The market · Seasonings and ferments · Southeast Asia

Kecap manis

Indonesian sweet soy sauce, thickened with palm sugar until syrupy.

caramel · sweet · savoury

What to do with it

Classics built on it
JavaneseNasi gorengYesterday's rice fried with shallot, garlic, chilli and shrimp paste, darkened with kecap manis and topped with a fried egg.No one here has made it yetJavaneseSate MaduraSmall skewers of chicken, glazed in kecap manis and grilled over charcoal, under a peanut sauce with lontong and raw shallot.No one here has made it yetJavaneseGado-gadoBlanched vegetables, potato, tofu, tempeh, egg and lontong under a thick peanut sauce, with prawn crackers on top.No one here has made it yetJavaneseTempeh bacemTempeh (and often tofu) simmered in coconut water, palm sugar and spice until the liquid is gone, then fried until dark and sticky.No one here has made it yetSundaneseBatagorFried fish dumplings and fish-stuffed tofu, cut up under a peanut sauce with kecap manis, chilli and lime.No one here has made it yetSundaneseSiomay BandungSteamed fish dumplings with cabbage, potato, bitter gourd, tofu and egg, all steamed together and drowned in peanut sauce.No one here has made it yetSundaneseSoto mie BogorYellow noodles, beef and cabbage in a clear spiced beef broth, with tomato, potato and slices of fried spring roll.No one here has made it yetBalineseIkan bakar JimbaranWhole fish split, brushed with a spice paste and kecap manis, and grilled over coconut husks, with sambal and rice.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Asian grocers; ABC is the common one.

  1. 1Homemade kecap manis
    The same: equal parts soy sauce and dark brown or palm sugar, simmered to a syrup
    You lose its star anise and galangal hint.
    Gets some back a star anise in the pan.

Goes with

shallotchillilimerice

Knowing it

Where to buy
Indonesian and Dutch grocers, and most Southeast Asian ones.
A little history
The Hokkien word behind kecap is also where 'ketchup' is thought to come from.
Worth knowing
The glaze of satay and the dark sweetness of nasi goreng.

Kitchens that keep it in

Central and East Java, and Madura, IndonesiaJavaneseThe cooking of Indonesia's most populous island: sweet with palm sugar and kecap manis in the centre, saltier and hotter towards the east, with tempeh and tofu at nearly every meal.9 classics

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