Rujak is a traditional Indonesian fruit and vegetable salad, known for its bold combination of sweet, spicy, sour, and savory flavors. A beloved street food and household dish across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, rujak typically consists of fresh tropical fruits and raw vegetables, tossed or dipped in a thick, spicy palm sugar and tamarind dressing.
Unlike Western fruit salads, rujak is distinct for its complex flavor balance, with the dressing often made from palm sugar (gula Jawa), tamarind paste, peanuts, salt, shrimp paste (terasi), and bird’s eye chilies, creating a deeply umami, tangy, and fiery sauce.
VARIATIONS OF Rujak
MOST ICONIC Rujak
View moreRujak petis is a traditional salad and a specialty of Ponorogo, East Java. This type of rujak is similar to rujak cingur, but it's meatless. The dish usually contains sliced mango, cucumbers, water spinach, jicama, kedondong (June plums), soybean sprouts, and tofu.
The ingredients are served in a dark sauce made from black fermented prawn paste called petis (hence the name of the dish), palm sugar, shallots, salt, and ground or crushed peanuts. Although this salad was traditionally served on banana leaf plates in the past, nowadays it's served on standard plates, and it's often topped with fried shallots.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Rujak cuka is a traditional fruit salad originating from West Java. This type of rujak is made with fruits such as unripe mango and pineapple as the main ingredients, along with vegetables such as cabbage, bean sprouts, jicama, and cucumbers. The ingredients are grated for this type of rujuk, and the flavor is described as sour and refreshing.
The name of the dish means vinegar rujuk, referring to the sour and spicy dressing for the salad consisting of vinegar, palm sugar, and chili peppers.
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