Ketoprak
A traditional salad from Jakarta region that uses beansprouts, vermicelli, lontong/ketupat, and tofu. It's served with garlicky and spicy peanut sauce. The dish is popular as street food that can be enjoyed any time of day, as a snack or a meal.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Food processor or
- Frying pan
- Slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 1 ready-cooked Lontong see the note.
- 1 ½ cups beansprouts.
- 2 ounces vermicelli/ fine rice noodles
- 5 ounces extra-firm tofu.
- 1 ⅔ cups roasted & salted peanuts see the notes.
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter optional, see the note.
- 4 red chilies see the note.
- 4 cloves garlic.
- 2 ½ tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar. see the note.
- ½ teaspoon salt.
- 1-2 tablespoons Lime juice.
- 2 cups Water.
- ¼ cup. Indonesian Sweet soy sauce.
- Crackers optional.
Instructions
- Using a pestle and mortar, a blender, or a food processor, grind, blend, or process the peanuts, chili, garlic, sugar, salt, and water until it’s smooth and thick. You want the paste to be as thick as double cream. Not too runny nor too thick. So you may want to use more or less water than the recipe.
- Add the lime juice in and mix well or give it another blitz. Set aside.
- Put the rice vermicelli in a mixing bowl, pour boiling water from the kettle over it and let the rice vermicelli soaked in the water for about 3 minutes. Then drain the vermicelli, set aside.
- Wash, rinse and blanched the bean sprouts with hot boiling water for a few minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Cut the tofu into dice and shallow-fry them for about 6-10 minutes until the outer skin looks a bit golden. Set aside.
- Cut the Lontong into small squares.
- Take a serving plate.
- Arrange the Lontong on a plate. Then add the vermicelli on the top, and scatter the bean sprouts and tofu over it.
- Lastly, pour the peanut sauce generously and drizzle with some sweet soy sauce.
- If using, garnish with prawn crackers.
- Enjoy.
Notes
- Although Lontong is one of the main ingredients of Ketoprak, some people may not like it. So if you think you won’t like it, you’re more than welcome to skip it. Though it may not be the same as the real Ketoprak Jakarta.
- For the sauce, you can use roasted salted peanuts. Or you can deep fry raw peanuts yourself. If you decide to fry the peanuts, make sure you keep stirring as you fry. Otherwise, the nuts won’t be evenly cooked. And when you use the fried peanuts, you may want to add more salt to the sauce.
- If you don’t have fresh chilies, you can substitute them with chili powder. I would put 1 teaspoon of chili powder. Or put as much as you like. Because some chili powder can be hotter than others. So be mindful of that. Try to add a little first then add more if you need.
- Ideally, you use palm sugar or brown sugar. But if you don’t have it, you don’t have to worry. Just use the normal sugar but make sure you have a proper Indonesian sweet soy sauce.
- Peanut butter is a new addition that can add the creaminess to the sauce. You can skip it altogether and still make a delicious sauce. So don’t worry if you don’t have it. But it’s definitely recommended.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 347kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1410mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g
Disclaimer
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.