mataram Kingdom around 901 CE.

References

Indonesia