Why is Indonesian food so delicious?
As I was about to dig into a plate of Nasi Padang, a nice man sitting at the table next to me said:“It’s because Indonesian food is based on fresh spices and herbs.”And when you and I look at the list of food below, and notice the fresh herbs and multitude of spices used in Indonesian cooking, it truly is a huge contributing factor as to why Indonesian cuisine is so flavorful and exciting to eat.
1. Sambal
While technically more of a condiment, the chili-based sauce known as sambal is a staple at all Indonesian tables.
Dishes aren't complete unless they've a hearty dollop of the stuff, a combination of chilies, sharp fermented shrimp paste, tangy lime juice, sugar and salt all pounded up with mortar and pestle. So beloved is sambal, some restaurants have made it their main attraction, with options that include young mango, mushroom and durian.
2. Satay
These tasty meat skewers cook up over coals so hot they need fans to waft the smoke away. Whether it's chicken, goat, mutton or rabbit, the scrappy morsels get marinated in turmeric, barbecued and then bathed in a hearty dose of peanut sauce.
Other nations now lay claim to sate, but Indonesians consider it a national dish conceived by street vendors and popularized by Arab traders. Each vendor seeks distinction, but "sate madura" -- served with rice cakes (ketupat) and diced cucumber and onion -- is distinguished by its boat-shaped street carts.
Sate Ragusa serves legendary satay that dates to the 1950s. Its signature spaghetti ice cream is a perfect dish to cleanse the palate after a meal
3. Ayam Bakar Taliwang (Taliwang grilled chicken)
Have you ever eaten three chickens by yourself in one meal? When you eat ayam bakar Taliwang, not only are the grilled chickens so good you might be able to eat three of them by yourself, but they are also very small because they either free range chickens or sometimes spring chickens.
This type of grilled chicken originates from the island of Lombok, and it’s popular with spicy grilled chicken lovers throughout Indonesia. When I saw the amount of chilies caked onto my ayam bakar Taliwang, I knew I was in for a life-changing grilled chicken experience, and it was true.
The chicken itself was so flavorful, and not too tender, but with just enough texture so that with every bite it kept releasing more chicken juices, kind of like that crazily juicy chicken I ate in Osaka. But along with just being a flavorful chicken from the start, it was beautifully spicy. Ayam Bakar Taliwang is one of the dishes you don’t want to miss if you love spicy food.
4. Ikan Bakar (grilled fish)
Even after eating ikan bakar, Indonesian grilled fish, dozens of times, I still can’t get over how good it is. Grilled fish is one of my favorite things to eat around the world, but I especially love it in Indonesia. Just like many of the grilled foods in Indonesian cuisine, what I like about ikan bakar is that it’s grilled over a very hot charcoal fire and grilled quickly, giving it a really incredible flame roasted fire flavor.
There are many different types of ikan bakar, but typically the fish is butterfly cut so it lays flat, then it’s rubbed in a sambal sauce marinade, and then finally it’s grilled. Ikan bakar is then served with either kecap manis or a variety of different sambal chili sauces and rice.
5. Nasi goreng
Considered Indonesia's national dish, this take on Asian fried rice is often made with sweet, thick soy sauce called kecap (pronounced ketchup) and garnished with acar, pickled cucumber and carrots. To add an element of fun to the experience, diners can try nasi gila (or "crazy rice") and see how many different kinds of meat they can find buried among the grains -- yes, those are hot dog slices.
5. Pepes
Pepes is very similar to Thai aeb, but it’s the Indonesian version of an assortment of fish, meat or tofu, mixed with lots of healthy herbs and spices, wrapped in a banana leaf package, and either steamed or grilled.
Originally a Sundanese food from the Western part of Java, some of the most common versions of pepes include chicken, different types of fish, tofu, or mushrooms, mixed with shallots, garlic, chilies, turmeric, candlenut, and lemon basil. What I love so much is that the ingredients, since they are all wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked, all mesh together really well, but also the banana leaf gives an extra green essence to whatever is cooked inside.
6. BAKSO
Pronounced: ba-so
Another one of Indonesia's best street foods, bakso is a savoury meatball soup. The meatballs are soft and springy, made from chicken, beef, pork, or even some combination of the three. You'll normally be served your bakso with some rice or egg noodles, boiled eggs (coated in the same mixture are the meatballs), some chilli and some fried onions. Some chefs also throw in tofu! Top it all off with sweet soy sauce for a delicious favourite. This is food fit for a president — as President Obama claimed this was one of his favourite dishes in Indonesia!
7. SOP BUNTUT
Pronounced: sop boon-toot
Sop buntut is a delicious oxtail soup. This Indonesian food is found mostly in West Java and is made up of fried or barbecued slices of oxtail in a clear broth. The dish is generally flavoured with shallots, garlic, pepper, nutmeg and cloves, but different chefs will spice it up in their own way. Some yummy vegetables that can be added to the soup include boiled potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, celery, leek and shallots. To really bring out the flavour, drizzle a bit of lime or lemon on top.
8. Pecel Lele (fried catfish)
Deep fried catfish, known as pecel lele, is a very famous and common Indonesian street food, often served at street side restaurants and local food tents known as warungs. In Jakarta, mostly at night, if you drive around the streets you’ll see countless food stalls showcasing catfish on their banner menus.
The catfish are prepared pretty simple, just salted and sometimes rubbed with some coriander and turmeric, and then deep fried until extra crispy all the way through. The catfish I ate in Indonesia were pretty small, about the size of a sausage, so when they were deep fried they almost turned chip-like, fried solidly.
Once again, the secret of the flavor when eating pecel lele lies within the sambal that it’s always served with. You take a piece of crispy catfish, mix it with your rice, add on some sambal, and that’s a recipe for a delicious bite.
9. Soto Betawi (Jakarta soup)
Jakarta is the biggest city in Indonesia, and people who live in Jakarta come from the furthest regions and islands of the country. The food directly reflects this, and walking down the street you’ll find a restaurant serving Padang food, Manado food, snacks from Eastern Java, and the list goes on and on.
But if there’s one dish that’s one of the most famous dishes, known for being homegrown right in Jakarta, it’s soto Betawi, literally meaning, Jakarta soup. Soto in Indonesia is a type of soup, and every region of Indonesia has their own version, and Betawi are the people of Batavia, the Dutch colonial name for Jakarta.
Soto Betawi is usually prepared with beef, which is boiled with aromatic herbs like lemongrass and Indonesian bay leaves, and flavored with candlenut, galangal, garlic, and shallots, and finally often a combination of both fresh cow milk and coconut milk are added to make the soup creamy. The soup is usually served in a bowl, topped with some crispy fried shallots, and eaten with a plate of rice, and some Indonesian pickles (known as acar). Eating Soto Betawi when I was in Jakarta was one of the culinary highlights for me. It’s truly an incredible dish that you can’t miss.
10. Gudeg
Fit for a sultan it may not be, but gudeg is certainly the signature of the royal city of Yogyakarta.
The sweet jackfruit stew is boiled for hours in coconut milk and palm sugar, making the fruit so soft and tender it falls apart with little chewing. Other spices are thrown into the mix but teak leaves give it a brown coloring. Like nasi uduk, it's served with rice, boiled egg, chicken and crispy, fried beef skin.
Source:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/40-indonesian-foods/index.html
https://migrationology.com/indonesian-food/
https://www.bookmundi.com/t/12-best-indonesian-foods-you-must-try
