5 Local Foods You Can Try in Borobudur
Are you a local food lover?
If yes, why don’t you try some our special foods here when you come to Borobudur for Waisak.
Borobudur is rich in agriculture, surrounded by rice/vegetable/fruits fields. Our local foods look very simple, not as gorgeous as urban dishes. But you can enjoy the taste of each ingredients.
Kopi Badhek
This is the coffee which is mixed with “Badhek“.
Badhek is a kind of coconuts water that is collected from the flower cluster, univerally called Legen or Air Nira Kelapa in Indoneian language, called Badhek or Badek in only our dialect.
It contains natural sugar, protain, mineral and vitamins in this water, local people have loved to drink it traditionally for their health.
Indonesia is a big coffee producing country, we often drink coffee in our dairy life. Our traditional coffee is made mixing coffee powder and hot water directly just like Turkish/Greek coffee.
For Kopi Badhek, Badhek alleviates the bitterness of coffee and adds mellow sweetness and freshness, making the taste of coffee turns to unique one.
Basically this coffee is served in glass cup at small stall on the streets especially selling Badhek around Borobudur. It cost you around only Rp 5,000 per glass. As another option, you can enjoy it with Javanese traditional foods in a recommended restaurant, named just “Kopi Badhek” 10-min drive away from Borobudur Temple. The restaurant’s Javanese house and rice fields view suits to this coffee perfectly.
Kupat Tahu (Vegetarian/Vegan)
Kupat Tahu is a one of popular tofu (bean curd) dishes, actually you can find it everywhere in Java Island. But, Kupat Tahu in Magelang where Borobudur belongs to is the most famous one.
Put fried tofu and “kupat”, some steamed rice balls that are by coconuts leaves, in a plate, then add bean sprout, cabbage and fried shallot, then pour a plenty of sweet and spicy peanut sauce on it.
The aroma of tofu, the spiciness of the sauce and the fresh texture of vegetables are very appetizing.
It has no any kinds of meat or seafood, but it’s very hearty, one plate is very enough for lunch.
Normally Kupat Tahu is sold in small speciality restaurants with very reasonable price, around Rp 12,000 per plate. There are many Kupat Tahu restanrants in Borobudur.
Sop Senerek
Sop is soup, Senerek comes from Dutch pea soup “Snert” that was eaten by Dutch people in Dutch colonial era. Yes, Sop Senerek is an arranged soup in Javanese style.
This soup is made by beef, beans, carrots, spinach and tomatos, cooking well slowly until the ingredients are tender.
As this unspicy soup is cooked with only a few simple seasonings, once you put your spoon in your mouth, you can feel each ingredient’s taste.
Rice is our culture, so we eat this Dutch-flavoured soup with white rice, sometimes served mixing with rice, sometimes served separately.
In Borobudur area, there are some speciality small restaurants that have the word “Sop Senerek” in their restaurant names. You can enjoy your meal around Rp 20,000 including rice.
Nasi Lesah
Nasi Lesah, also called “Soto Lesah” is a brother of “Soto Ayam” that is the most general Indonesian food.
It’s cooked with almost same ingredients as Soto Ayam. But Nasi Lesah is cooked with coconuts milk instead of normal water that is used for Soto Ayam. The Coconuts milk works very well, he gives a big change to Nasi Lesah, more creamy and more tasteful. And Nasi Lesah looks more delicious because of its yellow-colored soup.
As same as Soto Ayam, Nasi Lesah is a perfect one-plate-dish. First, put white rice with some vegetables such as bean sprout, carrots, leeks and fried shallots on the top in a plate. Then, pour a plenty of chicken-coconuts soup.
You can try this food in some speciality restaurants and sometimes in Soto Ayam restaurants in Borobudur. The price of Nasi Lesah is normally about 15,000 per plate.
Magelangan
The name of this food comes from the prefecture name of Borobudur. “Magelang” is the prefecture name and the last 2 letters “an” means that it belongs to the previous word. In short, Magelangan means ”a thing of Magelang”.
So, finally what’s Magelangan? It is the Nasi Goreng, Indonesian fried rice, mixed some noodles. In the process of cooking normal fried rice, just add some noodles. The taste is totally same as normal fried rice.
In some restaurants in Borobudur, they have Magelangan in their menu. And in most of Nasi Goreng roadside stalls, you can order directly. You can get it at around Rp 15.000 per plate in the stalls, around Rp 25,000 per plate in the restaurants.
Enjoy your meal
Selamat Makan
