Some foodies insist that in a country of interesting cuisine, the best of all hails from Central Java. That may or may not be the case, but several wonderful dishes originate from this region. These include:
Gudeg served in the traditional way with white rice on a banana leaf
Gudeg. A coconut-infused stew of young jackfruit, chicken and hardboiled eggs with a subtle sweet and savoury taste. Vendors all seem to have their own secret recipes for Gudeg, but the flavour base usually seems to include bay leaf, coriander, candlenut, onion, garlic, galangal, ginger, palm sugar, and unusually, teak tree leaves. This is a Yogyakarta speciality and is sometimes called Gudeg Yogya. The not-to-be-missed dish of the region. Best tried in Yogyakarta but you will also find it elsewhere.
Bakpia. A small sweet pastry, traditionally filled with sugary mung bean paste. Other fillings are now sometimes used with cheese being especially popular. These originated in the Pathok district of Yogyakarta and are also called Bakpia Pathok. A box of Bakpia travels quite well and is a very authentic gift for any visitor to take home.
Lumpia Semarang. Lumpia (spring rolls) could almost be the national dish of Indonesia, and the Semarang variety is one of the very best. Fillings vary but always include bamboo shoots. Dipping sauce might be sweet soy with chopped fresh chillies (sos manis paket cabe potong), spicy sambal or a sweet garlic, tomato and chilly blend. Look for streetside vendors and always choose the busiest - locals will know for sure who makes the best Lumpia.
Bakso Solo. Bakso (meatballs in hot broth with noodles, various vegetables and chilly sauce) wil be well known to any visitor to Indonesia. The Solo version uses truly huge super sized meatballs. Typical Indonesian humour has resulted in this dish sometimes being called "Bakso Tennis".
Nasi Bogana. This very convenient dish has almost fastfood status across Indonesia these days, but it originated from Tegal on the northern coast of this region. White rice accompanied by a whole host of other possibilities is tightly wrapped in a banana leaf packet. It can then be heated by steaming at any time inside the packet - hence the convenient fast food tag. Accompanying dishes could be chicken curry, tempe (fermented soya beans), tofu, egg, dendeng (spicy beef jerky), chicken livers...... the list goes on. Most likely is a combination of them all. If you are travelling on a budget, keep an eye out for Nasi Bogana street hawkers in any city or town.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Central Java
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Central Java - updated May 2024
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Central Java Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
