Introduction
Geographic and cultural diversity,
together with a long history of visiting foreign merchants and colonists,
have produced Indonesia's unique cuisine, which is still largely unknown
to the outside world with the possible exception of the Netherlands.
The Chinese introduced nasi goreng (fried
rice with vegetables), mie (noodles)
stir-frying and the wajang (wok), the Indians
their curries and spices (notably cardamom, coriander, cumin, ginger,
onions and garlic), the Spanish chilli, peanuts and tomatoes while the
Dutch have left their mark with sweets and cakes, and of course rijstaffel
( a selection of up to 40 dishes of meat, vegetables
and rice served in individual bowls).
Indonesian cuisine continues to adopt
ingredients and technologies thanks to the Indonesian people's open-mindedness
towards the new and their ability to give the new dishes a 'local twist'.
For example, at a McDonalds in Indonesia, a Big Mac comes with chilli and you can even order
McSatay!
How Indonesians
eat
Indonesians eat relatively simple but
delicious meals. Indonesian food is essentially 'peasant' cuisine fresh,
simple ingredients, combined with a subtle blend of spices, resulting
in a delicious, inexpensive meal. Eating only becomes a grand affair in
Indonesia when communal feats are held to celebrate family
occasions, such as weddings, funerals and circumcisions, or harvest and
religious feasts, such as the end of Ramadan.
An Indonesian meal usually consists
of a main rice (nasi) dish with a combination of meat, fish, chicken,
vegetable and egg side dishes. The range of flavourings used in Indonesian
cooking is vast. Aromatic coriander and cumin, together with chillies,
lemon grass, coconut, kecap manis
(sweet soy sauce) and palm sugar are all important flavourings while sambal a hot chilli sauce is served just about
everywhere, in case the food isn't spicy enough!
Vegetables are well catered for and
Indonesian cooking uses tahu (tofu, soybean
cake) and tempe (fermented soybeans), which are both good sources
of protein.
Traditionally, food is eaten using
the fingers of the right hand (the left is considered unclean), hence
the soft stickiness of their rice. However, in areas familiar with Westerners,
cutlery will be provided usually a spoon and a fork but otherwise
you'll just have to 'do as the natives do'.
Sate, nasi goreng
and gado gado
(vegetables with spicy peanut sauce) are some of Indonesia's most famous dishes.
Regional Food
Many dishes served in restaurants come
from Java and Sumatra. The coastal areas traditionally use a wider range
of spices and flavourings. Sumatran cooking blends fresh and dry spices
to produce hot and spicy dishes served with plenty of rice to tone down
the spices. Rendang (meat simmered in spices and coconut milk)
is a traditional West Sumatran dish. The Javanese use a more subtle blend
of fresh spices, together with chilli mellowed by the addition of sugar.
The Sundanese people of West Java make a beautiful crisp aromatic salad (karedok).
The third region usually visited by
tourists is Bali and Lombock, where you'll
find delicious sate (small pieces of meat roasted on a skewer)
and poultry dishes. Babi guling
(roasted suckling pig) is a traditional Balinese dish.
Where to
eat
Indonesians eat best at home. So an
invitation to eat with any friends you make in Indonesia should not be missed! Outside the home there are a range of eating places open all day.
Snacks soup, sate (satay),
noodles, etc. can be obtained from a kaki lima
(food cart). The smaller ones are mobile and the larger
ones have tables and benches nearby.
Warungs (street stalls) are simple, open-air eating-places providing a small
range of dishes based on rice and one meat or vegetable. A good place
for warungs is at the pasar
malam (night market). It's unlikely you'll find a menu
in them either ask for what you want or have a look and see what others
are eating.
Rumah
makan (eating house) refers to anything one step above
a warung, although some owners prefer to use
the more western-sounding restoran. Offerings
may be as simple as a warung's, but usually
include more choices of meat and vegetable dishes, and spicy accompaniments.
Simple Padang restaurants are common everywhere, although they
are most authentic around Padang, the West Sumatran capital from which the cuisine
originates. You don't order, but are presented with plain rice and a large
selection of hot and spicy meat, fish and vegetable dishes. You pay for
what you eat. But beware a lot of padang food is extremely hot!
Large hotels in places such as Jakarta and Bali often have
extensive buffets, incorporating richly spiced and sauced dishes. This
is a modern version of Dutch rijstaffel, which
once fed planters and businessmen.
Spices, sauces
and flavourings
Asam
(Tamarind)
In Indonesian, asam is the name given to tamarind as well as the taste:
sour. This is the pulp surrounding the pod found on the tamarind tree.
It is usually sold in dried form and is mixed with water when used in
curries and fish dishes.
Cengkeh
(Cloves)
These are the buds of the clove tree.
Once only grown in the Maluku islands, cloves
were the catalyst for an intense trade war between the Dutch, English
and Portuguese. You won't taste cloves much in Indonesian cooking but
you will smell them burning everywhere as they're the prime ingredient
in kretek (clove cigarettes).
Daun
Jeruk Perut (Kaffir Lime Leaves)
These aromatic, tart-tasting leaves
are used much the same way as bay leaves are namely, added into a stock
or curry then taken out before serving.
Duan
Salam (Salam Leaves)
These leaves are also called 'Indonesian
laurel leaves' or 'Indonesian bay leaves'. But neither name does the leaf
justice. It is an aromatic ingredient added to savoury dishes.
Gula
(Sugar)
The main sweetener in Indonesian cooking
is gula merah
(palm sugar), which is made by extracting and boiling sap from the jaka (palm tree). Unlike granulated cane sugar, palm
sugar is sold as a solid block. When it comes to using the sugar, it is
chipped off or even grated into the mix. (It is also what makes teh
manis (sweet tea)
so sweet.)
Kemiri
(Candlenut)
The fleshy interior of these nuts is
used to add a nutty flavour and creamy texture to dishes.
Laos & Kencur (Galangal)
Laos has the same shape and function as ginger, but is
bright orange and has a more bitter taste. Also popular is kencur
which has more of a kick than laos.
Minyak
(Oil)
The most widely used oil is minyak
kelapa (cocounut oil) as it burns at a high temperature, making it
perfect for deep frying. Other types of oil include minyak
kacang (peanut oil) and minyak jagung (corn
oil). But coconut oil, also called minyak
sawit, is the number one oil used for all types of cooking.
Pala
(Nutmeg)
It's ironic that the ingredient all
of Europe scrambled for in the 16th-17th centuries isnt used
very extensively in the Indonesian kitchen. The fruit of the nutmeg is
made into a preserve called manisan
pala and both the seed and the nutmeg's shell are dried
and sold whole or as powder.
Duan
Pendan (Screwpine)
This plant, named for its twisted stems,
is used in traditional cooking from India to Australia. Screwpine is used in sweet
dishes for its delicate fragrance and green colouring.
Terasi,
Belacan (Shrimp Paste)
You'll know when you come across shrimp
paste because it has a very fishy, pungent aroma. This paste is made from
small shrimp that are rinsed in sea water, dried, salted,
dried again then pummelled to a paste. It is left to dry for about two
weeks before being shaped into blocks. As you would expect, the paste
adds a fishy, salty flavour to dishes.
Chilli
Known as cabe when fresh off the bush and sambal
when mashed into a paste, chillies are what make Indonesians tick and
they'll add them to almost anything. If you ever fall victim to a deceptively
hot chilli, don't try to extinguish the fire with water as it will
only make it worse. Instead, eat some plain rice.
Sambal
(Chilli sauce)
The Mexicans have salsa, the Indians
chutney, but in Indonesia, the essential condiment is sambal
(chilli sauce). A table set without sambal isn't
set properly. Sambals come in many varieties but the base for any sambal will be chillies, garlic, shallots and salt. Here are
some of the most popular varieties:
Sambal
Badjak: Chilli sauce made with shallots, sugar, tamarind,
galangal and shrimp paste. Fried to a caramel consistency.
(Mild by Indonesian standards.)
Sambal
Jeruk: Chilli sauce made with lime juice, lime peel, salt
and vinegar.
Sambal
Terasi: Chilli sauce made with lime and roasted shrimp paste.
Ulek: Chilli sauce made with vinegar and lots of chillies. Very spicy!
Pecel: This sauce is similar to sambal but the spice
is lessened with the addition of peanuts and tomato.
Saus
Kacang (Peanut Sauce)
This is one of Indonesia's most famous culinary exports, the reason being
that peanut sauce is so versatile. It can be used as a condiment, as a
dip or as the flavour for a main meal. It is most famous for its appearance
in gado gado.
Kecap
(Soy Sauce)
Every restaurant in the country provides
their diners with a bottle of soy sauce (made from soybeans fermented
in brine). Most provide two kecap
asin (salty soy sauce), which is the same as soy sauce
found throughout the world, and kecap
manis (sweet soy sauce) which is thicker
and sweeter.
A Recipe: Beef
Rendang (This is NOT Ani's recipe!)
Ingredients
500 gr. Rump steak.
2 Onions.
4 Garlic cloves.
3 Fresh red chillies.
2½ cm Ginger root.
1 teaspoon Turmeric.
1 tablespoon Paprika.
1 stalk Lemon grass.
3 Lime leaves.
600 ml Coconut milk.
75 ml water.
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Method
Put the Onions, Garlic, Chillies, Ginger, Paprika, Turmeric and Water in a food processor and make into a smooth paste.
Dice the meat and mix with half the paste. Set aside.
Put the other half of the paste into a heavy sauce pan and add the coconut milk, chopped lemon grass and lime leaves. Boil without the lid for about 30 min. until mixture is reduced to half. Add the meat mixture and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring regulary, for a further hour till the steak is tender. Serve with boiled rice.
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Millie the dog prefers
Indonesian food to normal dog food!
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Recommended book:
World Food
Indonesia, by Patrick Witton,
Lonely Planet Publications.
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