Brilio.net/en - Bandung City is popular as the weekend-getaway alternative for Jakarta people. The city is famous as the place for fashion shopping and its unique culinary. The food in Bandung is so varied, from raw ingredients to cooked dish, from snacks to heavy meal that can be found nowhere else. You may find some of the dishes in other cities, but if you want to taste the original version, you have to come to the capital city of West Java.
Prepare your tummy for these special cuisine the next time you visit The Flower City:
1. Peuyeum
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Peuyeum is Sundanese for tape singkong or fermented cassava made from cassava and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. It is a popular food especially in Purwakarta and Subang area, West Java, but most people know it to come from Bandung. Peuyeum can be consumed as various processed food: as fritter, sponge cake, popsicles, colenak, mixed fruit ice desserts such as Es Goyobod or Es Podeng, and many more. Colenak is grilled peuyeum topped with brown sugar caramel and coconut shreds.
2. Oncom
Oncom is West Javanese food that is product of fungi fermentation. The process is similar with tempeh, but oncom is resulted after the spora is formed, while the process of tempeh fermentation is stopped before the spora is forming. The red oncom is made out of soybean oilcake, while the black one is from peanut oilcake. Usually oncom is consumed as fritter, chips, combro, or pepes (steamed oncom in banana leaf). Combro is abbreviation of Oncom Di Jero (oncom inside), of which the oncom and chili is filled into a cassava batter and then fried as snack.
3. Lalapan and Leunca
It is commonly-known that Sundanese people like eating their steamed rice with raw vegetables, called lalab or lalapan. It usually contains of raw cucumber, cabbage, tomato, leunca, and green leaves such as basil and cassava leaves. Leunca is the name of a cherry-like bitter vegetable-fruit. Leunca can be eaten raw or cooked with oncom and seasoning to make Ulukutek Leunca (ulukutek literally means stay at home because the recipe was incidentally made at home).
4. Nasi Timbel
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Nasi timbel is basically white rice rolled in banana leaves wrap. The aroma from the hot steamy rice that touched with banana leaves is unique and appetizing. Nasi timbel is served with ingredients such as fried chicken, empal (fried beef), salted fish, fried tempeh, fried tofu, lalapan, and chili condiment made with terasi (shrimp paste). It is also great to be eaten with Sayur Asem. Nasi timbel can be easily found on the hawker food seller on the streets or in Sundanese restaurants. Our favorite is Kedai Timbel Dago, Nasi Timbel Jl. Mangga, Nasi Timbel Jl. Bawean, and Nasi Timbel Istiqomah Jl. Ciliwung.
5. Nasi Bakar
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Nasi bakar is a product of nasi timbel development. It can be cooked either by grilling the wrapped plain nasi timbel or mix the rice with ingredients and seasoning before it is wrapped in banana leaves and grilled upon charcoal fire. The ingredients are usually chicken or salted fish, with slices of basil leaves and red chili to enhance the aroma. The leaf wrapping is not edible. Nasi bakar can be easily found on the hawker food seller on the streets or in Sundanese restaurants.
6. Nasi Tutug Oncom
Nasi Tutug Oncom is another variation of rice in Bandung. The rice is cooked with oncom and cikur (Kempferia galanga, known as kencur or sand ginger), and a bit of tapioca with it. The rice is then grilled and served with fried chicken, salted fish, lalapan, and chili condiment. Nasi tutug oncom is usually sold in Sundanese restaurants.
7. Yamien
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When it comes to noodle, Bandung offers a different style. The noodle is white and thin, and served separated from the broth soup. Yamien can be served either sweet (manis) or salty (asin), depends on which soy sauce is added to it. The noodle is topped with grated chicken, leek, celery, and chicken claw crackers with additional steamed wonton or meatballs. Variation to yamien is yahun, which is bihun (rice vermicelli) cooked in the same way. Yamien can be found easily on hawker food sellers on streets.
8. Lomie
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Lomie is a variation to noodle dish in Bandung. In Jakarta a similar dish is called Mie Kangkung. The noodle is white and rather thick, and served in thick and brown seafood broth soup that made with cornstarch and green leaves such as kangkung (kale or water spinach). The additional ingredients can be brown-and-sweet chicken, beef meatballs, or wonton. Lomie can usually be found at Chinese food restaurants.
9. Mie Kocok
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Mie is Indonesian for noodle. But Mie Kocok is unlike any other Indonesian noodle. It is similar to Vietnamese pho; the noodle is yellow and flat, and served in beef broth. In the bowl are kikil (cow tendon), babat (cow tripe), and beansprout. Slices of leek, celery, fried red onion, and lime juice are sprinkled as the garnish. Some people serve it with beef slices, beef meatballs, or boiled chicken claw. The food can be found on hawker food sellers on the streets or in restaurants.
10. Ambokueh
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The main ingredient is the riceflour cake called as Ambokueh, and the dish is served with lapciong (Chinese style pork sausage), ngo-hyong (Chinese style processed pork), fried tofu, brown boiled egg, and topped with cucumber slices and sweet-and-sour sticky brown sauce. It may sound odd, but youll agree that this might be one of the best food youve ever tasted. Ambo kueh can be found at China Town such as Jl. Kelenteng, Jl. Cibadak, or Jl. Gardujati. A simplified and halal version of it can be found by the hawker food seller in front of schools.
11. Kupat Tahu
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Kupat is Sundanese for ketupat, which is similar to lontong or ricecake. If lontong is the rice condensed, wrapped, and steamed with banana leaves, ketupat is wrapped with young coconut leaves. The kupat is served with fried tofu, beansprout, and topped with thick spicy peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, fried onion, and crackers. Kupat Tahu can easily be found at hawker food sellers on the streets, but our favorites are at Jl. Gempol and Lontong Tahu Cihapit Jl. Serayu.
12. Lotek and Karedok
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Lotek is another Sundanese food served with ricecake. Lotek is a mix of boiled vegetables poured with thick peanut sauce on it and served with crackers. The vegetables are long beans, snaps, cabbage, cucumber, beansprout, squash and potato. Similar to Lotek, Karedok is the mix of raw vegetables (without potato) that is served cold and poured with peanut sauce and basil leaves.
13. Batagor and Siomay
Batagor is abbreviation from Baso Tahu Goreng. The main ingredient here is fishcake made from mackarel and tapioca for the Baso. The fishcake batter is then filled inside tofu (tahu) and then fried. Sometimes the fishcake batter is filled onto the dumpling skin and then fried; this is called Siomay. The fried fishcake is served with peanut sauce and sweet soysauce with a sprinkle of lime juice. A variation to Batagor is Batagor Kuah, in which the fishcake is steamed and served in the clear broth soup.
14. Cilok, Cimol, Cireng
The Ci- in front of the names is short of aci or starch in English. The snack is made entirely from tapioca and it is very chewy. The batter is made into balls and boiled to make Cilok, and fried to make Cimol. Cilok is usually served with spicy sauce, while Cimol with pepper powder. To make Cireng, the tapioca batter is mixed with flour, pepper, salt, soya and onion, and then fried.
15. Lumpia Basah
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Lumpia, or spring roll, is snack dish that basically made of beansprout, carrot, bamboo sprout, and egg covered in spring roll skin. While in other places spring roll is usually fried, Lumpia Basah has only the fillings stir-fried while the skin is raw. First, sticky brown sauce made of tapioca and brown sugar is spread onto the skin. Then the fillings is spread and the skin is folded, then served on banana leaves. The dish can be found on hawker food sellers on streets or in front of schools.
16. Serabi
Serabi is Indonesian-style pancake that made either with flour or riceflour and cooked with clay mold on a charcoal stove. Serabi in Bandung (or called as surabi/soerabi) is the one made from flour. A sauce of brown sugar and coconut milk is added to enhance the taste. Variation of soerabi was pioneered by Soerabi Enhaii, with additional toppings such as cheese, chocolate, banana, and even sausage and meatballs; topped with cheese and poured with milky sauce.
17. Pisang molen
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Who doesnt like banana? This snack here, pisang molen, is basically banana fritter rolled with layers of pastry. Unlike croissant, the pastry in pisang molen is thick and not easily crumbled, and is fried instead of baked. Pisang molen is one of the famous Bandungs culinary that people buy as oleh-oleh (edible souvenirs). You can find Pisang Molen both at hawker food sellers and famous bakery.