Rujak (Indonesian spelling) or rojak (Malay language spelling) is a salad dish of Javanese cuisine origin, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
There is a variety of preparations, especially in Indonesian cuisine, and rujak is widely available throughout the country. The most common variant is primarily composed of fruits and vegetables, and its sweet and tangy dressing is often made with shrimp paste. Some recipes may contain seafood or meat components, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, where a notable variant shows influence from Mamak stall.
Etymology
According to the Dutch missionary Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, the word "rujak" comes from the
Old Javanese word
anrujak or
rinujak, which means "to chop into little pieces". Alternatively, its origin may be the word
rurujak, meaning a mixture of chopped unripe fruit,
as attested in the ancient Taji Inscriptions (901 CE) from the era of the
Mataram Kingdom in Central Java.
The dish was later introduced to other regions and neighboring countries by the Javanese diaspora as well as by Indian migrants from Java. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is spelled "rojak".
History
Cultural significance
In Indonesia, particularly among the
Javanese people, the sweet, spicy, and sour tastes of rujak are popular among pregnant women; this craving for unripe
mango and other sour-tasting fruits is known as
ngidham or
nyidham in Javanese.
In Javanese culture, rujak is an essential part of the traditional
prenatal ceremony called
naloni mitoni or
tujuh bulanan (literally: "seventh month") and is meant to wish the mother-to-be a safe, smooth, and successful
Childbirth.
The recipe for this ceremony is similar to typical fruit rujak, with the exceptions that the fruits are roughly shredded instead of thinly sliced, and that
jeruk bali (
pomelo/pink
grapefruit) is an essential ingredient. Javanese people believe that if the rujak tastes sweet, the child will be a girl, and if it is spicy, it will be a boy.
Mangarabar, or rujak-making, is a special event for the Batak and Mandailing people of Tapanuli, North Sumatra, following a harvest, with entire villages getting involved.
In Malaysia and Singapore, "rojak" is also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, in particular as a word describing the multiethnic character of the two societies.
Indonesian rujak
Rujak buah (fruit rujak)
In Indonesia,
rujak buah is also known as
rujak manis (sweet rujak). The typical Indonesian fruit rujak consists of slices of assorted tropical fruits, such as
water apple,
pineapple, unripe
mango, jícama,
cucumber,
Spondias dulcis, and
sweet potato. Sometimes, variants of green apple,
bilimbi, and
pomelo are added. The sweet and spicy rujak dressing is made of water,
palm sugar,
tamarind, crushed peanuts,
shrimp paste (known locally as
petis), salt, and bird's eye chili.
The fruits are cut into bite-sized pieces,
Rujak Bagan
Rujak bagan is a typical dish of
Bagansiapiapi, Riau, locally known as
lolia.
It consists of pineapple, prawn
fritters, cucumber, and
bean sprouts.
Rujak bakso
Rujak bakso, or
bakso rujak, is a fusion dish between rujak and
bakso. In
Malang, the dish is made using a mixture of noodles,
Ipomoea aquatica,
menjes,
tofu, and meatballs, sprinkled with seasoning made from peanuts, chilies, and
petis, and doused with
bakso soup.
In
East Jakarta,
bakso rujak is made with cucumber, mango,
Spondias dulcis, jícama, guava, papaya, pineapple, and
starfruit. The fruits are cut into pieces and doused in
bakso and rujak sauce.
Rujak belut
In
Brebes Regency, a version of rujak called
rujak belut is common, consisting of fried
eel smeared with sambal and served with fresh chopped
shallot and tomato.
Rujak bulung
Rujak bulung is a traditional dish from Bali containing
Edible seaweed mixed with
fish sauce, grated coconut, grated
galangal, and seasoning made from salt, sugar, chili peppers, and shrimp paste.
Rujak cingur
Cingur (pronounced "ching-ur") literally means "mouth" in Javanese. This variant of rujak originates from
Surabaya and has a meaty taste, as it contains slices of cooked
Water Buffalo or cow lips, jícama, unripe mango, pineapple, cucumber,
Ipomoea aquatica (water spinach),
lontong rice cake, tofu, and
tempeh, all served in a black
petis sauce, and crushed peanuts. It is topped with a sprinkle of fried shallots and
krupuk prawn crackers.
Rujak corek
This version of rujak is made from a hollowed-out cucumber filled with a
petis sauce.
Rujak cuka
Rujak cuka literally means "vinegar rujak". It is a speciality of Sundanese cuisine of West Java, noted for its sourness. It is made of shredded fruits such as pineapple and unripe mango, and vegetables such as jícama, cabbage, bean sprouts, and cucumber. It is similar to
asinan, due to its sour and spicy dressing, since both dishes contain vinegar, palm sugar, and chilli.
Rujak ebi
Rujak ebi is a fruit rujak containing
ebi (
dried shrimp) and
emping crackers. It is a delicacy of
Singkawang, West Kalimantan.
Rujak es krim
A specialty dessert from
Yogyakarta, this dish consists of fruit rujak and coconut ice cream, served with sambal.
Rujak gamel
Rujak gamel is a specialty rujak of Gamel village in
Cirebon Regency, West Java. It consists of noodles, boiled water spinach, cabbage, tofu, fritter,
eggplant, and wet
krupuk.
Rujak gobet
Rujak gobet is usually served on special occasions such as the
telonan or
tingkepan celebrations of pregnant women. Various types of fruits, such as jícama, pineapple, starfruit, and guava are included, but especially young
jackfruit, locally known as
babal.
Rujak juhi
Juhi means
Salted squid cuttlefish in Indonesian. This variety of rujak contains fried tofu, fried boiled potatoes, fried shredded salted cuttlefish, cucumber, noodles, lettuce, cabbage, peanut sauce, vinegar, chilli, and fried garlic. It originates from the Chinese community in Batavia (now
Jakarta).
Rujak kambang
Rujak kambang consists of vermicelli noodles, cucumber, unripe mango, unripe papaya, as well as other fruit, seasoned with a thin sauce consisting of fish broth and
petis as well as salt and vinegar.
Rujak kangkung
Rujak kangkung is made from water spinach, sweet spicy sambal, and krupuk. It is a delicacy from
Kuningan Regency, West Java.
Rujak kembang katis
Rujak kembang katis, or
rujak bunga pepaya, originates from
Bangka Island. It consists of
cassava leaves and papaya flowers as well as other vegetables, together with peanut sauce.
Rujak kuah pindang
Rujak kuah pindang is a popular street food in
Bali,
where instead of the normal dressing, the fruits are soaked in a spiced fish broth, which consists of
terasi shrimp paste, salt, bird's eye chilli, red chilli, and
pindang fish broth.
Rujak mie
Rujak mie is a dish from
Palembang, consisting of noodles, tofu, slices of
pempek, cucumber, lettuce, and sweet spicy broth.
Rujak pengantin
Pengantin means "bride-and-groom pair" in Indonesian. This variant of rujak contains slices of boiled eggs, potatoes, fried tofu, pineapple, carrot, bean sprouts, pickles, chilli, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, emping crackers, roasted peanuts, peanut sauce, and vinegar.
Rujak petis
Another variant from Surabaya and
Ponorogo Regency,
contains slices of jícama, unripe mango, cucumber, water spinach,
kedondong, tofu, and
soybean sprouts, all served in a black
petis sauce, fried shallots, salt, palm sugar, unripe banana, and crushed peanuts.
Rujak selingkuh
Rujak selingkuh, which originates in
Sumenep Regency, Madura, contains a mix of fruits with peanut sauce and soto soup, to which are added vegetables, rice vermicelli, and
lontong.
Rujak serut
Literally meaning "shaved rujak",
rujak serut consists of similar ingredients as standard
rujak buah, with the difference being that the fruits are not cut into bite-sized pieces but shredded into a roughly grated consistency.
Rujak Shanghai
This version of rujak was created by Indonesia's Chinese community in Kota Tua Jakarta. It contains seafood, boiled sliced octopus, jellyfish, and water spinach, and is served with thick red sweet and sour sauce, mixed with pineapple juice and toasted crushed peanuts. Chilli sauce and pickled jícama are often served as condiments.
Rujak siwil
A rujak dish from
Madura,
siwil is made from wheat flour,
tapioca flour, garlic, and spices. Generally,
siwil dough will be put into long plastic tubes and boiled first. It can additionally be fried with flour or simply cut and served with rujak seasoning made of a fish
petis sauce.
Rujak soto
A dish from
Banyuwangi, East Java, this is a blend of beef soto and
rujak cingur, in which the vegetables (water spinach and bean sprouts) are served with
lontong in a
petis sauce poured over soto soup.
Rujak tahu
Rujak tahu is a variant of rujak that contains tofu and was created in Majalengka Regency in the 1970s.
The sauce combines vinegar, sambal, and sweet soy sauce.
Rujak teplak
In
Tegal Regency,
rujak teplak is a common variety of rujak consisting of vegetables such as water spinach, cabbage, bean sprouts,
, papaya leaves, cassava leaves, and banana blossoms, smeared with spicy sauce made from chilli, peanuts, and cassava. The dish is served with a noodle cracker called
kerupuk mie.
Rujak terasi
This version of rujak is from
Lombok and consists of slices of fruits such as mango, june plum, pineapple, and papaya, mixed with sambal containing roasted shrimp paste.
Rujak tolet
Also from Surabaya,
rujak tolet includes fried tofu, fried garlic, and optionally, beef tendons. The sauce is
petis-based, mixed with palm sugar, slices of raw bird's eye chilli, and sweet soy sauce.
Rujak tumbuk (rujak bēbēk)
This is another variant of Indonesian fruit rujak, from West Java.
The ingredients are almost the same, except that they are ground or mashed together (tumbuk or bēbēk in Indonesian) in a wooden mortar. The fruits include green
Musa balbisiana, raw
Dioscorea alata, jícama, apple,
kedondong, and unripe mango. The dressing is not poured on the fruit but mixed in. Traditionally,
rujak tumbuk was served on banana leaf plates called
pincuk, though nowadays, it is more often served in plastic cups.
Rujak u' groeh
A delicacy from
Aceh province, this rujak consists of very young and tender coconut meat, young (green) papaya, bird's eye chili, sugar, palm sugar, ice, salt, and a dash of lime.
Malaysian and Singaporean rojak
Rojak buah
In Malaysia and Singapore, fruit rojak typically consists of cucumber, pineapple, jícama, bean sprouts,
taupok (puffy, deep-fried tofu) and cut-up
youtiao (Chinese-style fritters).
[ The dressing is made of water, shrimp paste, sugar, chilli, and lime juice. Ingredients vary among vendors, with some adding tamarind or black bean paste to the mix. The ingredients are cut into bite-sized portions and tossed in a bowl with the dressing, and topped with crushed peanuts and a dash of ground or sliced torch ginger.
]
A popular variant found in Penang, Malaysia, is rojak Penang, which adds water apple, guava, squid fritters, and honey to the mixture, and emphasizes the use of tart fruits such as unripe mangoes and green apples, while bean sprouts and fried tofu puffs are usually omitted.
Rojak India
In Malaysia, mamak rojak (also known as Indian rojak, or pasembur) is associated with , which are Malaysian Indian Muslim food stalls.
In Singapore, Indian rojak consists of an assortment of potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, tofu, and prawn fritters, often colorfully dyed. Customers typically select their favorite items from a display, after which they are heated up in a wok, chopped up, and served with a sweet and spicy peanut and chilli sauce on the side for dipping.
Rojak Bandung
A Singaporean dish known as rojak Bandung contains cuttlefish, water spinach, cucumber, tofu, peanuts, chilli, and sauce.
Rojak sotong
Rojak sotong contains cuttlefish or squid, with peanut sauce.
Dishes with rojak seasoning
Indonesia
-
Ayam bumbu rujak – a chicken dish with rujak seasoning that includes chili and brown sugar
-
Cireng bumbu rujak – a deep-fried tapioca snack served with rujak seasoning sauce.
See also
-
List of fruit dishes
-
List of salads
External links
