Night Market Warmer · Ginger Rice-Ball Drink
Wedang Ronde
Photo: Risanprasetyo/Febri Ady Prasetyo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The glutinous rice balls floating in the ginger broth trace back to tangyuan, the dumplings eaten during Chinese winter festivals like Dongzhi — a Chinese calendar tradition folded into a Central Javanese street drink.
A hot, spicy ginger broth is filled with small glutinous rice balls stuffed with peanut paste, plus peanuts, dried longan, and sometimes bread cubes. Night-market vendors in Yogyakarta and Salatiga ladle it steaming hot into a bowl straight from a simmering pot.
Why it's made this way: Wedang ronde formed from cultural blending between Chinese immigrants' tangyuan tradition and Central Java's existing ginger-drink (wedang jahe) culture, and it remains a favorite evening warmer first popularized in Solo and Salatiga.
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