Gudeg Yogya Recipe: The Culinary Treasure from Central Java

Gudeg Yogya is a niche food. People who like it will love it, like me 😂. But people who dislike it will never try this food again. One of the reasons for that is probably the sweet taste of this dish. Most people associate sweet food with dessert, so it will feel alien to some when they come across a sweet main course dish. That’s why I said gudeg is a niche food.

However, as one of the gudeg lovers, I have an obligation to share it with the world ✈️. To let people know that this yummy food exists. And hopefully, I can help enrich vegans’ culinary experience with local Javanese traditional food.

What is Gudeg?

hmm, what is gudeg? That is a good question, isn’t it? Gudeg is a slow-cooked sweet jackfruit stew. The main ingredient for this dish is the young jackfruit, known locally as gori. (PS: I have another recipe using the same main ingredient: young jackfruit. Please see the gulai nangka recipe for details). In the process, the shredded young jackfruits are boiled with palm sugar and coconut milk over low heat for several hours. The resulting process is a dish that has a very rich flavor of sweet and savory, with a little hint of Javanese traditional herbs!

If you are curious about the etymology of the word Gudeg, like where it comes from or which language it is, is it Javanese? It comes from the Javanese word “Hangudek,” which means to stir.

The history of gudeg began in the 16th century when the soldiers of the Mataram Kingdom changed the wilderness to build a new civilization. At that time, there is a lot of jackfruit trees and coconut trees in the forest. A large number of soldiers started to cook the abundance of young jackfruit and coconut to feed everyone. Because they need large cooking equipment, they cook the dish using a big bucket made of metal, and the stirrer is also very large (like a sailboat paddle) made of mahogany. This stirrer is so distinctive and dramatic hence each soldier associates this dish with the stirring activity, and then they start calling this “Hangudek” and eventually shorten it up into “Gudeg”

Philosophy of Gudeg

calmness, patience, and meticulousness

Making this traditional jackfruit stew can be tiring and tedious. Almost every part is time-consuming and needs precision. Therefore, creating the perfect Gudeg can take almost a full day. In a way, it is a perfect reflection of the Javanese philosophy of calmness, patience, and meticulousness, as opposed to rushing and recklessness. In contrast to Western “fast food,” Gudeg is the perfect example of Javanese slow and thorough cooking.

Variation of Gudeg

There are several types of gudeg, which are mainly classified based on the city/region name where they are famous;

• Gudeg Yogya, with Yogya representing the name of the city/province of Yogyakarta, is usually famous for its dryer version and darker color compared with others. It is dryer because it has only a bit of coconut milk and thus little sauce. Gudeg Yogya usually has a darker color because of the addition of teak leaves (daun jati) as the coloring agent. This gudeg style is oftentimes also called “red gudeg.”
• Gudeg Solo, with Solo representing the name of the city in central Java. Gudeg from the city of Solo/ Surakarta is more watery and soupy and tends to have a whitish color; hence, it is called the “wet-style” gudeg. This gudeg is more watery because of the addition of large quantities of coconut milk. The whitish color is due to the absence of the teak color in comparison to the Yogya version of this dish. This style is often called the “white gudeg.”
• Gudeg Jawa Timur. Gudeg Jawa Timur usually has a spicier and hotter taste than Yogyakarta-style gudeg, which is sweeter.

All of them are very delicious, so you should try each! In this recipe, we will make the Gudeg Yogya with a slight modification because I have no access to the teak leaves. We will replace them with red tea!

How to enjoy Gudeg Yogya

I would not recommend eating the gudeg by itself for an obvious reason: its sweetness. So to enjoy it, first thing first, you need to have it with a bowl of rice. Then, after that, you need to combine it with a different side dish.

Traditionally, gudeg Yogya is served with sambel goreng krecek (crisp beef skins fried with chili and peanuts), opor ayam (a sort of chicken curry drenched in coconut milk), and telur pindang (seasoned boiled egg). Unfortunately, all of them are not vegan. In order to recreate the flavor with plant ingredients, I replaced the ‘opor ayam’ with ‘terik tahu’ (tofu curry drenched in coconut milk), and I replaced the ‘sambel goreng krecek’ with ‘sambel goreng tempeh’ (fried tempeh with chili). You can see the presentation of the gudeg with its side dishes in the picture above. I will post the recipe for these dishes separately in the next couple of weeks!

The ingredients of Gudeg Yogya

Young Jackfruit / Gori

Young/unripe jackfruit has been getting a lot of love in recent times, particularly from the vegetarian/ vegan community, for its resemblance to pulled pork and the fact that it is a whole-food meat substitute rather than being fashioned out of wheat or soy.

Unripe jackfruit must be cooked before it can be eaten. It has a tough texture, needs a much longer cooking time than other vegetables, and is more similar to cooking meat. If you live outside Indonesia or Southeast Asia, it might be difficult to find fresh young jackfruit. If available, you can substitute the fresh jackfruit with canned young jackfruit (like this or this). I personally have never used this version of jackfruit but I assume as the canned jackfruit is already precooked and soft, the cooking time and the amount of water need to be reduced accordingly.

Blended Ingredients

• Shallots and garlic. If you read my other Indonesian food recipes in this blog, you will know we always include this dynamic duo. It’s pretty rare for Indonesian recipes to use one without the other. Garlic has a strong and pungent flavor, often used in savory dishes to add flavor and depth. Shallots have a milder flavor than garlic, with a hint of sweetness
• Coriander seeds. For this recipe, you can dry roast the fresh seeds to enhance the flavor, aroma, and pungency, but you don’t have to. However, I would avoid using ground or powdered seeds since they will lose flavor quickly. Coriander seeds, in general, will add a mild citrusy hint with a slight curry flavor. If you don’t have coriander in your kitchen staples, try substituting it with cumin
• Candlenut. Candlenuts’ high oil content contributes to the gravy’s thickness; therefore, they are added to gudeg Yogya to make this dish thicker, creamier, and slightly oilier. The presence of glutamic acid in candlenuts gives a dish a hint of nutty flavor. The mild bitterness in the candlenuts disappears upon cooking.

The liquids ingredients

• Tea. We use this tea in this recipe as a replacement for the teak leaves hence, we can assume the main purpose is to add color to gudeg. For this ingredient, try to use pure black tea without any other additional flavoring/ fragrance, such as jasmine.
• Coconut Milk. Coconut milk adds a rich, creamy texture to the gudeg, enhancing its overall mouthfeel. This creaminess helps balance the spices and flavors of the blended herbs. On top of that, coconut milk will act as a natural thickening agent, helping to give the gudeg its characteristic consistency and ensuring that the sauce clings to the ingredients. Yummy :).

Other Ingredients

• Palm sugar: This ingredient is important in this gudeg recipe. I mentioned at the beginning of this article that gudeg has a sweet and savory taste. I can say that the sweet taste is coming from no other than this palm sugar! Palm sugar usually comes in block size. So, you should shred it using a knife into smaller pieces to make it easy to dissolve.
• Galangal/ Blue Ginger. Galangal root is a relative of ginger and turmeric since they belong to the same family of plants. Despite belonging to the same family, there are significant differences in appearance, flavor, and texture between galangal and ginger. When young, galangal root is generally smoother and paler than ginger. Though galangal has a sharp taste, it is more citrusy, pine-like, and earthy, and some varieties have an almost minty, camphor-like scent and flavor. Ginger, on the other hand, is peppery with spicier notes. Galangal feels hard, woody, and fibrous, so cooks often discard it from dishes before serving.
• Bay Leaves. I often wonder whether bay leaves addition to the recipe makes a difference, so I googled and found this interesting article, “A Chef Settles the Debate: Do Bay Leaves Even Do Anything?”. So, if I can conclude based on my research, bay leaves infuse dishes with a woodsy flavor that also has subtle notes of eucalyptus and clove with the purpose of adding flavor and deepening existing flavor. Try not to omit it if you can!
• Lemongrass: To release more aromatic oil from lemongrass, I cut it in half and gently bruise the stalk to beat the surface. This helps break down its tough fibers.

The Tools to Make Gudeg Yogya

There are 2 important tools that you need to have to make this Gudeg Yogya

1. Blender. You can use any blender that will work to blend a small amount of Ingredients. This is because we are going to need it to blend some of the herbs. In this recipe, I am using  Braun immersion blender (with its main blade). If you don’t have an immersion blender, don’t worry; you can use a regular blender or even a mortar and pestle.
2. The slow cooker (pictured below) is really, really important. We are not going to cook the gudeg on the stove but using this slow cooker. If you don’t have one, don’t worry—they are easily available on Amazon. Here is the link for your reference.

Step by Step to Make Gudeg Yogya

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE COOKING PROCESS OF THIS GUDEG YOGYA WILL TAKE ROUGHLY 9-12 HOURS

1. Blend garlic, shallot, candlenut, and coriander together until they are smooth!

Please toast/ roast/ saute the coriander seeds and candlenuts before cooking. The purpose of roasting the coriander seeds is to release the aromatic inside the ingredients, whereas the purpose of roasting the candlenut is because it contains a small number of toxins that can cause nausea and vomiting. Candlenut must be roasted before using it so the toxins can be broken down.

continue blending with whatever blender you have until it reaches below consistency.

2. Place the jackfruit in the bottom of the slow cooker. Please make sure that it is spread evenly.

3. Add the coconut milk and tea inside the slow cooker. Try to spread the liquids around so they won’t be concentrated in one area.

4. Put the blended ingredients on top of the jackfruit. We will let it sit on top for the first half of the cooking period and mix it halfway.

5. Add the rest of the herbs (bay leaves, galangal, lemongrass) and palm sugar on top of the mixture. Cover the slow cooker. Turn on the slow cooker with the low heat. Let it cook for 5-6 hours.

6. After 5-6 hours, open the cover of the slow cooker. At this point, the jackfruit should start to appear darker. Start mixing everything so that all the herbs and seasoning are blended with the jackfruit.

after mixing everything, it should look like the picture below. Cover the slow cooker again and let it cook for another 5-6 hours.

7. After the final 5-6 hours, open the cover. Your kitchen must smell really good at this point. Your gudeg is ready for you to enjoy 🙂

Gudeg Yogya Storing instruction

To make it last longer, you can put the gudeg inside the food container and then put it inside the fridge. That will make the gudeg last for 5-7 days. Whenever you want to consume them, you just need to heat it up in the microwave 🙂