Home > Ketoprak (Indonesian Vermicelli Noodles with Tofu and Peanut Sauce)

Ketoprak (Indonesian Vermicelli Noodles with Tofu and Peanut Sauce)

Posting Date: 12/15/16

Ketoprak (Indonesian Vermicelli Noodles with Tofu and Peanut Sauce) is vegetarian street food originated from Jakarta, Indonesia. It is quite popular there. It consists of vermicelli, blanched bean sprouts, fried diced tofu, lontong (rice cake), shrimp crackers or red crackers, and peanut sauce. It is then drizzled with sweet soy sauce and sprinkled with fried onions on top. The sweet soy sauce brings the balance in flavor. The difference between Ketoprak's peanut sauce and other Indonesian dishes that use peanut sauce, such as satay, gado gado, is the stronger garlic flavor in Ketoprak. Ketoprak uses more garlic than the other peanut sauce. This is one of my favorite Jakarta dishes because of the balance in flavor among sweet soy sauce, peanut sauce, and garlic in the peanut sauce.

In Indonesia, the peanut sauce in Ketoprak normally uses raw peanuts that are fried before being ground with the other ingredients, garlic, salt, sugar, and Thai chili pepper. To save time, I use peanut butter. You can also use fried raw peanuts if you are not pressed with time. If you use fried peanuts, make sure you adjust the amount of salt and sugar accordingly since peanut butter tends to be slightly salty with a hint of sweetness. In the recipe, I also substitute Thai chili pepper with sambal oelek. This is because it is not easy to find Thai chili pepper in my local Asian stores. I use Huy Fong brand for sambal oelek since they don't add shrimp paste or garlic to it and thus, I got the chili pepper I need without any other flavors I don't want.

A little bit interesting fact about Ketoprak. Not only it is a name of a dish, it is also a name of Javanese theatrical drama. The stories of this theatrical drama are inspired from Javanese history and romances.

This recipe serves 2 people.

Ingredients:

1 block tofu (about 12 oz), rinsed, drained, dried with paper towel, and diced into cubes
Vegetable oil
1 bunch vermicelli, cooked according to package instructions
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
For peanut sauce: 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
For peanut sauce: 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or to taste. I use Huy Fong brand for sambal oelek since they don't add shrimp paste or garlic to it and thus, I got the chili pepper I need without any other flavors I don't want.
For peanut sauce: 1/4 cup peanut butter
For peanut sauce: 2/4 to 3/4 cup boiling water
For peanut sauce: 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
For peanut sauce: 1 teaspoon brown sugar or to taste
1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced
sweet soy sauce to taste
Optional: shrimp crackers or red crackers. To make it vegetarian, skip shrimp crackers and use regular red crackers. Follow the package instructions on how to fry the crackers.
Optional: fried onions

Methods:

Turn on the stove to medium high. Add vegetable oil to frying pan. Let the oil heat up before adding diced tofu. Fry diced tofu until they are golden brown on all sides. Once golden brown, use slotted spoon to take them out and drain them on a plate lined with paper towel. Turn off the stove. Set them aside.
Blanch bean sprouts. Drain it and set aside.
Heat up 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable oil on a small pan. Fry the garlic until it becomes fragrant and cooked. Turn off the stove. Put the garlic in a food processor. Add peanut butter and sambal oelek. Pulse the food processor until the garlic is finely chopped. Pour the peanut sauce in a small bowl. Add 2/4 cup boiling water, salt, and sugar. Whisk the sauce until it becomes smooth. You may want to add more boiling water if the sauce is still too thick. You can add 1-2 tablespoons in increment until you get the consistency you want. I found the amount of water to use is dependent on the brand of the peanut butter. That's why start with 2/4 cup of water first and add more water to get the consistency you want.
To assemble the dish, split the vermicelli into 2 plates. Top each plate with sliced cucumber, fried tofu, shrimp or red crackers, blanched bean sprouts, and peanut sauce. Drizzle with sweet soy sauce and sprinkle with fried onion.

Note:

In Indonesia, the peanut sauce in Ketoprak normally uses raw peanuts that are fried before being ground with the other ingredients, garlic, salt, sugar, and Thai chili pepper. To save time, I use peanut butter. You can also use fried raw peanuts if you are not pressed with time. If you use fried peanuts, make sure you adjust the amount of salt and sugar accordingly since peanut butter tends to be slightly salty with a hint of sweetness.

All images, materials, and recipes on Indonesiancooking101.com are protected by copyright. Please do not use or republish the recipes, materials, or images without prior written permission from Indonesian Cooking 101. If you want to share this recipe, please share the link rather than the whole recipe.