Kediri, my sweet home town

When talking about Kediri, I always think of the food and my childhood memories there. I was born and spent 20 years of my life there. If you don't know about Kediri, let me introduce you to this town.

 

Kediri is a small town in East Java, Indonesia. The climate is mild, it is not too hot at noon and not too cold at night. Kediri is also the home of one of big cigarette manufacturers: Gudang Garam.

Logo of Gudang Garam

Kediri is called "City of Beancurd" since there are many beancurd manufacturers in Kediri. People in Kediri speak Javanese as their native language. Even I speak Javanese first before I can speak Bahasa Indonesia. Historically, Kediri is the place where the old Kadiri Kingdom resided. You still can see some remaining sites of this kingdom here such as the swimming pool with the "Totok Kerot" (something like guardian of the house) statue and also the "Selomangkleng" Cave in Kediri.

 

Kediri, East Java

Let's talk about food now. When I visited Kediri, I always eat these kinds of food.

 

Nasi Pecel (Spicy Javanese Salad on Rice)

 

This simple dish was actually made of steam rice topped with mix of vegetables (usually beansprout, long beans, cassava leave, etc) showered with spicy peanut sauce. There are many versions of this pecel but for me Kediri's is still the best. Another unique thing about Kediri's pecel is they have special sauce made of "rotten" tempe (fermented soybean cake), called "tumpang". If the peanut sauce is sweet and spicy, tumpang sauce is savory.

 

Sate Ayam Pak Siboen

 

Sate ayam or Chicken Satay Pak Siboen is simply the best. They use free range chicken (ayam kampung) and the peanut sauce is so smooth and creamy, usually also added with sweet soy. Many Indonesian celebrities will come to eat here when they visit Kediri. The chicken satay comes from Ponogoro. You may also need to try "balungan" (chicken bones with little meat attached).




Sate Ayam Pak Siboen

This sate is usually served with lontong (rice cake), and sliced shallots and crushed chili.

Sate Pak Siboen is located at General Sudirman street Kediri.

Tahu Lontong (Bean curd with Rice Cake)

Tahu Lontong is made of cur fried bean curd combined with cut rice cake, fried peanut, cucumber pickles, with gravy made of peanut, chili, garlic, and palm sugar (Javanese red sugar).

The one that I usually eat is located at Monginsidi street near Gi Ki (Chinese funeral service building).

 There are also several old restaurants that provide quite good food. For Chinese food, restaurant Canton and Po Kang have been in Kediri for quite long time. For Indonesian food, Depot Willis at Sudirman street is famous for its Rawon (Javanese black beef soup)



Tahu Lontong

As I said earlier, Kediri is known as bean curd city. There are so many bean curd manufacturers here. To name a few, Bahkacung, LTH, Poo are the famous ones. Kediri has two types of bean curd: the white one (uncooked) and the yellow one (cooked). We also can find bean curd stick snack here.




Po Kang Restaurant



Bahkacung beancurd shop



 


LTH beancurd shop

 

Some street snacks in Kediri

 

What are the things to visit in Kediri? I recommend the following places to visit when you are in Kediri:

 

Goa Selongmangkleng (Selomangkleng Cave).

 

It is located not so far from the city center. This place is a small cave where according to the legend, one of Kadiri kingdom's queens, Tribuwana Tunggadewi did meditation. Don't expect this as a large cave where you can walk in. It is just like a hole in granite hill that have some stone carving inside.

 

Mt. Kelud

 

You can read my previous posting on this volcano. This is a small active volcano near Kediri. It just erupted last week, showering Kediri and surrounded cities with sands and ash. The street was covered with up-to 5 cm of white materials. The sands and ash even reach Jogjakarta and Solo in Middle Java.

 

Pohsarang

 

Pohsarang is a pilgrim place for Catholic people in Kediri. They replicate whatever you find in Vatican here. You can find a big cave with "holy" water, Madonna statue, and also Via Dolorosa here.

 

Besuki

 

Besuki is high area in Kediri. The weather is cool and very cold at night. There are a few villas here. Recommended you drive very strong vehicles when coming here since the road is steep.

 

Popoh

 

Popoh is  a nearby beach in Kediri. This beach is famous since long time ago. However, don't expect to find white-sand beach here. It is just more a coral beach where you can sit beside the beach to have a picnic with your family or friends.