Asinan Buah à la Bogor (Fruit condiments à la Bogor)

I think in the past i have made several failure attemps of "asinan" (condiment - pickled - for dessert purpose) either it is from Jakarta or from Bogor. Asinan litteraly means salty... but the dish asinan itself always has the sweet or the spicy taste dominating the salt.

Wikipedia: Asinan refers to the process of preserving the ingredients by soaking them in a solution of salty water. Asinan is quite similar to rujak', which is usually served fresh, while asinan is preserved vegetables or fruits. Of the many types and variations of asinan in Indonesia, the most popular are asinan Betawi and asinan Bogor.

There are several types of asinan dish in Indonesia, but the famous ones are the ones  from Jakarta and Bogor. The one from jakarta uses peanut as sauce, while in Bogor the juice is clearer, and served with fried peanut, to be sprinkled on the top of the dish. Bogor is a city located on the south of Jakarta. And it is famous for many things, among other, for having raining everyday, thanks to its mountainous surroundings.

In gedung dalam neighborhood, there is an "asinan" vendor which is very famous for its fresh sour-salty-spicy taste of the asinan. Many other vendors tried to copy it, but seems that the winner is the one sold in  this particuliar place in jalan Siliwangi. They also sell vegetables asinan, together with fruit asinan. I love the fruit asinan better (i did not like eating veggies, actually). The fruits in their asinan are always fresh and rarely found in the market, such as Kecapi fruit (santor), Menteng (Baccaurea racemosa), Kedondong (spondias dulcis)..
 

Frankly speaking, it has been awhile the last time i went there to buy this asinan... I missed it so much. Luckily, i found an asinan recipe which taste is very close to the one in gedung dalam - Bogor. 

As asinan fruits you can use Pineapple, sweet potatoes, cucumber, apple, young papaya, bengkoang - Pachyrhizus erosus, peel and cut them.

Ingredients:

• 1l water
• 250 gr  sugar
• 3 big chilies, crushed
• 1 tsp of salt
• 4 tsb of Indonesian vinegar (25%)
• 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
• 2 tsb of peanuts (i used ready to make grilled peanuts, bought in big supermarkets)

Method:

1. Boil the water together with the ingredients (except the peanuts). Strain. Add the fruits. Cool in fridge.
2. Serve with the peanuts.