Gudeg Yogya: Yogyakarta, Central Java

Gudeg Yogya is Yogyakarta’s traditional dish. Jalan Malioboro probably has most gudeg places and you can buy off the kaki lima or enjoy sitting and having your meal lesehan style. These eateries are relatively small and set up on the sidewalk of the main street.

The Yogyanese culinary delight combines rice with boiled young jackfruit, chicken, egg and a spicy coconut cream sauce. The condiments used are garlic and coriander. When you see Gudeg Yogya for the first time its colour tends to put you off!. The reddish brown colour is a result of the jackfruit, coconut water, and palm sugar being boiled for several hours.

If you buy Gudeg Yogya from a street vendor then it will be served up on a banana leaf, folded and pinned together with a bamboo stick. In my opinion, this is the best way to eat it!. If you eat Lesehan style then you will have to sit on a bamboo mat and have your meal served in front of you on a short table as there are no chairs available.

One of my favourite places in Yogyakarta for Gudeg Yogya is in a small gang running parallel to the Malioboro Mall. The old lady that worked there once told me that she never uses metal spoons, only wooden ones to stir the pots. It seems that metal distracts from the original taste.