It's usually topped with fried shallots and krupuk. The dish can be found at numerous ketoprak food carts throughout Jakarta, although there is still an ongoing debate about the origin of the dish – some claim that it was first made in Cirebon because the majority of street food vendors come from Cirebon.
The tofu is freshly fried from the food carts, while the other ingredients are prepared in advance. Ketoprak is usually a vegan dish, but it's sometimes topped with a hard-boiled egg which makes it non-vegan.
The etymology of the name ketoprak is unknown, and its name similarity to the Javanese folk-drama is peculiar. However, according to popular Betawi tradition, ketoprak was actually derived from the acronym of its ingredients; which are ket from ketupat, to from tahu and toge, and prak from digeprak (Betawi for: "mashed" or "crushed"), which describes the method on grounding garlic, chili pepper and peanut granules together to create the peanut sauce. It is also believed that a man who loved eating invented the dish because he grew tiresome of the food he had normally eaten. When he dropped the dish on to the floor, the plate made the sound "ketuprak", which is where he got the idea for the name.
In addition to its unique name, ketoprak is also unique in that all the street vendors use the same design for their carts. The vendors arrange and use all their tools in the same manner. A ketoprak wagon always has a stainless pan, a frying pan at the end of the cart, a used biscuit can for crackers, and a wooden pestle and mortar.
Today, ketoprak is often associated with Jakarta as the dish is more easily available in this city compared to others. However, there is a debate on whether or not it actually originated in Jakarta. Some has claimed that the dish was first made in Cirebon, while others say that it comes from Central Java. As of 2018, no one has discovered where the dish actually originated from. In Jakarta, majority of ketoprak street vendors hailed from the West Javan city of Cirebon. In Cirebon, an area famous for its ketoprak is in Pasuketan area. Ketoprak might be derived from a popular Javanese-Sundanese dish kupat tahu (tofu and ketupat), with addition of bihun (rice vermicelli), beansprouts, cucumber and sweet soy sauce.
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