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mong those who have bequeathed a culinary legacy to the Indonesian kitchen was Princess Ong Tien of the Ming Dynasty. If you pass Cirebon on your way to Central Java, then spare a moment of thought for her, the beautiful princess of the times of Ming and daughter of the then reigning Emperor of China.

The princess was sent as a "gift" to the mighty king in Cirebon of the time, Sunan Gunung Jati, who married her and made her his fifth wife.

The poor princess: The marriage was childless and, although surrounded by about 100 courtiers, she still felt very lonely. To assuage her homesickness, she prepared authentic food from her country, with the assistance of those loyal to her.

In a way, though, she had plenty to be happy about, because the region of Cirebon, a city on the north coast of West Java, had seafood galore. Large shrimp, crabs and many other kinds of crustaceans and varieties of fish and seafood were ready to use for delicious dishes. Cirebon had long been a famous port of call for ocean-going vessels from Portugal, China and Holland; sailors were always happy to drop anchor in Cirebon.

Moreover, the princess must have had a say in the palace kitchens because many Cirebon dishes today have a distinctly Chinese influence. Take, for instance, the popular dish cap cay, which is a stir-fry of various vegetables.

In other parts of Indonesia, cap cay is made with vegetables "ad random", or just a bit of cabbage, carrots, leek and garlic plus shallots. But no Cirebon housewife would make it thus.

"cap," explained a lady we met, shopping at one of Cirebon's popular shopping centers, means "10". So "cap cay" has to be made with 10 different main ingredients, such as carrots, baby corn, cabbage, or pak choy, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, cloud ear mushroom, mung bean sprouts, and hypyo (fish intestines made into a cracker).

The princess must have given the authentic recipe to the people of Cirebon, because all these vegetables are still grown in the city surrounds.

As a member of Sultan Gunung Jati's court, the princess was very honored. Many people still visit the Gunung Jati Cemetery to seek the blessing of Sunan Gunung Jati and those who want to be specially successful in trade go to the gate leading to the grave of the Ming princess.

On a special day, once in every 35 days, on the Jum'at Kliwon day according to Javanese customs, special prayers are made to seek the blessing of the Chinese princess.

To Cirebon, the sea has been given a living. Many products of prime quality have been used as trade items and even as tributes. Even the name Cirebon is connected to the sea: "ci" means waters (sea, river) and "rebon" means small shrimp (saltwater shrimp).

Cirebon is also a place for spotted crab. If you drive along the coastal road, you'll come across many vendors of spotted crab, offering their wares in baskets. Fresh, they say, giving suggestions how to cook them. For those interested, the Indonesian name for spotted crab is, rajungan. Another famous delicacy, at least for adventurous gourmets, is the ati hiu or shark liver.

Cirebon's specialty is shark liver cut into tiny pieces, then spiced and wrapped in banana leaves. After being grilled over charcoals, the hot stuff is served with steamed white rice. For those less brave, there is red and white snapper and tengiri, Spanish mackerel. If you want to dine the local way, ask for botok laut made from the above fish.

Though Cirebon is a coastal area, it does have agricultural regions. Therefore meat also plays a part in everday Cirebon dishes. One of the famous fruits is the kawista; the fruit flesh is pressed to a refreshing drink.

The princess must have suffered from Cirebon's hot climate; she created drinks from local fruits such as kawista and mango. Kawista trees are typical of Java's north coast area. The fruit has a dominating sourish and a rather fermented flavor and so is usually mostly made into syrup. There are two varieties, feronta limonia and feroniella lucida. As the latter has many pips, it is not used as much as the former.

But according to the Cirebonese, you have not tasted Cirebon at all if you haven't tasted the typical rice dish of the region: Nasi lengko. It doesn't look very pretty, but it has a very distinctive flavor, because a portion of white steamed rice, sliced tofu and tempeh, pickled cucumber and raw bean sprouts are added, topped with a hot sambal consisting of pounded chilies, terasi (shrimp paste), palm sugar, onions, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce and crushed peanut.

This dish, our Cirebon hostess explained, combines sea and land.

Another Cirebon dish is sate kalong. Though kalong means "bat", the satay is definitely not made from bat's meat; rather, it is grilled skewered water buffalo meat cut in thin slices after being marinated in coriander.

So do try a taste of Cirebon and discover the culinary heritage of Princess Ong Tien.

Here a recipe for cap cay Caruban (the original name for Cirebon). Finely slice 250 g carrots, 150 g baby corn, 200 g Chinese cabbage, 200 g pak choy and 200 g cabbage. Prepare 200 g cauliflower and 200 g broccoli. Slice 250 g meatballs. Fry 2 hypyo (Cirebonese fish intestine crackers) until crispy, then soak in 300 ml hot water for 15 minutes; drain. Finely slice 4 shallots, 3 cloves garlic and 20 g ginger in fine slices. Stir-fry these in 3 tbsp oil until aromatic. Add meatballs, carrots and baby corn and add water; let it come to the boil. Add the rest of vegetables, 50 g black mushroom, and 100 g bean sprouts, crackers and 1 tbsp diluted cornflour. Season with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp sesame oil. Continue cooking until done but not too soft