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Who is Mbah Satinem and What is Jajan Pasar?
Known for having some of the sweetest food in all of Indonesia, Yogyakarta (Jogja) is home to culinary delights like Gudeg, Bakmi and Ronde. But, there’s one dish in Jogja that people are waking up at 4:30 am for and that’s Jajan Pasar. Jajan Pasar encompasses many things, but at the base of it are different types of sweet snacks, made from rice flour, sticky rice, cassava and coconut. Using these few ingredients, people have been coming up with new types of Jajan Pasar for years, however, there are a few classics that will never go away. And Mbah Satinem’s legendary stall is known for the classics.
Mbah Satinem grew up in Jogja travelling door to door with her mother selling Jajan Pasar. As explained in the Netflix documentary (which is definitely worth a watch!), Satinem had a strong relationship with her mother who taught her how to make Jajan Pasar. So, when her mother passed away Satinem felt lost and depressed, she didn’t want to make or sell Jajan Pasar anymore. But, she would always remember her favourite times with her mother selling Jajan Pasar door to door. She was like this for many months until one day the roof of her bamboo house began to leak. She needed money to buy a new roof and so she went back out to sell Jajan Pasar, the only thing she knew how to do to make money.
Since then, Mbah Satinem has become known for selling her Jajan Pasar, with her local fame growing after President Suharto (a former president of Indonesia) became a loyal customer.
What’s the Point of this Guide?
Like many people that visit Yogyakarta, I’m interested in the food, and after watching the Netflix Street Food episode on Yogyakarta, I knew I had to try some Jajan Pasar before I left. However, the whole experience can be a little daunting for tourists, especially if you don’t speak any Indonesian as you’ll probably find that no one there speaks English. So, the whole point of this guide is to take you through my experience of getting that legendary Jajan Pasar at Mbah Satinem’s to ease any anxiety and to let you know what you’re in for.
But first of all, let’s show you her food so that you know what to order. Or, skip here for the guide!
What’s the Legendary Jajan Pasar Like?
As a foreign solo traveller, it can be a little daunting knowing what to ask for at Mbah Satinem’s stall. There’s no menu. Instead what you can see are all of her ingredients laid out on the table. If you’ve seen the Netflix documentary then you probably know about her Lupis, but there’s a lot more on offer here. Luckily, I met a Jogja local the day before who loves the food at Mbah Satinem’s so I got her to give me a list of the must-haves.
Here’s a rundown of some of the different things you should order and what I thought of them!
Lupis
The legendary Lupis, Mbah Satinem’s most famous dish. Lupis is a sticky rice cake, steamed in banana leaf, which Mbah Satinem quickly slices tableside with a piece of string. She topped it with two types of coconut; regular shredded coconut and a dark brown and sweet shredded coconut. Finally, Satinem drizzled over lots of liquid caramel-like palm sugar which had a nice fruitiness.
Klepon
These little green balls were pre-made in plastic boxes on her counter. I saw everyone grabbing some so I knew I had to get some. Klepon are made from sticky rice flour, coated in coconut and filled with palm sugar. The texture was kind of gummy, but biting into them let out a burst of palm sugary goodness.
Gatot and Thiwul
I wasn’t too sure what I was asking for when I ordered Gatot and Thiwul, but it turns out it was two different things on the same plate. Both of these dishes are made from cassava. On the left is Gatot and this is made from cassava that has been allowed to blacken in the sun, after which it’s soaked, steamed and served with grated coconut. The result is this banana-like dish that’s not too sweet with a texture similar to roasted chestnuts.
Thiwul is the bubbly thing on the right of the photo and again this is made from drying and steaming cassava, however, the end product looks very different. It didn’t taste of a whole lot and it mainly had a slightly gummy and gelatinous texture.
Ketan Bubuk Kedelai
Ketan means “sticky rice” and Bubuk Kedelai means soybean flour. So, what we had was steamed sticky rice served with grated coconut, icing sugar and soybean flour. You could taste every grain of the coconutty rice and the soybean powder tasted almost like salty peanut powder. I really liked the peanut flavour but it was pretty dry, maybe a pot of Satinem’s palm sugar sauce would help.
A Guide for People Who Can’t Speak Indonesian (Like me)
I don’t know why but I found trying to get food here harder than it should have been. Maybe it’s the early wakeup time or the fact that you have to order in front of 50+ people using some broken Indonesian phrases that you learned on the drive over. But, if you’ve seen Mbah Satinem on Netflix, then she’s probably on your list of things to visit when in Yogyakarta. Surprisingly though, there’s very little information online about what it’s like beside a few YouTube videos.
So, here’s all you need to know about visiting Mbah Satinem.
When and How To Get To Mbah Satinem
Address: Lupis Mbah Satinem
- Mbah Satinem and her staff begin setting up just before 5 am, at which point she will start selling until she sells out which seems to happen most days.
- Make sure you get there early – I got to the street corner at around 4:45 am before Satinem had arrived and people were already queuing (I was still only 3rd in line!).
- Her stall is busy every day of the week, but you’ll probably be served quicker on a weekday.
- I used a Grab bike to get there and didn’t have any problem with the availability at that time in the morning.
How the Queuing System Works
Because the stall becomes so popular, Satinem uses a number system to help keep track of who is next in line. So, if you want to order some food, you need to get your hands on one of these red pieces of paper with a number on it.
If you arrive early enough, you will be handed a number by one of the staff, but once Satinem begins serving, the cup of numbers is placed on the table. Look for the cup with red tickets in them and grab one – that’s your position in your queue.
Next, it’s up to you to try and work out what number they’re on and how to pronounce your number in Indonesian. Once they call it out, it’s your time to shine. Head on down to Mbah Satinem’s table and take a seat in front of her and read out your order.
How to Order?
So ordering can be tricky for two reasons. Firstly, they don’t speak English. Secondly, they don’t have a menu. But don’t let that deter you! Here are your options for ordering:
- Point at a bunch of things on the table and see what happens (Not recommended).
- Ask for the dishes you want in your best Indonesian (See below for what to order).
- Show them pictures of what you want (You can use this guide for reference!)
- Hope there’s someone who can speak English and Indonesian to act as a translator and order for you. Shamefully, this is partly how I got by.
Once you’ve got your order, Mbah Satinem’s daughter will type the price on a calculator. Pay and enjoy your food.
Where to Eat?
There isn’t a designated area nearby to chow down on Satinem’s Jajan Pasar, so I recommend walking to Tugu. This roundabout is at the top of the famous Malioboro street and has benches to sit down surrounding it. It’s not too busy in the morning, so it’s a great place to dig into your breakfast. Also, you’ll probably get a few locals walking past you, looking at your food and smiling and nodding at you, almost as if they’re proud of you for trying the traditional Jajan Pasar.
What to Order?
Here’s a short list of the things I ordered. Everything is really cheap, so you’re not breaking the bank by buying all of it.
Lupis
Klepon
Gatot and Thiwul
Ketan Bubuk Kedelai
Thanks for reading!
This is the last of my posts in Indonesia for now, but be sure to check out my review of Bali’s Room 4 Dessert and a great cooking class that I took in Manggis, Bali.
