Cilok ( Aksara Sunda: ) is an Indonesian ball-shaped

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

made from ''aci'' (

tapioca starch Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

), a Sundanese

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

originated from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. In Sundanese, cilok is an abbreviation of ''aci dicolok'' or "poked tapioca", since the tapioca balls are poked with ''lidi'' skewers made from the midrib of the coconut palm frond. The size of cilok balls may vary, but it is similar to another Indonesian favourite bakso meatballs, or usually smaller. Cilok balls are boiled until cooked or deep fried in ample of cooking oil, and might be served with

peanut sauce Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), ''bumbu kacang'', ''sambal kacang'', or ''pecel'' is an Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts, widely used in Indonesian cuisine and many other dishes throughout t ...

, ''

kecap manis Sweet soy sauce (; ) is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery. ''Kecap manis'' is widely ...

'' (sweet soy sauce),

sambal Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indonesia ...

, bottled

chili sauce Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers. Chili sauce may be hot, sweet or a combination thereof, and may differ from hot sauce in that many sweet or mild varieties exist, which is typically lacking in hot sauce ...

, or served in soup. The texture of cilok is quite chewy, and its shape and texture are quite similar to Japanese dango, although almost all of cilok variants are savoury compared to sweet dango. Cilok is a popular street snack, usually sold by travelling vendors using carts or bicycles frequenting residential areas, marketplace, busy street-side, or stationed in front of schools. The chewy tapioca balls with savoury peanut sauce are popular snack among Indonesians.

Types and variants

Basic or common ''cilok'' are usually tapioca balls skewered and served in peanut sauce. However, there are a number of variants of additions, fillings and sauces that depend on the creativity of the cooks. An example is cilok filled with

quail egg Quail eggs or quails' eggs (British English) are a kind of eggs as food, eaten and considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, and North America. In Japanese cuisine, they are sometimes used raw or cooked as ''tama ...

s and served in ''ebi'' dried shrimp sauce. The many different varieties of ''cilok'' are usually named after the various additional ingredients and seasonings served with them. Types and variants among others are: ;Cilok biasa: Common simple cilok sold by street vendors. Usually plain tapioca balls (without fillings) skewered and served in peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, and sambal chili sauce, placed inside a plastic pouch. ;Cilok daging: Meat cilok with the addition of minced beef into tapioca dough, almost similar to beef bakso meatball. ;Cilok kuah: Refer to cilok served in broth soup in similar fashion as bakso meatballs. ;: Similar to cilok kuah; served in broth soup, but is far more hot and spicy due to generous addition of chili sauce. ;Cilok isi ayam: Cilok filled with seasoned

chicken meat The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

. ;: Derived from Sundanese abbreviation ''aci di-gemol'' (round-shaped aci), with ''gemol'' being a Sundanese word meaning "make into a rounded shape". The preparation method for involves deep frying the tapioca balls and then sprinkled with

chili powder Chili powder (also spelled chile, chilli, or, alternatively, powdered chili) is the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties of chili pepper, sometimes with the addition of other spices (in which case it is also sometimes known as chili p ...

. ;: Also derived from Sundanese abbreviation ''aci telor'' (aci with fried egg), which is skewered aci balls deep fried with

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

batter coatings. Usually are seasoned with powdered flavorings, sambal chili sauce or sweet soy sauce.

Gallery

File:Cilok-Kuah.jpg, Cilok kuah served in broth soup File:BACIL.jpg, Cilor, deep fried skewered tapioca balls coated with egg batter File:Cilok Plasa Matahari Jember.jpg, Cilok street vendor on motorcycle File:Cimol.jpg, Cimol, deep fried tapioca balls seasoned with powdered flavourings

References

External links

Cilok Recipes
{{Street food Sundanese cuisine Indonesian cuisine Dumplings Street food in Indonesia Cassava dishes

Types and variants

Gallery

See also

References

External links