Ketchup explained: sweet, medium or salty?

A bottle of ketjap manis is as essential on the kitchen counter in an Indonesian kitchen as salt and pepper. It gives nasi goreng its dark sheen, makes a pan of semur smell sweet and deeply comforting on a Sunday afternoon, and is the base of the small dish of sliced rawit peppers that simply sits next to the rice in many families. In our toko in Amsterdam, the bottles are lined up in all sizes, and then the question is not so simple: manis, sedang or asin, and which brand? Here you will read what ketjap exactly is, how the varieties differ, and which bottle to choose for what. If you want the bigger picture first, start with Indonesian cuisine 101.

What is ketjap (kecap)?

ABC Ketjap Manis is the ketjap most people know: a dark, syrupy soy sauce that tastes sweet and savory at the same time. Ketjap is the old, common spelling in the Netherlands; in Indonesia you write kecap. It is brewed from fermented soybeans, just like other soy sauce, but a lot of palm sugar or sugar is added to ketjap manis, making it thick and sweet. In Indonesian, kecap is actually a collective term for sauces, because kecap ikan is fish sauce and kecap inggris is Worcestershire sauce. If you say ketjap in the Netherlands, you almost always mean the sweet ketjap manis.

Ketjap manis, sedang or asin: what is the difference?

The difference lies in the sweetness: ketjap manis is sweet and syrupy, ketjap sedang is halfway between, and ketjap asin is salty and thin. Manis means sweet, asin means salty, and sedang means medium. You also have ketjap pedas, a spicy ketjap manis, and table ketjap that you simply pour over your plate.

Ketjap manis kecap manis · sweetThick and syrupy, for nasi goreng, semur and marinadesKetjap sedang kecap sedang · half sweetHalf sweet, with more salt and soy flavorKetjap asin kecap asin · saltyThin and salty, for seasoning without sweetnessKetjap pedas kecap pedas · spicySweet ketjap with chili, as a dipping sauce or over fried rice

In most recipes on our site, by ketjap we simply mean ketjap manis. You use ketjap asin when you want salt and depth without sweetness, for example in a soup or in a stir-fry with vegetables, and sedang is handy if you find ketjap manis just a little too sweet for your nasi.

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What is the difference between ketjap and soy sauce?

Kikkoman Soy Sauce is a Japanese soy sauce, and it is thinner, saltier and not sweet at all, while ketjap manis is thick and sweet. Ketjap asin is closest to regular soy sauce, but you cannot simply swap ketjap manis and Japanese or Chinese soy sauce. If you use soy sauce where ketjap manis is called for in the recipe, your dish will miss the sweet, caramel-like layer and the sheen; if you do it the other way around, a Japanese or Chinese sauce suddenly becomes sweet and sticky. You can read all about the Japanese and Chinese side of the family in Soy Sauce 101.

Which ketjap should you buy?

Bango Kecap Manis is the ketjap you see in so many kitchens in Indonesia itself. It is thick, round and syrupy, with a deep caramel flavor that shines beautifully over sate and semur. ABC is the other big name and just a little lighter in flavor; you can get started right away with either. We also have more brands, each with its own character. Bango and ABC are the bottles as they stand in the supermarket in Indonesia, and Flower Brand and Go-Tan are brands that Indonesian families have been using here for generations. Which bottle you buy depends mainly on how much you cook with it: a small bottle to get acquainted, a liter if ketjap is almost always on your table.

Bango Indonesian brand · 620 mlThick, round and syrupy; also in 275 mlABC Indonesian brand · 275 mlAlso in 132 ml, 600 ml and a large 6 kg packageKetjap Manis A 500 mlSweet ketjap in a handy bottle for daily useFlower Brand Benteng 1 literBrewed soy sauce, sweetened with sugarGo-Tan organic 145 mlOrganic ketjap manis in a small bottleMegachef 200 mlKecap manis from a Thai brandMedja Kaki Tiga table ketjap · 500 mlMedja means table: ketjap to pour at the table

If you want to keep it simple, choose one ketjap manis for cooking and optionally put a ketjap asin next to it for the moments when it can be salty without sweetness.

What do you use ketjap manis for?

Ketjap manis you use for baking, stewing, marinating and dipping, and it is in many classics of the Indonesian cuisine. In nasi goreng and in the Indonesian bami goreng you only stir it through the rice or noodles at the end, so the sugar does not burn but does give a dark sheen. In semur you slowly cook beef ribs or beef brisket tender in ketjap with nutmeg and cloves, and for sate ayam you marinate chicken thigh fillet cubes in ketjap with garlic, kaffir lime and djinten.

Babi ketjap, a stew from the Chinese-Indonesian cuisine where babi simply means pork, you make with pork shoulder or pork belly, which stew long and tender until the sauce clings sticky to the meat. If you want it quickly, use Koningsvogel Boemboe Babi Ketjap as a base and add the ketjap yourself. Also for a semur you do not need to grind everything yourself, because with a packet of Bamboe Bumbu Semur you already have the spices together; how to best fry a boemboe, you read in Boemboe 101.

Sambal ketjap as a dipping sauce

Lekker Bekkie Gekruide Ketjap is a ready-made spiced ketjap to dip in, but you can also make sambal ketjap yourself in a minute. Cut a few fresh rawit peppers and a shallot finely, pour a few generous dashes of ketjap manis over it and squeeze a little lime juice over it, and you have a small dish that you put next to fried fish, sate or a plate of rice with egg. If you want less cut, stir a teaspoon of sambal oelek through the ketjap. Which other sambal fits with ketjap, you read in Sambal 101.

Can you make ketjap manis yourself?

Wayang Gula Jawa and a bottle of soy sauce are all you need if you run out of sweet kecap manis and still want to make nasi tonight. Finely grate about 100 grams of gula jawa and dissolve it over low heat in about 100 milliliters of soy sauce, such as Kikkoman Soy Sauce, and then let the mixture gently simmer for a few minutes until it becomes slightly syrupy and coats the back of a spoon. Be careful not to boil it too hard, as sugar burns easily, and keep in mind that the sauce will thicken further as it cools. It remains a makeshift solution, as brewed kecap manis has a rounder flavour, but it works perfectly well for an everyday plate of nasi goreng.

How do you store kecap?

Store kecap as the label instructs, as this varies by brand and type. For example, our ABC Ketjap Asin says to store it in the refrigerator after opening. Close the cap tightly after use and wipe the neck of the bottle so that no sticky residue forms and the cap is easy to open again next time. You can also find out how long an opened bottle lasts on the label.

What do you need besides kecap?

Sambal oelek and a boemboe are listed right alongside kecap in most recipes, and with gula jawa, fried shallots and kerupuk, your pantry is complete.

Kecap kecapManis, sedang, asin and table kecapShop nowSambal oelek · ulekFrom sambal oelek to badjak and trassiShop nowBoemboe bumbuSpice pastes for semur, nasi and moreShop nowCooking ingredients gula jawa · trassiPalm sugar, santen, spices and seasoningsShop now

Recipes with sweet kecap manis

This is how you use kecap manis in practice, from a slow-cooked stew to a quick stir-fry.

SemurJavanese beef rib stew with kecap, nutmeg and cloves.Nasi gorengFried rice with chicken, shrimp, kecap manis and sambal.Sate ayamChicken thigh skewers marinated in kecap, served with peanut sauce.Bami gorengIndonesian fried noodles with chicken thigh, vegetables and kecap.Ayam baliChicken thigh in a spicy, syrupy sauce made from tomato and kecap.

If you put several of these dishes on the table at once, you're actually halfway to a rijsttafel; how to assemble one is explained in Rijsttafel at home.

Frequently asked questions

With a bottle of kecap manis in the cupboard, you are never far from a plate of nasi goreng that smells like one from an Indonesian warung, and with a bottle of sedang or asin next to it, you can choose how sweet you want it for each dish. Taste as you go, add the kecap in a few splashes rather than all at once and trust your own palate, because everyone does it just a little differently in Indonesian and Indo kitchens too. If you are still unsure in the toko in Amsterdam in front of the shelf with all those dark bottles, feel free to ask us, and if you want to read on about boemboe, sambal and the rest of the kitchen, you will find everything in Indonesian cuisine 101.