Seblak, a typical Sundanese dish

Seblak, a typical Sundanese dish 

Seblak is a Sundanese specialty from Bandung, specifically, that has become widely popular. This dish, known for its savory, spicy flavor and the spice kencur (Indonesian ginger), is now easy to find and prepare.

Recently, seblak has even been modified with various fillings and toppings. It's now common to see seblak dishes filled with crackers, eggs, dumplings, chicken feet, cilok (vegetable meatballs), and even meatballs. Some even add various fish balls and vegetables, typically found in steamboat or suki.

In the past, seblak fillings were simple: crackers soaked in hot water and then cooked with ground spices such as garlic, kencur, and cayenne pepper.

The Origins of Seblak: Seblak is said to have existed since the independence era in Parahyangan. In Garut, there's a dish called kurupuk leor, which translates to "limp crackers" in Indonesian. This is because raw crackers, which should be fried, are cooked with garlic and cayenne pepper.

This may have been the origin of the seblak creation, which is now popular among culinary enthusiasts.

Before the popularity of Sundanese seblak, in the Sumpiuh area of ​​Central Java, there was also a similar dish: kerupuk godog, or boiled crackers.

However, research has shown that neither kerupuk leor nor kerupuk godog use kencur (a type of ginger root). This ingredient, however, is the characteristic ingredient and the flavor that is synonymous with seblak.

Some sources also mention the origins of seblak stemming from the abundant supply of crackers in Bandung at the time. Crackers that had been fried for a long time were not as tasty as freshly made ones. Older crackers were also harder and more difficult to chew.

Because old crackers accumulate, they are often simply thrown away. Over time, people feel a shame about wasting or throwing away crackers. So, various ideas and creations emerged for reusing old crackers, leading to the creation of seblak.

Seblak isn't just a legendary Sundanese culinary recipe; its origins stem from the Sundanese people's love of exploring tapioca ingredients. Just look at the various dishes made from tapioca or aci that still exist today, such as cireng, cilok, cipuk, cimol, cibay, cipak, and many more.

Seblak is the result of the Sundanese people's creativity in processing readily available ingredients into a unique and popular dish. Seblak became popular around the 2000s and continues to this day.