Chef Joost
Appelcompote
Appelcompote is the apple left with its dignity: soft enough to spoon beside pork or potatoes, still chunky enough to remind you autumn did the real work.
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Atjar Tjampoer (Indo-Dutch Mixed Pickle)
Created by
Old colonial spelling in a yellow jar: atjar tjampoer, mixed pickle, brings cabbage, carrot, and cucumber into sweet-sour turmeric brine beside nasi, bami, and the Indo-Dutch table.
Sauces & Condiments
Dutch
Make Ahead
Potluck
25 min
Active Time
5 min cook•24 hr 30 min total
Yieldabout 1.2 liters, 10 servings
Some jars keep the old spelling on purpose. Atjar Tjampoer looks, to a modern Indonesian reader, like a little colonial fossil: acar campur, mixed pickle, written in the Dutch way, with tj where c now stands and oe where u belongs. The name already tells you what the jar is meant to do. It gathers what the garden and market have, then makes them sharp, yellow, and awake.
I first learned its usefulness not from an archive, but from the Indo-Dutch table, that generous Dutch inheritance from the former Netherlands Indies where rice arrives with companions: sambal for heat, seroendeng for crunch, atjar for the clean sweet-sour bite. But let me tell you a secret. Atjar tjampoer is not the decoration beside the nasi. It is the thing that lets you go back for another spoonful, because vinegar cuts richness, turmeric gives warmth, and sugar keeps the sour from behaving like a sermon.
This is late-summer preserving in spirit, though the Dutch supermarket has made it a year-round jar. Cabbage is sturdy, carrot is honest, cucumber is mostly water and must be told to behave. Salt it first, blanch the firmer vegetables only briefly, and pour over a hot turmeric brine. The method is small, but it has a reason: crisp vegetables, clear acid, and a yellow brine that stains everything it touches, including your favourite wooden spoon, for obvious reasons.
Hou het altijd simpel. This is a refrigerator pickle, not a pantry canning project, so let the cold do the last work. Give it a day and the cabbage softens its shoulders, the carrot keeps its snap, and the whole bowl starts speaking the language of the Indo-Dutch potluck: a little sweet, a little sour, and impossible to leave alone.
Atjar tjampoer entered Dutch home cooking through the Indo-Dutch table of the Netherlands Indies, especially the colonial rijsttafel, rice table, where small relishes balanced rice, sambal, and rich meat or vegetable dishes. The spelling preserves older Dutch colonial orthography: atjar corresponds to modern Indonesian acar, pickle, and tjampoer to campur, mixed; Indonesian spelling reforms changed oe to u in 1947 and tj to c in 1972. After Indonesian independence and the migration of Indo-European and Dutch repatriate families to the Netherlands in the late 1940s and 1950s, atjar became an everyday Dutch supermarket condiment served beside nasi, bami, and satay.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
white cabbage
Quantity
300g
cored and sliced into bite-size ribbons
carrots
Quantity
2 medium, about 180g
peeled and cut into matchsticks
cauliflower florets
Quantity
150g
cut small
green beans
Quantity
100g
trimmed and cut into 3cm pieces
cucumber
Quantity
1/2, about 150g
seeded and sliced into half-moons
red chili (optional)
Quantity
1
thinly sliced
shallots
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
fresh ginger
Quantity
15g
sliced into coins
white vinegar (5% acidity)
Quantity
300ml
water
Quantity
150ml
granulated sugar
Quantity
90g
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons
divided
ground turmeric (koenjit or kunyit)
Quantity
2 teaspoons
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| white cabbagecored and sliced into bite-size ribbons | 300g |
| carrotspeeled and cut into matchsticks | 2 medium, about 180g |
| cauliflower floretscut small | 150g |
| green beanstrimmed and cut into 3cm pieces | 100g |
| cucumberseeded and sliced into half-moons | 1/2, about 150g |
| red chili (optional)thinly sliced | 1 |
| shallotsthinly sliced | 2 |
| garlic clovesthinly sliced | 2 |
| fresh gingersliced into coins | 15g |
| white vinegar (5% acidity) | 300ml |
| water | 150ml |
| granulated sugar | 90g |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons |
| ground turmeric (koenjit or kunyit) | 2 teaspoons |
Equipment Needed
- •1.5-liter heatproof preserving jar or lidded glass bowl
- •Medium saucepan
- •Colander
- •Sharp knife or mandoline
Instructions
- 1
Salt the cucumber
Toss the cucumber half-moons with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and set them in a colander for 20 minutes. Cucumber carries too much water to be trusted straight into the jar; salt draws off the excess so the brine stays sharp instead of turning thin and apologetic. Pat the cucumber dry with a clean towel.
- 2
Blanch the vegetables
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the carrot, cauliflower, and green beans for 90 seconds, then add the cabbage for the final 30 seconds. Drain at once and rinse under cold water until the vegetables are cool, then shake them dry. You are not cooking them soft; you are taking away the raw edge while keeping the bite.
If the pieces are cut too large, the brine reaches only the outside. Keep everything small enough to catch vinegar in one night, but not so small that it collapses. - 3
Make the brine
Put the vinegar, water, sugar, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, turmeric, ginger, shallots, and garlic into a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then let it murmur for 3 minutes. Turmeric smells dusty at first; give it those few minutes and the brine turns rounder, warmer, and properly golden.
- 4
Pack the jar
Pack the cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, green beans, cucumber, and chili, if using, into a clean heatproof jar or lidded bowl. Pour the hot yellow brine over everything, including the shallots, garlic, and ginger. Press the vegetables down so they sit under the liquid. If a few pieces float, they are not rebelling; turn the jar once or twice as it cools.
- 5
Rest and serve
Cool the jar to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Use a clean spoon and serve the atjar cold or cool, lifted from the brine and heaped beside nasi, bami, satay, or any rice table that needs a clean bite. This is a refrigerator pickle, not shelf-stable canning, so keep it cold.
Chef Tips
- •Use vinegar marked 5% acidity. A softer table vinegar may taste pleasant, but it is not sharp enough for a pickle that needs to keep its backbone for days.
- •Do not skip salting the cucumber. That little wait is what keeps the brine from becoming watery by tomorrow, and atjar is a dish made for tomorrow.
- •Turmeric stains wood, cloth, and fingers with great democratic enthusiasm. Use a metal spoon if you care about the spoon, and an apron if you care about the shirt.
- •The tide sets the menu, and so does the calendar: late summer cabbage, beans, and cucumber make the crispest jar. In winter, use more cabbage and carrot, and leave tired cucumber out without shame.
- •Serve it with rich or sweet dishes. Atjar earns its place by cutting through peanut sauce, fried rice, braised meats, and anything that needs acid more than another spoonful of salt.
Advance Preparation
- •Best made 24 to 48 hours before serving; the colour deepens and the vinegar settles into the vegetables.
- •Keeps up to 2 weeks refrigerated if the vegetables stay under the brine and a clean spoon is used each time.
- •Not suitable for room-temperature storage unless processed with a tested canning method.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 140g)
Calories
75 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
485 mg
Total Carbohydrates
17 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
1 g
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