Ketoprak

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked short-grain rice, pressed into a block and cooled (or lontong)
• 14 oz firm tofu, cubed
• Oil, for frying
• 3 oz thin rice vermicelli
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 3/4 cup roasted peanuts
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2-3 red chiles, to taste
• 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 tbsp water
• 1/3 cup hot water
• Salt to taste
• Fried shallots, for topping
• Crackers (krupuk), for serving

Before you cook

• Press the cooked rice firmly into a container and chill until firm enough to slice into cubes, or use store-bought lontong.
• Soak the rice vermicelli in hot water until soft, then drain.
• Slice the cucumber.

Steps

1. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and rinse under cold water.
2. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a skillet and fry the tofu cubes for 4 minutes per side until golden and crisp, then drain on paper towels.
3. Grind the peanuts, garlic, and chiles together in a mortar or food processor into a coarse paste.
4. Add the palm sugar, kecap manis, and dissolved tamarind to the peanut paste and mix well.
5. Stir in the hot water a little at a time until the sauce reaches a thick, pourable consistency.
6. Season the peanut sauce with salt to taste.
7. Cut the pressed rice into cubes.
8. Arrange the rice cubes, fried tofu, vermicelli, bean sprouts, and cucumber on a plate.
9. Pour the peanut sauce generously over the top.
10. Scatter fried shallots over the dish and serve with crackers alongside.