The Taste of Indonesia

Soup

Tahu campur is a dish that originated in East Java. The soup is made with beef broth, fried tofu, green salad, bean sprouts, egg noodles, sambal petis (bird’s eye chili peppers and dried shrimp paste), spiced fried cassava, garlic crackers, and a paste made with spices like garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and black pepper. When served the soup is garnished with fried garlic, fried shallots, and garlic crackers. It is often sold by street cart vendors in East Java.

Mie kocok is an aromatic soup that is prepared with sliced beef, beef offal, or meatballs with flat yellow noodles and other ingredients like crackers, bean sprouts, sliced scallions, and fried shallots. All the ingredients are served in a clear beef broth with spicy sambai paste and soy sauce as condiments.

Coto Makassar comes from one of Indonesia's most famous culinary destinations, Makassar. This is a port city located in the south of Sulawesi Island. Coto Makassar is a thick soup that is prepared with beef and different innards like tripe, brain, lungs, or intestines. The meat is left to simmer in a spicy broth for hours. The soup is served in bowls with a dollop of traditional Indonesian chili sauce called sambai. It is accompanied by rice or rice cakes packed in woven palm or coconut leaves.

Konro is an unusual soup that also originated in the port city of Makassar in South Sulawesi. It is a rich beef soup made with spare ribs and cooked in a flavorful broth. It includes traditional Indonesian spices like kluwak and galangai. Usually, the ribs are served with broth but can be served separately as a two-course meal.

Meat dishes

Soto Medan is a dish that combines chicken or beef in a creamy broth enriched with coconut milk and spices like galangal, turmeric, ginger, and coriander. The meat is cooked, shredded, and fried before its added to the broth. Condiments like boiled eggs, fish cakes, prawn crackers, potato fritters, or fried shallot are added with rice served on the side. The dish originated in the city of Medan where it is the signature dish.

Ayam bakar is a traditional chicken dish that is also popular in Malaysia. The dish is made with charcoal-grilled chicken. The meat is first simmered in a pot with bumbu or rempah spices and the sauce has been reduced to a paste. The paste is then rubbed on the chicken pieces before grilling. When done the chicken is served with steamed white rice, sambai terasi, tomato, and cucumber slices, and kacap manis, an Indonesian sweet soy sauce.

Semur is a stew made with beef and kecap manis, garlic, onions, shallots, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, and pepper. The stew is usually enriched with potatoes and depending on the version made can include eggs, chicken, stinky beans, beef tongue, fish, coconut, tofu, or eggplants.

Satay kambing is a type of satay made with mutton. The meat is cut into chunks and marinated in kecap manis, ground shallots, pineapple juice, and chili peppers. After the pieces of meat are skewered and grilled. The meat is served with kecap manis, peanut sauce, or chili sauce.

Rendang ayam is prepared with chicken and ingredients like kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, turmeric, coconut milk, sugar, salt, oil, and a spice paste consisting of ground shallots, garlic, red chili peppers, galangai, ginger, and coriander.

Bakso Solo originated in Solo (Surakarta). It is prepared with beef meatballs in a beef broth. It is usually served with yellow or vermicelli noodles and garnishes like fried onions, greens, or fried wontons. A bowl of bakso solo is served with fresh chili sauce and lime wedges.

Soto Lamangan originated in Lamongan. The dish is made with chicken pieces simmered in broth and a spicy paste made with lemongrass, coriander, caraways seeds, galangal, garlic, turmeric, and ginger. When done the chicken is shredded and served with noodles, cabbage, scallions, boiled eggs, prawn crackers, and other garnishes.

Lawar is a Balinese dish made with chopped meat and vegetable and mixed with coconut, chili powder, shrimp paste, kaffir lime leaves, galangai, and turmeric. Traditional lawar is prepared with pork or turtle but chicken, duck, or beef can be used. Pig blood is added for color and flavor.

Opor Ayam is a chicken curry prepared with an aromatic combination of coconut milk and spices like lemongrass, tamarind, cinnamon, galangal, palm sugar, coriander, garlic, and shallots. The dish is usually prepared with bone-in chicken pieces like thighs or drumsticks. A whole chicken can be used and cut into pieces. The dish comes from Java.

Tongseng is a sweet and spicy meat stew usually made with goat and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shredded cabbage, tomatoes, and coconut milk. It is a Javanese specialty with exotic spices and herbs. Alternatives to goat meat are beef, mutton, or chicken.

Babi panggang refers to a wide variety of grilled or roasted pork dishes. Before grilling the meat is marinated in a mixture of traditional Indonesian spices like ginger, garlic, galangal, and Indonesian soy sauce ketjap manis.

Fish

Arsik is a dish originating from the Madailing and Batak Toba people native to North Sumatra. The dish is made with carp and stewed with different spices and herbs. Torch ginger and Szechuan pepper are the main spices.

Botok is a Javanese dish prepared with dried fish, vegetables, chili, and coconut flesh. It is traditionally steamed in banana leaves giving a slightly sweet flavor to the dish. The dish is served with steamed rice. There are many varieties of botok and the dish can include ingredients like tofu, mushrooms, eggs, or anchovies.

Pecel lele is a Javanese dish made with deep-fried catfish along with sambai paste and vegetables like cucumbers, string beans, lettuce, and cabbage. The dish is served with tofu, tempeh, and steamed rice.

Vegetables

Tumis kangkung is a dish from Java that is made with kangkung or water spinach, shallots, garlic, glangai, hot chili peppers, sugar, salt, oil, and roasted shrimp paste. The garlic, shallots, hot chili peppers, shrimp paste, and galangal are sautéed in oil, then seasoned with salt and sugar. Then chopped water spinach is added to the pan and stir-fried until the vegetables are tender.

Rice

Nasi timbei is a rice dish from West Java. It is prepared with rice wrapped in a banana leaf then steamed until tender. It is served with different dishes and sides.

Nasi kucing is a dish from Central Java, It is made with rice topped with tempeh, dried fish, and sambei, and at times cucumber, chicken, and eggs. All the ingredients are wrapped in banana leaves.

Tinutuan is a rice porridge from North Sulawesi. The porridge includes vegetables like spinach, pumpkin, cassava, and corn. Because of its liquid consistency rice porridge is served in a bowl along with salted fish and a spoonful of sambai on top. It is a dish commonly eaten at breakfast.

Nasi tim ayam is a rice dish prepared with chicken seasoned with soy sauce and garlic. The chicken is put at the bottom of a tin bowl with chicken stock. The meat is topped with rice and then teamed until done. A hard-boiled egg can be placed at the bottom with the chicken.

Nasi jagung is a rice dish made with sweet corn kernels and water. The rice and corn are boiled until cooked.

Sweets

Nagasari is an Indonesian cake made with flour, coconut milk batter, and banana slices. All this is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, The texture is soft and creamy. The batter usually consists of ripe bananas, rice flour, tapioca flour, coconut milk, vanilla, sugar, and salt. The cake is served warm and is a popular snack.

Mooncake is an ancient Chinese delicacy that is eaten during the mid-August Festival or Moon Festival. This is a pie-like pastry that is made with a shortcrust base known as yueh ping and is traditionally filled with black sesame seeds or lotus seed paste along with red beans, roasted pork, mung beans, and salted duck egg yolks. Today mooncakes are available in many varieties with both savory and sweet fillings some with fruit like honeydew, litchi, or pineapple. The cake is round to resemble the moon and is a symbol of return or full circle. In Chinese philosophy, it stands for fullfillment, oneness, perfection, and unity.

Kolak is a sweet that is made with coconut milk and sugar and flavored with pandan leaves. The most common versions include plantains, sweet potatoes, cassava, pumpkin, jackfruit, and tapioca. The refreshing dessert is served warm or chilled. It is a staple during the month of Ramadan.

Dadar gulung is a dessert prepared with a thin rice flour crepe filled with grated coconut. Pancake batter is infused with pandan leaves giving a vibrant green color to the pancakes. The crepe is filled with a combination of freshly grated coconut, cinnamon, and dark palm sugar.