Asinan Jakarta: Indonesian Salad With Spicy Peanuts and Tamarind

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Asinan Jakarta is a crispy vegetable salad tossed in a tangy tamarind sauce with peanuts and a kick of spice. It’s the kind of dish that wakes up your taste buds — crunchy, zingy, and refreshing all at once.

Asinan

There is no exact English word that can translate the word “Asinan” (aah-see-naan). Although I took the liberty of translating the word as salad, it’s actually not the salad that you might understand. 

Because you usually eat the salad as an appetizer or starter, right?

However, this Indonesian crispy salad, “asinan,” is eaten as a snack at any time of the day. 

In fact, it’s best to have it as an afternoon snack when you’ve already had lunch but feel like snacking. If it is served as part of a party menu, it is usually eaten after the main course.

Asinan literally derives from the word “asin,” meaning “salty.” It typically consists of vegetables or fruits preserved in saltwater before serving. Hence, there are many varieties of Asinan, depending on their main ingredients.

The one I’m sharing here uses vegetables and a dressing made of spicy peanuts and tamarind sauce. 

This simple salad with spicy peanut sauce is traditionally from the Jakarta region (formerly called Betawi). Therefore, it is also known as Asinan Betawi. It is one of the sought-after street foods in the area.

Why You’ll Love Asinan Jakarta

• 🥬 Satisfying crunch in every bite — the crispy vegetables hold up beautifully in the tangy sauce.
• 🍋 That tamarind sauce is something else — tangy, slightly sweet, spicy, and bold all at the same time.
• 🌶️ A gentle heat that builds — spicy enough to be interesting without being overwhelming.
• 🥜 Peanuts add the perfect finishing touch — extra crunch and a nutty richness that ties everything together.
• ☀️ So refreshing on a hot day — cold, crispy, and zingy — it cools you right down.
• 🛒 Simple, everyday ingredients — nothing fancy, just fresh vegetables and a punchy sauce.
• 🍽️ Light but filling — works as a snack, a starter, or a side dish.
• 🇮🇩 A true taste of Jakarta street food — bold flavors that have stood the test of time.

Humble Ingredients

The best thing about making your Asinan at home is that its ingredients are simple and easy to get. 

You only need some vegetables, peanuts, chilies, tamarind, sugar, and salt. 

As for the vegetables, we use cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, round lettuce, and cucumber. 

The lettuce we use for this salad is leafy, such as butterhead lettuce. 

When it comes to tamarind, you can either use the sauce in a bottle or make the juice yourself by soaking a tamarind block in boiling water. 

When the fruit becomes soft, you can try melting some of it by pressing and mixing it with a spoon. Then, sieve the juice and discard the pulp and seed.  

Traditionally, some people also add egg noodles, tofu, and preserved Choi sum. But it’s not necessary, and you’re more than welcome to add them if you like.

If you decide to have noodles, you can use fresh or dried egg noodles. If you choose the latter, boil the noodles until they are cooked, not soft or soggy. Then rinse them with cold water and set them aside until needed.

You will need extra-firm tofu. You can lightly fry the tofu chunks before using them, or use them as is.  

This salad is so refreshing to have on a hot summer day. The crispy veggies pair well with the tangy, spicy sauce. 

With simple ingredients, you can always make this crispy salad in no time. 

Top Tip to Make the Best Asinan Betawi

• Make sure your veggies are fresh and crispy. 
• Saltwater helps preserve the vegetables so they stay fresh a bit longer. So do not skip this one, especially if you plan to enjoy your Asinan later.
• When it comes to the dressing sauce, trust your taste buds. Feel free to add the spices and flavoring according to your liking. The recipe will make a mild flavor. So, if you prefer a spicier or tangier sauce, add more chilies or tamarind.
• Salty, sweet, tangy, and spicy are the flavors you want to achieve in your sauce. 

More Indonesian Street Food Recipes

Don’t forget to check out my other Indonesian street food recipes that you may love.

• Sate Ayam: Indonesian chicken satay.
• Lamb Satay: Copycat of Indonesian Sate Kambing.
• Ketoprak: Beansprouts, vermicelli, and tofu salad with peanut sauce.
• Gado-gado: Indonesian mixed vegetable salad with spicy peanut sauce.
• Lontong Sayur Jakarta: Hard-boiled rice with vegetable curry. 

Asinan Jakarta – Crispy salad with peanuts and tamarind sauce

5 from 6 votes

Rooted in the famous traditional Asinan Jakarta, this crispy salad is delicious to have as a snack on a hot summer day. A perfect choice for chilli lovers who want a bit of zingy taste in their salad.

BY: Devy Dar

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Prep : 20 minutes mins

Cook : 10 minutes mins

Total : 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Equipment

• Chopping board
• Kitchen knife
• Mixing bowls.
• Colander
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• ½ small cabbage
• 2 cups beansprouts
• 1 large carrots
• ½ round lettuce
• ⅓ cucumber
• ¾ cup roasted salted peanuts, crushed and grind with pestle and mortar.
• 1 clove garlic crushed.
• 1 teaspoon dry chilli flakes or 1-2 bird’s eye red chillies grind into a paste.
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar optional.
• 1 cup water
• Noodle crackers or onion crackers kerupuk – optional.

Instructions

• Slice the cabbage. Set aside.
• Cut the carrots into julienne/ matchsticks. Set aside.
• Slice the lettuce. Set aside.
• And cut the cucumber into slices. Set aside
• In a big mixing bowl, add cool boiled water. And stir in one teaspoon of salt.
• Then put all the vegetables in the bowl, i.e. cabbage, beansprouts, carrots, lettuce, and cucumber. Gently press until all the vegetables are soaked in the water. 
• Leave the vegetables to soak for at least a few hours.
• In the meantime, make the dressing by mixing crushed peanuts, garlic, chili flakes/chili paste, tamarind, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Pour in hot water from the kettle. Stir well and cook at medium heat until it reaches boiling point.
• Try and taste the sauce. It should taste salty, sour, sweet, and spicy.
• The challenge with making asinan is to get all these four flavours to come together. So you may have to add in a teaspoon of granulated sugar if it’s not sweet enough. Or salt if you can’t taste it. Similarly, you add more tamarind and chilli if needed. Feel free to add more each respectively if you think you need it. Although the measure that I did in this recipe has all the flavours. 
• Once you’re happy with your dressing sauce, you can start making your asinan.
• Using a colander, drain the vegetables, and discard the water.
• Arrange the veggies in a serving bowl.
• Spoon the sauce over the vegetables, and mix well.
• Garnish with noodle crackers/ onion crackers if using.

Notes

• The crackers are optional. But they give more crunch to your Asinan. If you want, you can use the ready-made prawn crackers from the shop. Because I do that sometimes.
• If possible, try to use fresh chillies because they give more flavour and spicy aroma.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 430mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 17g

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.