Rujak means “mixture” or “eclectic mix” and this is what this dish is, a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Available everywhere across Indonesia from street vendors, warungs or even posh restaurants serve this. The origin of rujak is unclear and there is a quite a number of variations across South East Asia but what history says is that Rujak is one of the oldest dishes out there, it is also the earliest historically identified food of ancient Java. Roughly created around 901 CE (very early 10th century from the era of Mataram Kingdom in Central Java where it was incorporated into their prenatal ceremony called Naloni Mitoni, where it was believed that young mango and other sour-tasting fruits are craved by pregnant women, or what Filipinos call “lihi”.
During the early days rujak was just a mixture of different sour tasting fruits until chili pepper and peanuts was introduced during the early colonial era in the 16th century after it was brought by Spanish and Portuguese traders from the Americas. Later on, palm sugar and terasi was added to give it that unique flavour.
Rujak soto is a traditional Indonesian salad originating from Banyuwangi, East Java. This type of rujak is often described as a cross between beef soto and rujak cingur. It often uses vegetables such as water spinach (kangkung) and bean sprouts, which are served with rice cakes and shrimp paste sauce.
Once prepared, soto soup is poured over the dish. It is believed that this version of rujak was created in 1975 by Usni Solihin.
Instructions:
- In a large mortar and pestle combine all rujak sauce ingredients together apart from the peanuts then gently pound them to make sauce. Set is aside
- Place all fruits in a bowl, then dress with sauce, top with peanuts then serve.
