[1] The main ingredients in the gravy are sweet soy sauce, shallots, onions, garlic, ginger, candlenut, nutmeg, and cloves (and sometimes with black pepper, coriander, cumin, and cinnamon).

In addition to the spices and seasonings, semur also consists of a wide range of main ingredients with variation in presentation, such as meat (mainly beef), beef tongue,[3] potato, tofu, tomato, tempeh, eggs, chicken, and fish, and is often sprinkled with fried shallots or other variations according to the taste preferences of the communities in each region.

[7] The particular flavor of Indonesian spices combined with a variety of foreign food processing techniques has resulted in the creation of unique dishes such as semur, which existed since 1600.

This book asserts that the later smoor stew was the kitchen cooking method developed in Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) by the Eurasian.

However it was later developed into various ingredients and recipes; ox tongue, mutton, chicken, eggs, also for vegetable products, such as tofu, tempeh, eggplant, and others.