You might be wondering what kind of Semarang food to try during the trip to this city. As the capital city of Java Island, Semarang has various culinary options for you to crave.
Fun fact, this city is also well-known as the place with the largest traditional market in South East Asia named Pasar Johar. It could be one of the destinations for you while searching for Semarang foods. Let’s jump to the food list!
Read About: The 5 Best Places To Visit In Java Island, Indonesia!
Contents
1. Soto Semarang
A popular dish, Soto is also available in Semarang food.
As you know, Soto in each place has different characteristics including this one.
Typical of Soto Semarang would have bihun, bean sprouts, tomato, beef or chicken, and perkedel.
It serves with rice inside and spring onion for fresher.
The soup tends to have a mild flavor, but you can customize it by adding sweet soy sauce and sambal to elevate it.
Soto Semarang would be a great breakfast to start your day!
2. Babat Gongso
If you are seeking the legendary one among Semarang food, Babat Gongso definitely should be on your list.
Babat is basically beef tripe, meanwhile, Gongso means stir-fried.
Boiled beef tripe stir-fried with puree seasoning that consists of onions, chili, black pepper, and terasi.
The brown delicate color comes from sweet soy sauce.
You can imagine lots of flavor going on here.
Have your Babat Gongso with warm rice and feel the melting hit.
3. Tahu Gimbal
Tahu Gimbal includes a top Semarang food you definitely need to try.
The star of this dish is tofu with fried shrimp and crackers as the uniqueness.
Fried tofu mixed with shrimp and fresh veggies such as cabbage, cucumber, and bean sprouts.
They also add lontong rice cake for carbs and eggs for protein.
The combo of peanut sauce with shrimp paste creates a wonderful flavor that perfectly matches the fillings.
From the price side, this food is also quite affordable.
Make sure you grab one for lunch!
Read About: 9 Indonesian Tofu Dishes from Snacks to Main Course
4. Bandeng Presto
Bandeng Presto could be considered the most popular Semarang food.
It is actually smoked milkfish that is traditionally cooked in a high-pressure cooker.
Before getting into the pressure cooker, milkfish will be seasoned first with a bunch of local flavors.
As you can see from the picture, turmeric becomes the seasoning star to turn yellowish Bandeng Presto.
Sellers commonly use banana leaves to wrap the milkfish in order to enhance the smells and flavors.
Bandeng Presto becomes a very common food present for those who visit this city.
Because it’s already cooked, you can directly eat Bandeng Presto, however, Indonesian prefer to reheat and serve it with rice.
5. Lumpia Semarang
If you think that Lumpia is spring roll, you’re kinda right.
Lumpia is basically an Indonesian spring roll that is commonly stuffed with any Indonesian typical ingredients.
When it comes to this Semarang food, it has bamboo shoots which made the flavor quite different than any other spring roll.
Aside from the main ingredients, people usually used additional protein such as chicken and shrimp to elevate the flavor.
Lumpia Semarang is also a typical food that tourists would bring back to their hometown.
In a pack, you will get the Lumpia, sauce, and fresh pickle.
For a perfect serve, refried the Lumpia and dip it into the sauce while also grabbing the pickles to your mouth.
What an amusing combination to eat!
6. Mie Kopyok
Mie Kopyok is one of the popular Semarang food that is considered street food.
The most stand-out ingredient is the noodle of course.
However, lontong rice cake also become a must-added ingredient on serving.
The mixture of noodles, lontong, bean sprouts, tofu, fried onion, and crackers with clear soup create a tasteful flavor combination.
To enhance the taste, you can add sweet soy sauce to sweeten and chili to make it spicy.
Grab one for your lunch!
Read About: 8 Most Famous Indonesian Noodles You Should Try!
7. Tahu Petis
Another street food in Semarang food list is Tahu Petis.
As you can see from the pic, Tahu Petis has the black paste on undercover.
It comes from the famous shrimp paste.
With the addition of shrimp paste, it elevates the tofu flavor to be more savory and umami at the same time.
It serves after deep fried with raw chili.
Basically, it’s an Indonesian way to eat fried, that is grab the Tahu Petis to bite and continue with the raw chili right away.
Tahu Petis can be your fine option for snacking time.
8. Tahu Pong
Tahu Pong is another tofu star dish from Semarang food.
The differentiation between this tofu among others is that the tofu is hollowed inside, so it creates a different sensation when you eat the tofu.
Tahu Pong is a versatile ingredient for adding to any protein-content dish.
However, in Semarang, you will find it served on a plate with a bunch of additional protein such as boiled eggs and shrimp with shrimp paste sauce.
This will be a perfect menu for your lunch while strolling around the city.
9. Pisang Plenet
Jump for the dessert section, Pisang Plenet includes one of the traditional desserts among Semarang food.
It’s quite legendary and popular in this city.
Pisang Plenet is made from roasted flattened bananas with various toppings flavor.
You can choose various types of toppings such as brown sugar, chocolate, cheese, and more.
Just imagine those smokey tastes combined with sweets topping melted in your mouth.
There’s always room for dessert after a huge meal, so go grab this one!
10. Nasi Ayam Semarang
It’s going to be incomplete if you visit Semarang, but skip to taste Nasi Ayam Semarang.
The typical Nasi Ayam (which means rice with chicken) commonly serves as it should be, rice with chicken fried.
However, this typical Semarang food has its uniqueness that serves with rich coconut milk soup and shredded chicken.
Aside from the shredded chicken, Nasi Ayam Semarang also serves with toppings such as boiled eggs, krechek, tofu, and veggies.
Conclusion
Those mixtures are just perfect for a heavy happy dinner with your family.
Hence, those are the top 10 Semarang food recommendations you can give a try.
Starting from the legendary, street food, and traditional dessert, it proves that Semarang has rich food culinary to offer to visitors both local and international.
If you planning to explore this city, grab those on the list as your daily fulfilled carbs to keep you from hunger.
