Pecel

Pecel

Alternative names	Pecal
Place of origin	Indonesia
Region or state	Java
Creator	Javanese cuisine
Serving temperature	Room temperature
Main ingredients	vegetables in peanut sauce
Cookbook: Pecel  Media: Pecel

Pecel is a traditional Javanese salad, consisting of a mixed vegetables in peanut sauce dressing, usually served with steamed rice or sometimes with lontong or ketupat compressed rice cake. The peanut sauce used in pecel is also similar to gado-gado. Peanut sauce for pecel has no coconut milk. However pecel has been strongly associated with Javanese cuisine, while gado-gado is usually associated with Betawi and Sundanese cuisine. In Malaysia, it is called as pecal which is introduced by the Javanese immigrants. Pecel is also very popular in Suriname, where it was introduced by the Javanese Surinamese.

Ingredient

Pecel consists of boiled or blanched water spinach, spinach, bean sprouts, yardlong bean, cucumber, cassava leaf and lemon basil, poured with peanut sauce, made from ground fried peanuts mixed with water, salt, palm sugar, tamarind juice, chili pepper, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and garlic. Additional side dishes might be added in pecel dish, such as fried tempeh and tofu, perkedel kentang, bakwan jagung (vegetables and corn fritters) and crispy rempeyek peanut cracker or krupuk.

Variants

The vegetables used in pecel might vary, and the peanut sauce's recipe might slightly different among regions in Java. The origin of pecel is still unknown, but most likely it is originated from the town of Madiun or Ponorogo in East Java, since it has the most famous pecel variant, and also because sate Ponorogo used the same kind of peanut sauce that is normally used in pecel. Nevertheless, pecel can be found in most of Javanese villages and cities. Pecel can be home made or served in Javanese restaurants, humble warung, to travelling Mbok bakul pecel, a travelling pecel-seller woman that carry pecel ingredients in woven bamboo basket and frequenting residential areas selling her wares. This travelling selling method is also similar to Mbok jamu gendong that sells jamu herbs traditional medicine instead.

Solo pecel, served in a restaurant in Solo, Central Java

See also

• Urap
• Tekwan
• Pempek
• Ketoprak
• Pecel lele