Sokaraja

Sokaraja is a small town about 8 km east of Purwokerto on the road to Banyumas, and is essentially one long row of shops selling oleh-oleh — Indonesian travel snacks. The local speciality is getuk goreng, a sweet-and-savoury cake made from steamed cassava, palm sugar and coconut, formed into bite-sized lumps and deep-fried; every other shop on the main street sells it, freshly made, packed into pyramid-shaped wax-paper boxes. Other local snacks include mendoan, soto sokaraja (a yellow-broth chicken soup with rice cakes), and kripik tempe (crispy tempeh chips).

The best-known producer is Asli H. Tohirin, which has been making getuk goreng since the 1920s and has a small museum-style display behind the shop. There is no other reason to visit Sokaraja, but for an hour's break on a journey through the region — or to stock up on edible gifts to take elsewhere — it is well worth the short trip. Buses from Terminal Purwokerto run constantly.

things to do sight market
A story
Getuk goreng — a deep-fried palm-sugar cassava cake — is supposed to have been invented in Sokaraja in the 1920s by a snack vendor who had a batch of getuk go stale and decided to fry it rather than throw it out. The new product sold so well that the vendor's competitors copied it, and the town has been famous for it ever since.