Ketoprak

Ketoprak is a Jakarta street dish of rice cakes, fried tofu, bean sprouts and vegetables served with a warm peanut sauce.

What it really is

Ketoprak is built on rice cakes (lontong or ketupat), fried tofu, bean sprouts and cucumber, with some versions adding cabbage or other blanched greens. The vegetables and cakes are arranged on a plate, the pieces of tofu and cake are cut into bite-size pieces, and the dish is covered with a warm, thin peanut sauce made from ground roasted peanuts, palm sugar, garlic, chilli and tamarind or lime, thinned with hot water. It is finished with crushed emping or prawn crackers and fried shallots.

It is a Betawi dish of the Jakarta area and is often sold from carts. It is closely related to gado-gado and to lontong or ketupat sayur, but gado-gado is a salad with a fuller set of boiled vegetables and egg, and ketoprak's distinguishing features are the fried tofu, the rice cakes and the thin, warm peanut sauce. Some sellers add egg or rice noodles, and the sauce is usually made to order.

How it's served

• Eaten at room temperature from a plate or bowl, with the warm peanut sauce poured over the top just before serving.
• Usually eaten as a light meal or snack at a street stall, most often with a spoon.
• Often accompanied with a small bowl of sweet soy sauce or extra chilli for those who want more heat.
• Sold as a takeaway by vendors who make the sauce to order, which is why it is usually eaten fresh.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main components: rice cake, fried tofu, bean sprouts, cucumber and peanut sauce.
• Flag peanuts clearly, as the sauce is made from ground roasted peanuts.
• Note that prawn crackers (kerupuk) and sometimes shrimp paste or fish sauce can be present in some versions, and state whether the crackers contain shrimp.
• State the heat level and whether the sauce is served warm and thin or thick.