As street food, "Rujak Buah" or Indonesian fruit salad, traditionally can help to build a better relationship among family members and friends, while others just want to enjoy eating "Rujak Buah", a blend of spicy, sweet and sour as a refreshing dish.
On wednesday, after giving a tutorial to someone, I directly headed to jalan Ahmad Yani to buy "Rujak Buah". It was sunny day and a bit hot, so having refreshing food was a great idea to make our body fresh. So, before leaving home, my wife suggested me to buy one portion of "Lutis" or sliced "rujak buah" with separate dressing and one portion of "rujak serut" or grated "rujak buah". Unfortunately, when I arrived there, the seller who usually sells "rujak buah" on a side walk in front of Wonder Bakery hadn't come yet, although it was already at 10.15 am. While waiting for him to come, I decided to visit a friend of mine who was hospitalized. At 12 noon I returned back to jalan Ahmad Yani. I was so glad when the vendor had already there.
As a street vendor, Trisno, a 61 years old man, has been selling "rujak buah" for 40 years. He used to sell this spicy fruit salad in other places until finally he moved here. With a push cart, he sells "rujak buah" daily from 10.30 am to 04.00 pm.
He buys a various kinds of fresh tropical fruit in a traditional market. The fruits may vary according to the availability as some are seasonal fruit. When I bought his "rujak buah", it consists of pineapple, guava, young mango, bengkoang fruit, ambarella fruit, melon, starfruit and cucumber.
The fruits then slice into smaller pieces and they are eaten with spicy dressing which is made from palm sugar, tamarind, water, salt, chillies, and shrimp paste.
The perfect blend of sweet, sour and spicy makes this refreshing traditional dish is always popular among local people.
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| "Lutis", sliced rujak buah |
My favorite is "rujak serut". It means all fruits are grated instead of cutting into smaller pieces. Then add spicy dressing. The juice from all kinds of fruits will mix with the dressing. This really create a perfect taste. And it will be more delicious if it is served cold or after we store it in a fridge.
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| "Rujak Serut", grated rujak buah |
There is no greater feeling than being able to gather with our family or best friends and surely having food together can improve a better relationship. So, many Indonesian people like "rujakan", it means buy some fresh fruits in a market (they may omit some sour fruits, such as young mango and ambarella fruit if they don't like), then prepare together, including the spicy dressing (they may add more chillies to make the dressing more spicy). And finally have "rujak buah" together with the taste sensation of hot, sweet and sour. Will you do this?
Rujak Pak Tris (a street vendor)
Selling place
In front of Wonder Bakery, jalan Ahmad Yani, Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia.
Selling times
Daily 10.30 am - 04.00 pm
Price per portion
"Lutis", sliced rujak buah IDR 12k (USD 0.90)
"Rujak Serut", grated rujak buah IDR 12k (USD 0.90)