GUDEG, The Most Popular Food from Yogyakarta

IndonesiaTravelVisit.com | Since many years ago, gudeg, traditional food made from young jackfruit, has been the most popular food in Yogyakarta. Not only in 'gudeg center', can you also find this food in every part of the city. Dried gudeg becomes the most wanted gift from Jogja.

If New York is called as "Big Apple" and Jakarta as "Big Durian", Yogyakarta is possibly called "Big Jackfruit" because of the well-known gudeg. Gudeg becomes a main menu for those who visit Java Island. Gori (young jackfruit) is cooked together with coconut milk and many spices for hours. After it is done, the gori will taste sweet. Gudeg is usually served with hot krecek (cow skin), telur pindang (egg), tahu and tempe bacem (soya cake), ayam opor or bacem (chicken), and areh gurih (coconut milk dressing) that give special sensation when you eat it.

Gudeg Kering, Gudeg Basah, and Gudeg Manggar

For many people, gudeg has only one style, but actually, there are three kinds of gudeg, namely gudeg kering, gudeg basah, and gudeg manggar. Gudeg basah is served with yummy coconut milk gravy. This food, which is a right choice for breakfast, can be found on Kaliurang Street (Barek area), at Gudeg Batas Kota (Adisucipto Street in front of Saphir Square) or the street hawker at traditional markets in Yogyakarta.
 

Gudeg kering (dry gudeg) is cooked longer than gudeg basah until the gravy dry and the color turns into brown. It also tastes sweeter. It can last for 24 hours or more if it is stored in a refrigerator. The seller usually put it in besek (a box made of woven bamboo) or kendil (clay pot). You can buy this kind of food in many gudeg store like Gudeg Yu Narni (+62 274 867231) on Palagan Tentara Street 102, Gudeg Yu Djum (+62 274 515968) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/22, Gudeg Bu Ahmad (+62 274 520049) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5, Gudeg Bu Tjitro 1925 (+62 274 564734 on Janti Street 330, and gudeg center in an area called Wijilan.

Besides gudeg from young jackfruit, Yogyakarta also has gudeg manggar. Manggar means coconut flower that bears a different sensation in this food because this flower has crunchy texture like mushroom. However, the limitation stock of raw material (manggar) makes this food is hardly found. Some sellers should close their restaurant and only serves this food with order. There are only several places to find it like in Bantul.

The Gudeg Center in Wijilan and Barek

Gudeg can be found in every place in Yogyakarta, but Wijilan and Barek are the most famous areas as Gudeg center. Wijilan is located not far from Keraton Yogyakarta (the Palace of Yogyakarta) and can be reached by becak (pedicab) or 10 minutes walking. Initiated by Bu Slamet who started to sell gudeg in 1946, now there are more than 17 gudeg restaurants in Wijilan. You can choose it as you wish, for example Gudeg Yu Djum that serves gudeg kering with sweet taste as other traditional food from Yogyakarta. The krecek is cut into dice and cooked as sambal goreng (food that is cooked with red chili and coconut milk). If you want gudeg with a bit sweet taste, you can visit Gudeg Bu Slamet (+62 274 380429 on Wijilan Street 17). Gudeg restaurants in this area usually open at 5.30a.m to 8p.m except Gudeg Bu Tarto (Wijilan Street 15) that opens for 24 hours.

If you are on the north side of Yogyakarta, you can visit an area near Gadjah Mada University called Barek. Every day early in the morning before the sun rises, you can find many gudeg sellers in this area. However, when the morning comes, they will tidy up their load. But you can still find the famous Gudeg Bu Ahmad (+62 274 520049) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5, Gudeg Yu Djum (+62 274 515968) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/22, Yu Narni (+62 274 589687) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/19, or Bu Tini that opens until night. These restaurants also allow you to see the process of gudeg making directly.
From the Dawn until Midnight

Yogyakarta is a never-sleep city and one of the things that always make it awake is gudeg. Many gudeg sellers sell their food from the dawn till midnight. When the sun starts to shine, Wijilan and Barek also start to be alive and many people start their day by having gudeg as their breakfast. The sellers in these areas will patiently serves the visitors until 8 or 9p.m. Do you want to eat gudeg in the middle of the night? You don't need to worry because Gudeg Batas Kota (on Adisucipto Sreet in front of Saphir Square) opens at 10p.m and is ready to serve you with its yummy food. For other alternative, you can try the sensation of how to eat gudeg in the kitchen where it is cooked at Gudeg Pawon on Janturan Street 36-38 Warungboto.