pecel

Pecel is a traditional Indonesian salad from Java, consisting of blanched or lightly steamed vegetables served with a spicy peanut sauce. The dish is typically assembled by arranging vegetables such as spinach or bayam, long beans, cabbage, bean sprouts, and sometimes cucumber or carrot, then drizzling or pouring the peanut sauce over them. It is commonly eaten with steamed rice (nasi pecel) and may be accompanied by tempeh or fried tofu, krupuk, and sometimes sambal.

The sauce is a key element. It is a thick, savory peanut sauce made from ground roasted peanuts, palm sugar, tamarind or lime juice, garlic, and red chilies. Some versions include kencur (a fragrant rhizome) or small amounts of shrimp paste (terasi), though vegetarian adaptations omit the latter. The sauce is often adjusted to achieve a balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy notes.

Pecel is associated with East Java and has many regional variations found in Central Java and other areas. In some places, the dish is sold as a street-food staple, while in others it appears on restaurant menus as a lighter alternative to gado-gado, another Indonesian peanut-sauce salad. Similar dishes exist across Indonesia, such as karedok and lotek, which use peanut sauces but differ in vegetables and preparation.