Indonesian Cuisine

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Indonesian - Cooking and Food

Overview of Indonesian Cuisine History
The Chinese, Indians, Dutch and Arabs have influenced many Indonesian dishes.

Stir-fried soybeans and noodles in Indonesian cuisine were legacies of the early Chinese merchants who traveled to Indonesia. Curries (spicy sauces diluted with coconut milk) and the addition of cumin, coriander, ginger and caraway in many Indonesian cuisine are India’s contribution. The Dutch imported vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, potatoes, Cauliflower and string beans and added it to the varied number of vegetables already available in Indonesia to make flavorful and spicy cuisine that consisted of nutmeg, cloves, chili peppers, peanuts and cassava. The Arabs brought kebabs (skewered meat cubes), and dill and fennel were added to round up Indonesia’s already busting array of spices. The typical Indonesian diet consists of steamed rice, soup, several main courses (meat, vegetables, fish and crustaceans) and tropical fruits for dessert. All these are served on the table and eaten at once, which can be an entirely new experience to Westerners who are used to eating meals in an ordered fashion, one main course after another.

Like people in most Asian countries, Indonesians eat three meals a day, with rice as the staple food except in Maluku and Papua where sago palm flour, cassava and sweet potatoes are the staple food. A typical Indonesian breakfast consists of coffee and nasi goreng (fried rice). Lunch is steamed rice, a meat or fish dish, vegetables and soup. Indonesian suppers are light and consist only small portions of what was had for lunch. Desserts, usually seasonal fruits, top off typical Indonesian lunch and supper. Popular desserts are pisang goreng (banana fritters) and tape (fermented sticky rice or cassava).

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is a country surrounded by tropical oceans across the equator, and has been a country of resourceful variety of spices since ancient times. The diversity in its culture is well reflected in its cuisine and traditions regarding eating habits. Indonesian culture was greatly influenced by both China and India, making this influence obvious even in the cooking methods and techniques. China and India were the world’s most famous countries where condiment exportation was concerned. So it’s only natural that by having been influenced in the culture, the food preparation techniques would also be influenced. Condiments have been important to Indonesia since ancient times, and local people have grown special exclusive plants that they have used in preparation of dishes. Indonesia as a country is filled with remains of its religion intersecting with its culture, dated from ancient civilizations’ traditions of early migrants with Western thoughts brought by Portuguese traders and Dutch colonists. The rice table that was actually introduced by the Dutch back in colonial times is still a great part of the Indonesian cuisine. However, after no longer being under the Dutch influence, Indonesia managed to grow and rise by itself, and has turned itself from a rice importer country to a rice exporter one, and has established itself as the fifth largest OPEC producer.

Cuisines of Indonesia


By Geographic Area and Style:



Add an Indonesian Article or Recipe: createpageform-indonesian Indonesia has a large variety of dishes, and many of them can be found in specific regions only. However, the regular Indonesian meal does not consist of courses served separately, but rather are served all together, like a buffet. So it’s most likely that you will find differences in displaying the buffet according to the region of the country, and minor changes in those many small portions of fried rice (nasi goreng), the satay (or sateh in bahasa Indonesia), or bakmi goreng" (fried noodles). There are several specific parts of Indonesia where food stands out from other parts by specific recipes and dishes found only in those areas. in the Minangkabau region ion Indonesia, Padang is such a specific region in West Sumatra, which is famous for its hot spicy dishes. Usually food is prepared on the spot, outside the restaurants of Padang so that people can see the fresh food and its consistence as they walk inside. In North Sulawesi spicy food is also very common, and Pork is served in these regions as well. This is basically an exception, because Pork is usually not used in any of the Indonesian dishes, most population being Muslim. In the Javanese regions, the cuisine includes vegetables, soybeans, Beef, Chicken and other continental food, a bit apart from other regions, such as the eastern parts, where seafood is the main ingredient in all dishes.

Indonesian Food Glossary
Finding the ingredients for a Indonesian Recipe is not so easy when you do not know the names of the ingredients. Take time to make a list of ingredients and the name they may be found under at the Local Markets.


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Preparation Methods for Indonesian Cooking
The most important thing in the preparation methods of an Indonesian meal, is the fact that lunch is prepared all morning long, and is served all at once. Most meals include the long-grain rice as the main side dish for any other food. No matter the dishes served in a meal, they are often accompanied by several Sambals, which are actually spice relishes that are mixed with the food. A great thing to remember when cooking a traditional Indonesian meal is the fact that coconut milk is often used in the preparation method. Coriander, pepper, and garlic are also very much used in the process, but coconut milk is still the main secret of this cuisine. If you plan on learning al the important methods that the Indonesian cuisine used for the preparation process, you must know how to use banana leaves to wrap dishes, since this plays a great part in the methods used in the Indonesian kitchen.

Special Equipment for Indonesian Cooking
When sitting up an Indonesian kitchen there are a few essentials that will not only make your meals a success but will also make it much easier to prepare them. The most important equipment when starting to prepare an Indonesian meal, are the solid wooden chopping block and a heavy cleaver, which will do al the work for you, from mincing the ingredients, to chopping Chicken meat or vegetables. When you plan on cooking in an Indonesian manner, you will be in need of a lot of pots and serving spoons, spatulas, forks, turners, scrapers and tongs. Also, a saucer-shaped granite grinding stone, together with a granite pestle is used in preparing special condiments needed for the recipes. Borrowed from the Chinese culture, a woven bamboo steamer is always good to have in preparing many Indonesian dishes. When frying ingredients in deep oil, a Wok is very ideal for this preparation, since it requires less oil then a conventional deep fryer. A frying shovel or spatula is required when you use the wok for deep-frying, so make sure you have them available as well. Deep serving dishes are required for the traditional Indonesian soups. You need to consider cover lids and insulated food carriers to keep the temperature of the food constant, if you plan on serving the dishes at their optimized temperature


 * Solid wooden chopping block- The larger sizes are most appropriate for this style of cooking.
 * Heavy Cleaver- used in combination with the chopping block, it is an invaluable tool for chopping up  meat's and seafood, bruising a stalk of lemongrass, or smashing cardamom pods so they release their fragrance.
 * food processor- When cooking Indonesian cuisine one thing that is very important is grinding or crushing the seasonings that form the basis of countless Indonesian dishes. To do this, traditionally and still popular nowadays especially in Indonesia itself, a saucer-shaped granite grinding stone together with a granite pestle is used.  This granite saucer also often used to serve sambal (chili sauce).  However, in this modern era and in other countries other than countries in Asia, it is probably hard to find this tools.Therefore, food processor or blender should be sufficient to do this task.
 * Chinese woven bamboo steamer- is always good to have in preparing many Indonesian dishes. The steamer made with bamboo is preferred to a metal steamer because it absorbs more moisture rather than letting it fall back into the food and this steamer is also could perfectly sits inside a wok just above the boiling water.
 * Wok- ideal for deep frying because it requires less oil then a conventional deep fryer.  Moreover, it allows just the right amount of evaporation for those dishes which begin with a large amount of liquid and finish with a thick sauce.
 * Frying shovel or spatula- is an essential partner of a wok.

Indonesian Food Traditions and Festivals
Indonesian food traditions have been passed on by ancient civilizations, especially Hindu, which has made the balance between nature and eating habits a big important deal. The most significant tradition in the Indonesian culture is the display and presentation of food in form of a big buffet. Dishes aren’t served separately in different courses, but rather all together so everyone can have any dish, sweet or salty. Indonesia has a mixture of religions and festivals spread around the country. Things and events celebrated in Bali may not be in celebrated in Lombok and vice versa, so the festivals depend on the region as well as eating habits and methods. In June there is the international Indonesian food festival, when people celebrate this special cuisine all over the country. Special fests take place, and recipes containing mainly seafood, Chicken Satay, Gado-Gado and light salads are offered in a big buffet. Traditional dances take place as well. Interpreted in the Indonesian culture, they have been influenced by ancient civilizations and cultures, especially Hindu, who has left the legacy of the famous Javanese and Balinese dances.

People in Indonesian Food
Among the many chefs in the world, the Indonesian ones are probably some of the most creative ones. Combining available ingredients depends on the chef’s personal method, and can result in Indonesian dishes that will become even more original and delicious than the already spectacular ones. Indonesian chefs are passionate about their traditional dishes and they enjoy presenting them to foreigners, and visitors of their native places, people who have never tasted their dishes before Unlike other regions on the planet, Indonesia is a country of many secret ingredients that are kept secret by its chefs, and are not revealed for the sake of the originality of the Indonesian dishes. But the chef’s skills are all blended in preparing the specific dishes that are all served together, and not apart from another. So the chef has to have great skills to be able to coordinate every course to be ready in the same time, no matter whether its bakmi goreng" (fried noodles), gado-gado" (vegetables salad with a Peanut sauce), or a soup that need to be served hot. So if you want to try a special Indonesian dish, all you can do is enjoy a meal prepared by one of the specialists in this domain, and trust his judgment and skills.
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