This original recipe for tumis tahu kecap—stir-fried tofu with sweet soy sauce—uses a consistent neutral instructional register. Its economy comes from leaving out the predictable cook while stating quantities, order, and endpoints precisely. Commands such as tumis, aduk, tuang, and masak use bare roots; derived commands such as masukkan retain -kan but still omit actor-voice meN-.
The text is copyright-safe and written directly in normalized EYD V spelling. The full measure names are spelled out for learners; actual recipe cards may abbreviate sendok makan as sdm and sendok teh as sdt.
Complete recipe
TUMIS TAHU KECAP
Untuk 2 porsi
Bahan:
- 250 gram tahu putih, potong dadu
- 2 siung bawang putih, iris tipis-tipis
- 3 butir bawang merah, iris tipis
- 1 batang daun bawang, potong kecil-kecil
- 1 sendok makan kecap manis
- 100 mililiter air
- Setengah sendok teh garam
- 2 sendok makan minyak goreng
Cara membuat:
- Panaskan minyak goreng di wajan dengan api sedang.
- Tumis bawang merah dan bawang putih sampai harum.
- Masukkan tahu, lalu aduk pelan-pelan supaya tidak hancur.
- Tuang air, kemudian tambahkan kecap manis dan garam.
- Masak sampai kuah sedikit menyusut dan bumbu meresap.
- Setelah api dimatikan, taburkan daun bawang yang sudah dipotong kecil-kecil.
- Sajikan selagi hangat.
The ingredient list uses fragments without final periods, while the numbered method uses complete directives with final periods. That punctuation difference separates inventory from procedure.
Line-by-line English translation
Untuk 2 porsi
Makes 2 servings.
250 gram tahu putih, potong dadu
250 grams of white tofu, cut into cubes.
2 siung bawang putih, iris tipis-tipis
2 cloves of garlic, slice thinly.
3 butir bawang merah, iris tipis
3 shallots, slice thinly.
1 batang daun bawang, potong kecil-kecil
1 scallion, cut into small pieces.
1 sendok makan kecap manis
1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce.
100 mililiter air
100 milliliters of water.
Setengah sendok teh garam
Half a teaspoon of salt.
2 sendok makan minyak goreng
2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
Panaskan minyak goreng di wajan dengan api sedang.
Heat the cooking oil in a wok over medium heat.
Tumis bawang merah dan bawang putih sampai harum.
Sauté the shallots and garlic until fragrant.
Masukkan tahu, lalu aduk pelan-pelan supaya tidak hancur.
Add the tofu, then stir gently so that it does not break apart.
Tuang air, kemudian tambahkan kecap manis dan garam.
Pour in the water, then add the sweet soy sauce and salt.
Masak sampai kuah sedikit menyusut dan bumbu meresap.
Cook until the liquid has reduced slightly and the seasoning has penetrated.
Setelah api dimatikan, taburkan daun bawang yang sudah dipotong kecil-kecil.
After the heat has been turned off, scatter over the scallion, which has been cut into small pieces.
Sajikan selagi hangat.
Serve while warm.
Numbered grammar and genre notes
1. The predictable actor disappears
A recipe assumes that the reader or cook performs each step. Indonesian therefore needs neither Anda nor kamu before every command. Actor omission keeps attention on the changing food.
Cuci sayuran sampai bersih sebelum mulai memasak.
Wash the vegetables until clean before starting to cook.
Keringkan tahu dengan kain bersih agar minyak tidak memercik.
Dry the tofu with a clean cloth so that the oil does not splatter.
English recipes also omit you, but Indonesian can do so without changing the verb for person or tense. The directive reading comes from genre and position.
2. Root-form commands omit meN-
Tumis, aduk, tuang, masak, iris, and potong are bare roots used as commands. Their actor-voice counterparts—menumis, mengaduk, menuang, memasak, mengiris, memotong—describe activities but are not the concise imperative form used here.
Iris jamur setebal kira-kira setengah sentimeter.
Slice the mushrooms approximately half a centimeter thick.
Aduk bumbu secara perlahan agar tidak tumpah.
Stir the seasoning slowly so that it does not spill.
Some commands retain derivational suffixes. Panaskan means “cause to become hot,” masukkan means “put in,” tambahkan means “add,” and taburkan means “scatter onto.” Dropping meN- does not mean stripping away every affix.
Masukkan irisan cabai setelah minyak cukup panas.
Put in the sliced chilies after the oil is hot enough.
Tambahkan sedikit air jika bumbu mulai kering.
Add a little water if the seasoning begins to dry out.
3. Measures attach directly to ingredients
The pattern is number + measure/classifier + ingredient: 250 gram tahu, 2 siung bawang putih, 1 sendok makan kecap. There is no preposition corresponding to English of.
Campurkan dua sendok makan santan dengan seratus mililiter air.
Mix two tablespoons of coconut milk with one hundred milliliters of water.
Tambahkan satu siung bawang putih dan sejumput garam.
Add one clove of garlic and a pinch of salt.
The packaging noun depends on the ingredient: siung for cloves, butir for shallots in this recipe, batang for a scallion stalk, and volume or weight measures for substances. These are lexical conventions, not English plural agreement.
4. Lalu and kemudian move procedural time forward
Both lalu and kemudian mean “then/next” here. They connect completed or initiated steps in sequence. Kemudian is slightly more explicit and suits written procedure; lalu is neutral and compact.
Goreng tahu sebentar, lalu angkat dan tiriskan.
Fry the tofu briefly, then lift it out and drain it.
Didihkan air, kemudian kecilkan api.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat.
The sequence-marker guide covers broader narrative uses. In a recipe, sequence words prevent two adjacent commands from being misread as simultaneous.
5. Sampai names a result boundary
Sampai harum does not measure minutes; it tells the cook to continue until fragrance becomes perceptible. Sampai kuah sedikit menyusut dan bumbu meresap gives two observable endpoints. This is often more transferable across different stoves and pans than a fixed duration.
Rebus santan sampai mendidih, tetapi jangan sampai pecah.
Boil the coconut milk until it reaches a boil, but do not let it separate.
Panggang terung sampai bagian luarnya kecokelatan.
Roast the eggplant until its exterior is browned.
Use selama for a measured duration: masak selama lima menit. Use sampai when the stopping point is a time or resulting state.
6. Supaya encodes prevention as the purpose
Aduk pelan-pelan supaya tidak hancur tells both how and why: gentle stirring prevents the tofu from breaking. The negative follows supaya, inside the desired result.
Balik ikan satu kali saja supaya kulitnya tetap utuh.
Turn the fish only once so that its skin stays intact.
Tutup panci supaya air cepat mendidih.
Cover the pot so that the water boils quickly.
English may use so it doesn't... or to keep it from...; Indonesian makes the desired non-event a clause with supaya tidak.
7. Di-passives present completed preparation
Setelah api dimatikan makes the heat, not the cook, the topic of the temporal frame. Daun bawang yang sudah dipotong presents the scallion in its ready state. In both cases, di- is attached to the verb.
Setelah sayuran dicuci, tiriskan selama beberapa menit.
After the vegetables have been washed, drain them for several minutes.
Masukkan tomat yang sudah dipotong menjadi empat bagian.
Add the tomatoes that have been cut into quarters.
The passive lets the procedure chain states: washed vegetables, cut tomatoes, extinguished heat. Naming who performed those predictable preparations would add little.
8. Reduplicated adjectives specify manner or distribution
Tipis-tipis, kecil-kecil, and pelan-pelan are written with hyphens. In this genre they specify repeated or distributed outcomes: slice the cloves into thin pieces, cut the scallion into small pieces, move the spoon gently through repeated strokes.
Potong wortel memanjang dan tipis-tipis agar cepat matang.
Cut the carrot lengthwise into thin pieces so that it cooks quickly.
Masukkan air sedikit-sedikit sambil terus mengaduk adonan.
Add the water little by little while continuously stirring the batter.
The exact meaning is conventional: pelan-pelan is manner, while sedikit-sedikit is incremental distribution.
Vocabulary glosses
| Expression | Meaning | Procedural role |
|---|---|---|
| potong dadu | cut into cubes/dice | result shape |
| tumis | sauté/stir-fry | bare-root command |
| sampai harum | until fragrant | sensory endpoint |
| supaya tidak hancur | so it does not break apart | preventive purpose |
| kuah menyusut | the liquid reduces | visible endpoint |
| bumbu meresap | the seasoning penetrates | flavor endpoint |
| taburkan | scatter/sprinkle onto | derived command retaining -kan |
| selagi hangat | while still warm | serving-time boundary |
A natural translation preserving the register
SWEET-SOY STIR-FRIED TOFU
Serves 2
Ingredients: 250 g white tofu, diced; 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 3 shallots, thinly sliced; 1 scallion, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce; 100 ml water; ½ teaspoon salt; and 2 tablespoons cooking oil.
Method: Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Sauté the shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add the tofu and stir gently to keep it from breaking. Pour in the water, then add the sweet soy sauce and salt. Cook until the liquid reduces slightly and the seasoning soaks in. Turn off the heat, scatter over the chopped scallion, and serve warm.
The natural translation combines short Indonesian steps where English recipe style benefits from coordination. It preserves the actorless, brisk procedural register rather than repeatedly adding you.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping meN- in a direct command
❌ Menumis bawang putih sampai harum sekarang.
Incorrect as a direct recipe command—menumis is an actor-voice activity form, not the concise imperative.
✅ Tumis bawang putih sampai harum sebelum tahu dimasukkan.
Sauté the garlic until fragrant before the tofu is added.
2. Removing a required derivational suffix
❌ Masuk tahu ke dalam wajan setelah bawang harum.
Incorrect—the causative command meaning ‘put the tofu in’ is masukkan.
✅ Masukkan tahu ke dalam wajan setelah bawang harum.
Put the tofu into the wok after the shallots are fragrant.
3. Inserting dari inside a measure phrase
❌ Tambahkan dua sendok makan dari kecap manis.
Incorrect—the measured ingredient follows the measure directly.
✅ Tambahkan dua sendok makan kecap manis.
Add two tablespoons of sweet soy sauce.
4. Using sampai for a duration quantity
❌ Masak tahu sampai lima menit dengan api kecil.
Incorrect for duration—sampai sets an endpoint, not an amount of elapsed time here.
✅ Masak tahu selama lima menit dengan api kecil.
Cook the tofu for five minutes over low heat.
5. Separating passive di- from its verb
❌ Setelah api di matikan, taburkan irisan daun bawang.
Incorrect spelling—passive di- attaches to matikan.
✅ Setelah api dimatikan, taburkan irisan daun bawang.
After the heat has been turned off, scatter over the sliced scallion.
6. Omitting reduplication hyphens
❌ Iris bawang putih tipis tipis agar matang merata.
Incorrect spelling—full reduplication is hyphenated.
✅ Iris bawang putih tipis-tipis agar matang merata.
Slice the garlic thinly so that it cooks evenly.
Key Takeaways
- Recipes suppress the predictable cook and foreground ingredients, order, and results.
- Direct commands drop actor-voice meN-, but derived commands retain needed suffixes: masukkan, tambahkan.
- Measures take ingredients directly: dua sendok makan kecap, never dari kecap.
- Lalu/kemudian order steps; sampai states a result boundary; selama states duration.
- Attached passive di- and hyphenated reduplication preserve correct EYD V spelling.
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- Measure and Container NounsA2 — Build Indonesian quantity phrases with containers, standard measures, and portions directly before substances, without an of-linker.
- sejak, hingga, and sampaiA2 — Mark the beginning or end of a period with sejak, sampai, and hingga, and combine those boundaries with aspect to show whether a situation continues.
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- Reduplication as MannerA2 — Understand how copied forms describe gradual, careful, secret, prolonged, or conventionalized ways of carrying out an action.