Rujak Cingur as a symbol of East Javanese gastronomic heritage

Abstract Rujak Cingur is a traditional East Javanese dish that combines animal-based ingredients, fresh vegetables, fermented condiments, and plant-derived components within a single culinary preparation. Beyond its role as a regional specialty, Rujak Cingur reflects the interaction between traditional food practices, local resources, sensory characteristics, and cultural traditions in East Java. The aim of this review was to synthesize and integrate available literature on the historical, sensory, food-related, and cultural dimensions of Rujak Cingur in order to provide a broader understanding of its role within East Javanese gastronomic heritage. This review critically synthesizes existing literature on the historical background, ingredient composition, sensory characteristics, processing practices, and food-related aspects reported in the literature on Rujak Cingur using a narrative integrative approach. Particular attention is given to how traditional culinary knowledge, ingredient functionality, and sensory attributes have been discussed within studies of East Javanese gastronomic heritage. The reviewed literature indicates that processes such as collagen denaturation, starch gelatinization, thermal browning reactions, and fermentation-related transformations have been associated with flavor and texture characteristics of ingredients commonly used in Rujak Cingur . This review also highlights regional variations in preparation practices and sensory descriptions reported across East Java, illustrating how local culinary traditions contribute to diversity within the dish. Rather than proposing a new theoretical framework, this review provides an integrated synthesis of evidence from food science, sensory studies, ethnogastronomy, and cultural heritage literature to examine the multidimensional factors discussed in relation to Rujak Cingur . Overall, this review contributes to the growing discourse on ethnogastronomy and traditional food heritage by providing a structured synthesis of ingredient functionality, processing practices, sensory characteristics, and cultural contexts reported in the literature on Rujak Cingur as an element of East Javanese gastronomic heritage.