''Botok'' or ''ꦧꦺꦴꦛꦺꦴꦏ꧀'' ''(Bothok)'' (sometimes called as ''Bobotok'' in its plural form or ''Botok-botok'') is a traditional Javanese dish made from shredded coconut flesh which has been squeezed of its coconut milk, often mixed with other ingredients such as vegetables or fish, and wrapped in

banana leaf The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

and steamed. It is commonly found in Javanese people area of Java Island ( Yogyakarta Special Region, Central, and

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

. Botok seems to be a byproduct of coconut milk production, to save and reuse the grated coconut flesh that might be otherwise discarded. Commonly, the grated coconut flesh flakes are discarded after squeezing it to acquire the coconut milk. However, by cooking them in banana leaf with additional mixture and spices, they can also be eaten as additional dish. Another way to save the grated coconut residue is to saute them as '' serundeng''. Today however, to acquire tastier and richer taste, many recipes insist on using only freshly grated coconut flesh that still contains coconut milk. Botok is typically consumed with

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

Preparation and serving

The grated coconut flesh is mixed with chilli, salt, pepper,

lemon basil Lemon basil, hoary basil, Thai lemon basil, or Lao basil,Dorothy Culloty (''Ocimum'' × ''africanum'') is a hybrid between basil ('' Ocimum basilicum'') and American basil ('' Ocimum americanum''). The herb is grown primarily in northeastern ...

and ''salam'' (Indonesian bay-leaf) and additional ingredient. This mixture is placed upon a piece of banana leaf, and then the leaf is wrapped tight and secured with a stick, then placed on a steamer. The most basic ''botok'' usually uses simple and cheaper ingredients, such as minced tempeh, tofu or anchovy. After the ''botok'' is cooked, the banana leaf package is opened and served with steamed rice. After perfectly cooked, the grated coconut and sometimes the egg addition, acted as the binding agent of the whole ''botok'' ingredients.

Variations

To add flavor and nutrients, many botok recipes and variants might use additional ingredients as protein source, such as '' petai cina'', '' belimbing wuluh'', ''ares'' (the core of a banana trunk),

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...

tempeh Tempeh or tempe (; jv, ꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦥꦺ, témpé, ) is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, '' Rhiz ...

anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

, wahoo,

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish u ...

, egg, salted egg, shrimp, minced

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

or even bee larvae.Indonesian: modern and traditional Indonesian cuisine. Mae Chandra (2014) 192 pag. The ''botok'' method is used in several variant ingredients, and also become the name of a dish prepared in this manner, for example: #''Botok ares'' (the core of a banana trunk botok) #''Botok belimbing wuluh'' ( Averrhoa bilimbi botok) #''Botok beluntas'' (

Pluchea indica ''Pluchea indica'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster Family (biology), family, Asteraceae. Its common names include Indian camphorweed, Indian fleabane, and Indian pluchea.beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

botok) #''Botok jamur'' (

botok) #''Botok lele'' (

botok) #''Botok mlanding'' ('' petai cina'' or ''lamtoro'' botok) #''Botok ontong'' (''jantung pisang''/ banana flower bud botok) #''Botok tawon'' ( bee larvae for

honeybee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

botok) #''Botok tahu'' (

botok) #''Botok tempe'' (

botok) #''Botok telur'' ( egg botok) #''Botok telur asin'' ( salted egg botok) #''Botok tengiri'' ( wahoo botok) #''Botok teri'' (

botok) #''Botok tempe tahu teri'' (tofu, tempeh, anchovy combo botok) #''Botok udang'' ( shrimp botok) #''Botok wader'' ( Silver rasbora botok)

Similar dishes

'' Buntil'' is prepared in a similar way, but used papaya or

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

leaves instead of banana leaves, making the wrapping edible as part of the dish. Botok is often considered as the variations of ''

pepes ''Pepes'' is an Indonesian cooking method using banana leaves as food wrappings. The banana-leaf package containing food is secured with ''lidi seumat'' (a small nail made from the central ribs of coconut leaves), and then steamed or grilled on ...

'', the cooking method using banana leaf. However botok is identified more specific by using shredded coconut flesh, while pepes usually contains no coconut at all. The

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n dish of '' bobotie'' is thought to be the derivative of Indonesian ''bobotok''. It is however, quite different as it uses minced beef and eggs, with the absence of grated coconut and banana leaf package. The role of grated coconut and eggs as binding agent in ''bobotok'' seems to be replaced by beaten eggs, milk and shredded bread in ''bobotie''.

References

External links

Botok tofu tempeh and anchovy recipe

{{Indonesian cuisine Javanese cuisine Banana leaf Foods containing coconut Anchovy dishes

Preparation and serving

Variations

Similar dishes

See also

References

External links