The overseas video creator and influencer, known initially as Surthy Cooks, returned to cooking Indonesian food in one of his videos.
In early 2024, she excited Indonesian netizens by cooking a famous Indonesian food. Surthy’s was going viral in Indonesia after she cooked a large number of balado eggs.
Indonesian netizens flocked to comment on Surthy’s recipe when she uploaded the ‘balado egg’ cooking video.
Now, one of her videos is going viral again among Indonesian netizens because she makes Indonesian snacks called arem-arem.
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“Indonesian. arem-arem” was the short caption in the video she uploads on Surthy Cooks personal Instagram.
It appears that she cooked a large amount of rice, and not to forget, he also prepared banana leaves as arem-arem wrappers. For the filling, she prepared minced meat mixed with vegetables.
At the end of the video, she distributes the arem-arem to children on the streets.
The history of arem-arem, an Indonesian food known as ‘jajanan pasar’
Indonesian snacks are sold in traditional markets, a.k.a. ‘jajanan pasar’, and each region offers a unique flavor. Usually, these market snacks are sold in the morning.
One Indonesian snack, arem-arem, is suitable for breakfast. This rice-based traditional food is commonly found in many areas of Java, such as Yogyakarta, Solo, and other areas.
As the name suggests in Java, arem-arem is said to come from the word ‘marem’ or satisfied. Referring to its filling nature.
This is one of the reasons why the shape of arem-arem is never small and slim.
For the filling, they generally cook stir-fried carrots and potatoes. Sometimes, they add liver and gizzards or chicken pieces, making a kind of fried chilli sauce.
People place this stir-fry on top of aron (half-cooked) rice in a piece of banana leaf, then cover it with more rice. To make it round, the banana leaf is rolled up and held together with biting (pieces of stick).
Although the shape is the same as lontong isi, lontong isi in Jakarta has a wider variety of fillings. While some fillings resemble Central Java’s, such as fried sambal or stir-fried vegetables, many Jakarta lontong isi are filled with processed oncom.
Difference between arem-arem and lemper
The similarity in appearance between arem-arem and lemper often leads to confusion. However, lemper and arem-arem are not the same in terms of the raw materials for making them alone are different.
Arem-arem is made from white rice, while lemper is made from glutinous rice.
In the past, arem-arem was just a rice dish filled with fried chilli sauce, so it goes very well with various fried foods or gorengan.
When you visit Kebumen, the place where arem-arem originates, vendors usually sell it with various fried foods. Can you imagine how delicious it is to eat arem-arem with gorengan?
