Rawon

General Information

Rawon actually is ann Indonesian traditionally culinary dish. It is in the form of meat soup with the color of the soup generally black. The color is black because of the specialty seasoning with the name of kluwek. Although, there is a variant of Rawon which does not add it. Originally is a specialty from East Java dish, but it also popular in several region in Indonesia.

Specifically, it is actually originating from Surabaya, East Java. It is mentioned before that rawon utilizes the black keluak nut as the main seasoning, which gives a dark color and nutty flavor to the soup. Rawon is one of the oldest historically identified dishes of ancient Java. It was mentioned as rarawwan in an ancient Javanese Taji inscription (901 CE) from the era of the Mataram Kingdom.

Ingredients

So, in Wikipedia there is list of the ingredients available where it is the composition of a ground mixture of garlic, shallots, keluak, ginger, candlenut, turmeric, red chili, and salt, and is sautéed with oil. Next, pouring the sautéed mixture is into the boiled beef stock with diced beef slices.

Furthermore, add another ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves, and sugar as seasonings. The special dark or black color of rawon comes from the keluak as the main spice. The soup is usually has an additional garnish using green onion and fried shallot, and served with rice. Other toppings include bean sprouts, salted preserved egg, krupuk, and fried tolo beans black-eyed pea.

Variants

There are several variants of rawon, with the most popular being rawon from Surabaya. In Balinese cuisine, rawon does not use any —thus, the color is brown instead of black. Additionally, as the Balinese are mostly Hindu, they tend to favor pork over beef.

Where to find

The following is a popular place to enjoy Rawon wit the name of ‘Rawon Nguling’ :