Indonesia Nusantara: The Difference of Gado-Gado Karedok Lotek And Ketoprak

One day, you go to Java. You are hungry and you go to a warung (stall). You see their menu:

Gado-Gado

Pecel/Lotek

Ketoprak

Karedok

You have no idea, so you ask the waitress to show you what they are. Then she shows you, and you have no idea why they are different. You see all the same thing, salad with peanut sauce dressing!! Then you start judging that the warung just want to have more menus in their list…

But don’t worry, they don’t make it up. Yes, the salads are different. And if you ask me personally, I agree that the differences aren’t that important to change their name. But you must be agree with me as your friend Jessica changes her hair with punk style and tattoo all his bodies, you no longer want to call her the cutie Jessica with the rabbit doll! It just feels so wrong when you call her cutie Jessica. You know that feel...

So, these are the reason why Indonesian will name one as Karedok, and then call it Lotek as we see something has been changed!!

Gado-gado

Gado-gado in Indonesian literary means "mix-mix" since it is made of rich mixture of vegetables such as potatoes, string beans, bean sprouts, spinach, chayote, bitter gourd, corn and cabbage, with tofu, tempeh and hard-boiled eggs, all mixed in peanut sauce dressing, sometimes also topped with krupuk (chips) and sprinkles of fried shallots..

Gado-gado is thought to have originally been a Sundanese (West Java) dish. It is widely available from hawker’s carts, stalls and restaurants and hotels in Indonesia. It is also served in Indonesian-style restaurants worldwide. Though it is customarily called a salad, the sauce is a larger component of gado-gado than is usual in Western-style salads; the vegetables should be well coated with it. Among the three, gado-gado is special as there should be potatoes and hard-boiled eggs in it. This is the key, you do not get gado-gado if you didn’t see these in your plate. Instead, you get what is named Pecel/Lotek.

Pecel/Lotek

The origin of pecel is unknown, and many cities claim to be the creators of pecel. However, the most likely origin of pecel is in the regency of Madiun in East Java. In Malaysia, it is called as Pecal and is an influence from the Javanese in that country. The vegetables are usually kangkung or water spinach, cassava leaves, papaya leaves, and in East Java often used kembang turi. It tastes best when eaten with fried Tempe and traditional cracker called peyek. Different from Gado-gado, Pecel is simply cooked salad, no potatoes, no eggs, just cooked vegetables.

Ketoprak

It is from Jakarta, consists of lontong (rice steamed in a banana leaf), tofu, sliced cabbage, mihun (thin rice noodles), sprouts, chips and a sauce made from ground peanut and palm sugar made into a thick paste, mixed with chilli, salt, garlic and also sweet soybean ketchup. Ketoprak is a kind of 'heavy meal' food, so it is quite different from the 2 before. You will find that the vegetables are less, and it special as you’ll find mihun and rice in your plate. But if you taste carefully, since I assume you’ll not notice this, the ingredients in the peanut sauces are different. Gado-gado and Karedok use only brown sugar for sweetening, but sweet soy sauce is used for additional sweetener in ketoprak. Their taste will be different of course. No, I have no idea, the taste I know is only delicious and horrible. This one is delicious of course. (And when I say delicious it is not the “raw stinkbugs delicious” or “unknown-slimy-food-ala-inland-area” delicious. It is salad after all!)

Karedok

The key is Raw. Karedok, named in Sundanese language, is one of the signature dishes in West java. It is made from cucumbers, bean sprouts, cabbage, legumes, Thai basil, and small green eggplant, covered in peanut sauce dressing. Karedok is also known as lotek atah (raw lotek) for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce. Karedok is widely served as daily food in the Sundanese family, usually eaten with hot rice, tofu, tempe and krupuk.

In many places, to retain authenticity in both the production and flavor, the peanut sauce is made in individual batches, in front of the customers. You may choose how many chilies you want in the peanut sauce.

And that’s all about them. I know them very well, as these foods are cheap. It is an absolute choice for a college student at the end of month, beside the friendly Indomie (instant noodle) of course. You know now the difference of them, and hope you like my writing… Thanks for reading, God bless you..

GOOD BYE BOREDOM

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