This list originally appeared in our Bahasa Indonesia sister site, Coconuts Ibukota.
In Jakarta, Ramadan usually means a whole month of restaurants closing for lunch service. Those that are open usually have to cover up their storefronts anyway out of respect for the majority of Jakartans who fast during Ramadan.
But that lack of food during the day is always compensated by mouthwatering feasts after the sun sets.
The tajil, or dishes Muslims eat to immediately break their fast at sunset, are always a prominent part of Ramadan in Jakarta, with vendors typically selling them around every corner of the city. Traditionally popular tajils like kolak, gorengan, and sweet icy drinks are sure to make their comebacks this year.
But while those are always popular options, like most things in Jakarta, people are always looking for what hip and trendy, even when it comes to breaking their fast. So to mix things up, we present to you 5 dishes that we think are going to be really trendy as tajils this year:
High-class martabak
Martabak is pretty much sold on every street in Jakarta. Despite that, there are some people dedicated to making martabak that stand out above the admittedly average majority. We like to call them the high-class martabak for the expensive ingredients they use for toppings.
There’s Nutella, Ovomaltine, Toblerone, Wijsman butter, and even salmon. Put any one of those on top of a soft, warm martabak pastry and you’ve got yourself a winner.
We believe the high-class martabak – which has become so popular lately – will be the tajil of choice in Jakarta this year because martabak is both sweet and filling – perfect to end a day’s fast.
High-class martabak is sold by some of the city’s most famous martabak franchises like Martabak 65A Pecenongan, Martabak Orins, and Martabak Boss.
Kue cubit ombre
These cute and colorful bite-sized pastries are invading Jakarta, particularly at popular youth hangout spots.
Like the donut, kue cubit comes in increasingly diverse flavors and toppings like various fruits, cheese, and even green tea. For those who want to take advantage of Ramadan to go on a diet, the tiny kue cubit ombre are one a delightful and relatively guilt-free option.
Kue Cubit Kemang in Food Garden Kemang makes some of our favorite kue cubit ombres in Jakarta.
Piscok
We don’t really understand why, but Jakartans love to eat greasy, deep fried gorengan as their first meal after a day of fasting. Ramadan is probably the month in which kaki lima vendors selling anything from deep fried banana to deep fried tofu make the most money.
One type of gorengan that’s been making a comeback recently is the piscok, which is a concoction of “pisang” (banana) and “coklat” (chocolate). The banana and chocolate are wrapped in a sheet of lumpia before being deep fried, giving us a crunchy banana dessert that oozes warm chocolate with every bite.
That description alone makes us sure that piscok will be a popular tajil this year.
Piscok Melerrr is a franchise of kaki lima vendors selling piscok that are really trending in Jakarta. Their carts are usually found on streets in front of schools or housing complexes.
Spicy Macaroni
Since Jakartans love a challenge in their lives (if they didn’t, they wouldn’t live in this bustling metropolitan), this particular snack could well become a popular tajil, despite it being extremely spicy.
The crunchy macaroni is sprinkled with so much chili or pepper powder that it could make one cry out after eating it as if they had just been pepper sprayed. It shouldn’t make sense as a snack, but spicy macaroni has a lot of daring fans in the city.
Makaroni Ngehe is arguably the most popular spicy macaroni chain in the city. Prepare yourself for long lines if you go to any of its 9 chains spread around Jakarta.
Mochi ice cream
We were once invaded by Japan, and now we willingly surrender our tongues to the Japanese culinary invasion.
Mochi ice cream has three things going for it that should make it a popular tajil this year: cold, sweet, and chewy. In that sense, it’s a lot like cendol and kolak, which have become staple tajils over the years. But mochi is more unique and a lot more fun than its traditional counterparts.
Mochi ice cream stalls are located in pretty much every major mall in the city. Our favorite stalls are Momochi and Mocha Mochi.
What other dishes or snacks are you going to break your fast with during Ramadan this year?
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