Ketoprak
Jakarta compressed rice cake with bean sprouts, tofu, and peanut sauce
The recipe
Ketoprak is Betawi (Jakarta) street food — a composed dish of pressed rice cake (lontong), rice vermicelli (bihun), bean sprouts, fried tofu, and cucumber, all drenched in a peanut sauce similar to gado-gado but punchier. The defining feature is the *ketupat* — the woven palm-leaf rice cake — which gives the dish its name. The peanut sauce is thinner than gado-gado's, spicier, and made with palm sugar and tamarind. The dish is a cousin of gado-gado and the two often get confused, but ketoprak has no boiled egg and no long beans. It's typically eaten for lunch at street stalls in Jakarta and Bogor.
Ingredients
Method
💡 Tips from the kitchen
- ·The sauce should be thinner than gado-gado's. If you accidentally made it thick, add more water.
- ·Use freshly fried tofu — its crispy exterior holds up to the sauce better.
- ·Eat with your right hand, mixing the rice cake and bihun into the sauce.
The story
Did you know?
🇮🇩 Indonesia has 17,000+ islands — only 6,000 are inhabited.
Cook it yourself
Ketoprak is one of Indonesia's heritage dishes. Want to try the recipe at home?
See the recipe →
