Petis

Petis belongs to the coast of East Java and to Madura, where shrimp and fish were boiled down into a dark paste long before the modern kitchen. It is carried by the cooks of Surabaya, Sidoarjo and Madura, and the paste made from the stock of shrimp heads and shells is the form most associated with the region. Petis udang is the shrimp form, and petis ikan the form made from fish. It sits within the Javanese-Madurese tradition of the condiment that seasons a dish at the table as much as in the pot.

Petis — a thick, dark, intensely savoury sauce made by reducing shrimp or fish stock with palm sugar until it becomes a thick, molasses-like paste. It is the concentrated essence of the sea — the Indonesian equivalent of garum (the ancient Roman fish sauce) in its intensity and function. Used primarily in East Javanese and Madurese cooking, particularly in rujak petis (fruit salad with petis dressing) and tahu petis (tofu with petis sauce).

Petis is eaten with fruit, fried tofu and cooked vegetables, in rujak petis, rujak cingur, tahu petis and lontong dishes of East Java. It is drunk with nothing in particular, and the table pairs it with plain rice, lontong, tea or water. The structural reason is contrast: its dense salt, sweetness and marine depth meet the sourness of unripe fruit, the blandness of tofu and rice, and the heat of fresh chilli, so that each plain element is given a savoury weight.