Tahu Gejrot (Cirebon Stinky Tofu)

Tahu gejrot, a traditional stinky tofu snack from Cirebon, can be easily found in Jakarta peddled using various type of means such as a three-wheeled bike-cart as illustrated above, over-the-shoulder bamboo beam carry on, a simple bamboo basket that contains everything, or even a motor-bike style.

However, the main characteristic of tahu gejrot peddlers are they always carry a mortar and pestle. This mortar perform the duty of preparing the special gejrot sauce, which combine water, chilly, shallot, garlic, gula jawa (a block of palm sugar), into a distinctive fresh and smell of decomposing vegetable combined. The sauce is prepared each time a person order a portion of tahu gejrot. The pestle grind them all together into a mesh of watery juice. The stingy tofu then finally dipped into the concoction, making sure they absorb the sauce, and ready to serve, either using the same mortar used previously, or inside a small bowl.

This particular peddler, Pak Baharuddin, hovers around a school at Jalan Limau 2, and sells a bowl of tahu gejrot for 5000 rupiah, or around half US$.