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With the celebration of Jakarta’s 484th birthday this week, I thought it would be a good time to shine a spotlight on the cuisine of Jakarta’s indigenous Betawi people.

Betawi cuisine is infused with Arabic, Chinese and European influences, combined with the distinctive originality of Betawi traditions.

Interestingly, for a city on the coast, there are hardly any seafood dishes in Betawi cuisine. But there are plenty of freshwater fish dishes, using local varieties of snakehead fish and carp. Other popular Betawi dishes include nasi uduk (coconut rice), sayur asem (sweet and sour vegetable soup), sop iga sapi (beef rib soup) and kerak telur (spiced coconut omelette). Most Betawi dishes come deep-fried, stir-fried, barbecued or braised, and feature a lovely balance of sweet, sour and salty flavors.

I have several favorite Betawi dishes, and one of them is asinan Betawi. It is a kind of salad made from a mix of pickled vegetables, yellow noodles and sweet, sour and spicy peanut sauce, topped with a handful of rice crackers.

The raw vegetables are preserved in a mixture of rice vinegar, water and salt overnight. In Jakarta’s early days, pickling vegetables in this fashion was a practical way to preserve fresh produce without the help of a refrigerator.

Apple vinegar or white wine vinegar can be used in place of the rice vinegar, or fresh, raw vegetables can be used in this recipe, if you prefer. Expect the pickled vegetables to change color due to the acidity of the vinegar. I also prefer to roast the peanuts rather than deep-fry them. This salad is best served chilled.

Asinan Betawi

The texture of the peanut sauce should be similar to that of a European salad dressing — runnier than classic gado-gado or sate sauce. I did not include the noodles or rice crackers to this recipe, but you can of course add them if you wish. This recipe serves four.

Ingredients:

For the salad: 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated, or cut into long fine strips; one quarter of a white cabbage (about 100 grams), shredded; half a pack of bean sprouts, rinsed; 100 grams Chinese mustard or sawi pahit, blanched and set aside.

For the preserving mixture: 1.5 liters water; 90 milliliters vinegar; 1 tablespoon salt.

For the dressing: 100 grams raw peanuts; 2 big, red chillies, with seeds discarded; 2 curly red chillies, boiled for 5 minutes and dunked in cold water; 1-2 tablespoons vinegar; 3 tablespoons palm sugar or 50 grams block palm sugar; 150 milliliters water; salt to season.

Directions:

1. To roast the peanuts: Pre-heat to oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Place the peanuts on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Or cook in a dry frying pan over low heat for 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool.

2. To make the preserving liquid, mix all of the ingredients together in a large pan. Place each of the vegetables in a bowl or plastic jug with a lid and then add the liquid, making sure that all of the vegetables are completely submerged in the liquid. Cover with the lid or cling film. Leave in the refrigerator overnight.

3. To make the sauce: put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender; process until fine. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

4. To serve, drain the chilled vegetables and divide them between four serving dishes. Drizzle with peanut sauce and serve immediately.

Petty Elliott has been writing about food and conducting classes and cooking demonstrations for more than five years. Her book on Indonesian cuisine, “Papaya Flower,” was published in 2009.