Javanese-Surinamese cuisine: ketjap, se-oen, bami, saoto and dawet

Lekker Bekkie Javanese Peanut Sambal actually captures Javanese-Surinamese cuisine in a single pot: dishes that came from Java and took on their own flavor in Suriname. After the abolition of slavery, the Netherlands brought contract laborers to Suriname, including from Java, and they brought their language, customs, and cuisine with them. Soto, bami, nasi, and pecel remained, but they became sweeter, got more ketjap, and borrowed from the neighbors at the table, such as Madame Jeanette in the sambal and the fried potato on top of the saoto.

ABC Ketjap Manis is the sweet, syrupy ketjap that goes into Surinamese bami and nasi, and more of it is used than you are used to from Indonesian cuisine. Surinamese bami should really turn dark. Ketjap sedang is half sweet, asin is thin and salty. You can read the whole story about manis, sedang, and asin in Ketjap Explained.

Golden Lily Premium Longkou Vermicelli is se-oen, the thin glass noodles made from mung bean that go into saoto in Suriname. The package almost never says se-oen: look for mung bean vermicelli or longkou vermicelli, the Chinese name for the same noodle. You don't really cook se-oen, you let it soak in hot water according to the package until it is soft and translucent. How se-oen compares to other noodles and rice noodles can be read in Asian Noodles 101.

Flower Brand Trassi Bakkar goes into the wok first in our recipes for Surinamese bami and nasi, with onion and garlic, and then come strips of chicken thigh, white cabbage, and the noodles or cold rice. Only when everything is in the pan is the ketjap added, along with some sambal and Surinamese pepper, and then you fry it through again. The sugar in the ketjap caramelizes against the wok and gives it that deep color, while ketjap that is fried along with the ingredients from the beginning mostly burns. At the end, bean sprouts and strips of omelet are added, and fried onions are sprinkled over it.

Sodiro Saoto Mix seasons the broth of saoto, the Javanese-Surinamese chicken soup that descends from the Javanese soto but became its own dish in Suriname. In our recipe, you make a clear broth from chicken thigh with garlic and a packet of saoto mix, and then the chicken is shredded and put back in the bowl, with se-oen, raw bean sprouts, and half a hard-boiled egg. Only at the table do you add a handful of fried potato sticks on top, because they become soft in the broth within a minute. If the saoto mix runs out, Koningsvogel Boemboe Soto Ajam is a good substitute.

Lekker Bekkie Javanese Peanut Sambal is stirred with some hot water into a thick sauce that you pour over blanched vegetables, and that is petjel: cabbage, green beans, and bean sprouts with cucumber, a generous layer of peanut sauce, and rice on the side. The Surinamese sauce is sweeter and a bit thicker than the Javanese, with less heat. Without meat in the sauce, there is Lekker Bekkie Vegetarian Peanut Sambal.

Flower Brand Trassi Powder, bakkar, and raw trassi are all fermented shrimp paste, the salty base for bami, nasi, and many sambals. Bakkar means roasted: you can use it right away. Raw trassi is first roasted briefly in a dry pan. Half a teaspoon is enough for a whole wok.

Jola Dawet Essence gives dawet its bright pink colour, and thus immediately distinguishes it from Javanese cendol, which is brown from palm sugar. You cook a syrup of sugar and crushed lemongrass, stir the essence through it, and let it cool. Then, in tall glasses, you add strands of sago, which you press through a tjendol sieve into ice water, or coconut strands on syrup, and pour coconut milk with plenty of ice over it. If you want to keep it simple, take Lekker Bekkie Dawet Syrup, which you only need to dilute with water or milk.

Sodiro's Javanese Peje, crispy peanut crackers, is often found at the checkout, but at a warung you will find the dishes from this guide, complemented by satay, bakabana with peanut sauce, and telo with bakkeljauw. Cassava and bakkeljauw can be found fresh or frozen at the toko.

Karangsari Sambal Pecel from Indonesia alongside the peanut sambal from Lekker Bekkie clearly shows the difference: the Javanese-Surinamese cuisine is sweeter, darker, and more generous with ketjap. Surinamese nasi usually has cabbage in it, saoto gets fried potato, dawet is pink instead of brown, and the sambal more often smells of Madame Jeanette than red lombok. How the cuisine of Java itself looks, you can read about in Indonesian cuisine 101.

Not sure where to start? Then stock a bottle of ketjap manis, a packet of trassi bakkar, a jar of Javanese sambal, and a bag of se-oen at home, and you can serve bami, nasi, and saoto; add a jar of petjelsaus for Sunday.