The Culinary Riches of Kudus

source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/the-culinary-riches-of-kudus/277325

Tash Roslin

Pak Selamet preparing his famous sate Kerbau. (Photo: Tash Roslin, JG)

The Culinary Riches of Kudus

Pak Selamet's Sate Kerbau. (Photo: Tash Roslin, JG)

Most Indonesians know Kudus, a midsized town in Central Java, for its two native products: kretek (clove) cigarettes and the famous soto (soup) Kudus, which can be found throughout the country. This town, however, has a plethora of culinary traditions that are almost exclusively known only by residents. Lining Kudus’s streets, beside billboards and banners advertising kretek cigarettes, are ordinary eateries and food hawkers that preserve and practice these legacies of taste, which are largely unknown to outsiders.

Kudus is less than 50 kilometers east of Semarang, about an hour’s ride by bus. The town itself is not so large as to make exploring on foot impossible, but you can uncover its culinary secrets via other means as well, one of the most popular being the becak (three-wheeled rickshaw).

However, those with no Javanese language skills may have a hard, if not amusing time, trying to understand what the becak drivers have to say, as they all talk in a quaint Javanese patois and their command of Indonesian is often limited. That does not appear to stop them from talking once you are in your seat, however, almost as if they are trying to keep you occupied during the trip. This may well be a good thing if you are intent on learning the local vernacular to follow the tales of the town they weave. And with such a hot climate in Kudus, moving around by becak so that you can feel the air breezing past is really worthwhile.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, at least for the residents of Kudus. Morning is the time when the town’s variety of foods is at its greatest, so you would be best to wake up and start your gastronomic expedition early. That way you will also get the chance to enjoy a first breakfast before 8 a.m. and then a second one a couple of hours later.

Lentog , which is a combination of lontong (long rice cake) and slices of jackfruit in runny coconut milk sauce, is characteristic of Kudus and very popular for breakfast. Said to originate in the Tanjung area, this dish is now sold in several other locations as well, including near the Kudus Sports Hall (GOR Kudus).

Another good meal to start a day of feasting is opor ayam Sunggingan Pak Suroso, which is tender chicken and small slices of tofu in a coconut milk. The dish originated in a place called Sunggungan and can now be found now in the Ploso area.

A lot is already known about soto kudus, including how this soup incorporates elements of Chinese cooking (the use of fried garlic and koya powder as condiments) into the original Javanese-style soto. That said, soto kudus Bu Jatmi on Jalan Wahid Hasyim is considered a classic by the people of Kudus.

Typical soto eateries often offer a choice of chicken or buffalo , but Bu Jatmi only serves chicken.

But like in many other places, there are plenty of accompaniments for the soto and rice, like fried tofu and tempe, quail egg satay, perkedel kentang (potato pancake) and the all-time favorite rempeyek (Javanese crackers.)

The best foods in Kudus are sold out before noon, especially the town’s most beloved sate kerbo nusantara by Pak Min Jastro. Sate kerbo — buffalo meat on skewers served with peanut sauce, ketchup and sambal — is relatively easy to find, but this one, on Pertokoan Agus Salim, is legendary. Pak Min Jastro usually opens for business at eight in the morning and closes as early as 11, after serving throngs of starving customers. If you are late, you can find alternatives on Jalan Panjunan.

Among a line of aquarium fish sellers, you will see a large but inconspicuous banner: Sate Kerbau Pak Selamet. Wearing the satay vendors’ casual uniform — black peci (a rimless hat) and plain white top — Pak Selamet will tell you stories of his 30-something years in the satay business as he fans your order on the grill.

When it comes to lunch or dinner, a visit to Warung Sop Buntut Ibu Uky is a must. Open from noon until night, this eatery on Jalan Ahmad Yani serves a variety of dishes, from pecel kudus (fresh vegetables in peanut sauce) and soto kudus to the zesty pindang kerbo (buffalo meat in keluwak sauce) and its specialty, sop buntut kerbo (oxtail soup). The warung is owned and operated by Ibu Uky, who is an amiable woman who knows how to talk about food as well as how to cook it.

All of Ibu Uky’s dishes have something in common: her generosity with spices and garlic. One particular dish on the menu is a must: the garang asem ayam . Here, slivers of chicken, along with the small bones, young tomatoes, belimbing sayur and cuts of large chillies, are submerged in hot, spicy santan broth and wrapped in banana leaves. The fabulousness of this dish (and eating it in Kudus’s already sweltering temperature) may leave you drowning in your own sweat, but you can always ask for an extra portion of rice.

If you are familiar at all with Javanese cooking, you must have noticed by now that buffalo meat is often used as a substitute for beef. Buffalo meat is a bit leaner than beef, but also has a more meaty texture.

In Kudus, the tradition of eating buffalo that is said to have been around for more than half a millennium, born out of religious tolerance.

Legend has it that Sunan Kudus, one of nine prominent men who spread Islam around Java, prohibited the slaying of cows by Muslims during Idul Adha as a gesture of respect for Hindus. Before Sunan arrived, Kudus had been a center of Hinduism in Central Java, and to Hindus, cows are sacred.

In the evenings food hawkers become scarcer and scarcer in Kudus as the night deepens. As the streets empty out it is interesting to see the santris, young people who study at Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren , flood out into the streets on their bicycles. You may even wish to take this quiet opportunity to walk off a day of gastronomic discovery.