Rujak Ujong Blang is a legendary fruit salad hailing from the coastal area of Ujong Blang Beach, Lhokseumawe. This dish is highly renowned among Indonesian food enthusiasts for its unique flavor profile, which differs from standard fruit salads due to the inclusion of Rumbia fruit (*buah rumbia*) in its dressing.
Ujong Blang's Rumbia is a fruit harvested from sago palms (*Metroxylon sagu*) growing wild in the marshlands of coastal Aceh. Possessing a scaly skin similar to snake fruit but smaller, its white-yellowish flesh is strongly astringent (sepat) when eaten raw. In making Rujak Ujong Blang, vendors grate the raw Rumbia flesh and grind it into the dressing made of rich coconut palm sugar, salt, bird's eye chilies, coarsely ground fried peanuts, and raw wild bananas (*pisang klutuk*) to thicken the texture.
The combination of the astringent Rumbia with the sweet palm sugar, savory peanuts, and spicy kick of chilies creates an incredibly refreshing sweet-spicy-astringent sensation. This exotic sauce is drizzled over cold slices of fresh seasonal fruits like papaya, green mango, water apple, pineapple, and cucumber. Enjoying a cold plate of Rujak Ujong Blang at a beachside stall while looking over the Malacca Strait in the late afternoon is a favorite local pastime.
References & Sources: 1. Bank Indonesia Lhokseumawe Representative Office. (2020). *Profile of Creative Industries and Local Culinary in Lhokseumawe*. 2. Said, Mohammad. (1981). *Travel Logs of East Coast Sumatra Culinary*. Medan: Waspada. 3. Journal of Ethnobotany: Marshland Plant Utilization by the Acehnese, Malikussaleh University. (2018).
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