Nasi kucing

Nasi kucing is a unique and iconic Indonesian street food, a rice dish originating from Central Java, especially popular in cities like Yogyakarta, Solo, and Semarang. The name translates literally to "cat rice" (nasi = rice, kucing = cat), which refers not to the ingredients, but to the portion size — small enough to be a meal for a cat.

Nasi Kucing consists of a small scoop of rice served with simple toppings, usually wrapped in a banana leaf or brown paper. Common toppings include sambal, dried anchovies (teri), tempeh, shredded chicken, oseng-oseng (stir-fried vegetables), or sometimes a dollop of chili-fried tuna (abon or tongkol).

It’s humble, cheap, and designed to be eaten on-the-go or in a social, communal setting. This dish is famously associated with angkringan, which are small, traditional street food carts typically operated at night. These carts don’t just serve food — they are social hubs where students, workers, and locals gather to eat, chat, drink hot tea or kopi joss (charcoal coffee), and relax.

A night at an angkringan often means grabbing multiple packets of nasi kucing, each with different toppings, plus a few skewers of sate telur puyuh (quail egg satay), fried snacks, or grilled tempeh.