Siomay (also Somai), is an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

steamed fish

dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fi ...

with vegetables served in

peanut sauce Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), ''bumbu kacang'', ''sambal kacang'', or ''pecel '' is an Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts, widely used in Indonesian cuisine and many other dishes throughout the world. Peanut s ...

. It is derived from the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Shumai. It is considered a light meal, similar to the Chinese

Dim Sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...

. It is traditionally made from pork but is frequently substituted with ''tenggiri'' ( spanish mackerel), as many Indonesians observe the ''halal'' dietary law. Sometimes other types of seafood such as tuna,

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

, and prawn also can be used to make siomay. Other complements to siomay include steamed

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

, bitter gourd, boiled egg, and tofu. Siomay is often cut into bite size pieces and topped with

sweet soy sauce Sweet soy sauce ( id, kecap manis) 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 ...

, chili sauce and a dash of lime juice.

Origin and varieties

Siomay is ubiquitous in Indonesian cities, it is one of the most popular snack or light meal in Indonesia. It can be found in street-side food stalls, travelling carts, bicycle vendors, and restaurants, and is considered a popular school meal for Indonesian students. Just like '' bakso, lumpia'', and '' pempek'', siomay was influenced by Chinese Indonesian cuisine. However, Chinese Indonesian siomay is rarely served with peanut sauce; it is instead served with a sweet-sour and spicy chili sauce in its place, or with no sauce at all, resembling authentic Chinese ''shumai''. Siomay has long been incorporated into

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 popula ...

, the most famous iteration of the dish being

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

-style siomay (''siomay Bandung''). It has been adapted into local

Sundanese cuisine Sundanese cuisine is the cuisine of the Sundanese people of Western Java, and Banten, Indonesia. It is one of the most popular foods in Indonesia. Sundanese food is characterised by its freshness; the famous lalab eaten with sambal and also k ...

, where most siomay sellers today are

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

. It has similarly been adapted into the ''

batagor Batagor (abbreviated from ''Bakso Tahu Goreng'', Sundanese and Indonesian: "fried bakso ndtofu") is a Sundanese dish from Indonesia, and popular in Southeast Asia, consisting of fried fish dumplings, usually served with peanut sauce. It is trad ...

'', short for ''bakso tahu goreng'', another variety of the dish also from Bandung; it is similar to siomay, except that it is fried instead of steamed.Nasution, Pepy (31 December 2010)
"Batagor , Indonesia Eats , Authentic Online Indonesian Food Recipes"
''indonesiaeats.com''. Retrieved 22 December 2017. File:Panci siomay.jpg, Varieties of steamed siomay to choose; tofu, potatoes, cabbages, bitter gourd, and eggs. File:Siomay.jpeg, Sliced siomay poured with

. File:Gerobak siomay.jpeg, Siomay and batagor cart. File:Siomay Udang Glodok.JPG, Chinese Indonesian shrimp siomay in Glodok area, Jakarta.

References

External links

Siomay Bandung recipe

Siomai recipe
Sundanese cuisine Indonesian Chinese cuisine Steamed foods Street food in Indonesia {{Indonesia-cuisine-stub

Origin and varieties

See also

References

External links