Lotek (food) facts for kids
Lotek is a delicious and healthy salad from Indonesia. It's a popular dish from the island of Java, especially in places like Central Java and Yogyakarta.
This tasty salad is made mostly from fresh vegetables. What makes it special is its rich peanut sauce. While it's similar to another Indonesian dish called pecel, Lotek's sauce is usually much sweeter. This sweet flavor is a classic part of "Matraman" cooking, which comes from an old kingdom called the Mataram Sultanate.
Sometimes, Lotek is also called lontong pecel. This is because it often comes with lontong (rice cakes), krupuk (crispy crackers), and gorengan (fried snacks).
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Where Does the Name "Lotek" Come From?
The name Lotek comes from an old Javanese word, lothek. This word means "a wooden or bamboo spatula." This type of spatula was used to scoop out sauces or pastes from a grinding bowl.
Over time, the "th" sound in lothek changed to a "t" sound. This made it easier for people who don't speak Javanese to say. As Javanese villages grew into cities and welcomed people from different groups, the "t" sound version became more common.
Different Kinds of Lotek
Lotek can be made in slightly different ways depending on where you are in Indonesia.
Lotek in Surakarta
In Surakarta, Lotek usually has a mix of vegetables. Some vegetables are raw, while others are steamed. It's often served with krupuk (crispy crackers), tempeh (fermented soybean cake), bakwan (fried batter), and fried tofu.
Lotek in Yogyakarta
In Yogyakarta, people usually make Lotek with only steamed or boiled vegetables. This makes it a bit different from the Surakarta version.
Lotek in Other Regions
Lotek is also popular in other parts of Indonesia. This is thanks to Javanese people who moved to different cities.
In Bandung, for example, Lotek is sometimes described as a mix between gado-gado and pecel. These are two other well-known Indonesian vegetable dishes. The Lotek in Bandung looks quite similar to the one found in Surakarta.
Some people might confuse Lotek with another dish called karedok. However, karedok is made using only raw vegetables, which is a common style in Sundanese cuisine. Lotek, on the other hand, often uses cooked vegetables.
