Rawon
A beef soup turned black by keluak nuts, earthy and deep, served with rice, short bean sprouts, a salted egg and sambal.
What makes it rawon
- Keluak for the black colour and earthy depth.
- Beef, simmered until tender, in a clear-edged dark broth.
- Short bean sprouts, salted egg and sambal alongside.
Where it comes from
Rawon is East Java's great soup, and Surabaya's in particular. Its colour comes from keluak (kluwek), the seed of a tall forest tree, which is poisonous raw and made safe by boiling and burying for weeks — after which its black flesh tastes of something between chocolate, olives and mushrooms.
The keluak is scraped out, ground with the bumbu and fried before the beef stock goes in. It's eaten from breakfast on, with tauge pendek — bean sprouts with their tails still short — a salted duck egg and a hot sambal.
How it varies
- Rawon dengkul
- With beef knee and its tendons.
Be the first here
Start your own rawonNo one here has made rawon yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
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