Authentic Indonesian Dishes

Indonesia is a big country that consists of many islands and many provinces.  There are five big islands and more than thirty provinces. Due to its large size, Indonesia becomes a country with a lot of cultures and various traditional foods.

Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade in Asia due to its location and natural resources. Additionally, Indonesia’s indigenous cuisines and ingredients are influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of the archipelago. The Indonesian islands The Moluccas (Maluku), which are famed as "the Spice Islands", also contributed to the introduction of native spices, such as cloves and nutmeg, to Indonesian and global cuisine. Nature and history have conspired to give Indonesia a culinary tradition as varied and seasoned as its thousands of islands and hundreds of ethnic groups. Indonesia has rich and diverse culinary traditions, and might be considered as one of the richest, the best, and the unique in the world; such as rendang that recently voted as the number one dish of CNN International 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list. Indonesia’s traditional dishes are unique due to their seasonings and tastes.

First, although Indonesian traditional foods come from different areas, most Indonesian traditional foods use seasonings when it is cooked. However, each food uses different seasonings. In Indonesia, the seasonings are spices, herbs, coconut milk, and sauces, etc. The main seasonings that make Indonesian traditional foods different from other foods are spices and herbs. Spices and herbs give a special taste to the foods and make it really delicious. The spices that are usually used are ginger, turmeric, tamarind, galangal, coriander seeds, chili, fingerroot, candle nuts, nutmeg, clove, etc. The herbs are kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, Indonesian bay leaves, lime leaves, green onion, basil, pandan leaves, shallots, and garlic, etc.  Those spices and herbs have their own uniqueness and benefit. Indonesia teaches the world the use of exotic spices and herbs. Indonesian food is known for its deliberate combination of contrasting flavors (spicy, sour, sweet, hot) and textures (wet, coarse, spongy, hard). Indonesians have developed original gastronomic themes with lemongrass and galingale, cardamom and chilies, tamarind and turmeric. In complex Javanese dishes, vinegar and tamarind are added to palm sugar to produce a sweet-sour spiciness.

For the spices, ginger can eliminate the fishy smell of meat or fish and has a distinctive aroma and slightly spicy taste which can arouse appetite. Another example is tamarind, as its name suggests, this spice gives sour flavor to the food and often used for “Sayur Asam”. Candlenut is a seed with globular shape, solid, and brownish-white color. It fleshy interior is used to add a nutty flavor and creamy texture to dishes. Galangal may be used fresh or dried, which makes a great difference in flavor. Fresh galangal has a pure and refreshing odor and a mildly spicy flavor. Fingerroot is a fibrous, spicy root related to ginger and used to flavor Indonesian dishes, usually used for soups. Turmeric is a spice that gives curry powder a brilliant yellow color.  Another spice is Chili, these spices give the spicy flavor to the food, Indonesian people are much like chili when it is mashed into a paste or called “Sambal”, there are many types of sambal, such as Sambal Badjak which is Chili sauce made with shallots, sugar, tamarind, galingale and shrimp paste. Sambal Jeruk which is Chili sauce made with lime juice, lime peel, salt and vinegar. Sambal Terasi which is Chili sauce made with lime and roasted shrimp paste. Sambal Pecel is similar to the common sambal as usual but the spice is lessened with the addition of peanuts and tomato.

For the herbs, kaffir lime leaves are used for fragrances, the aroma of a fresh crushed kaffir lime leaves are very special and immediately energize the body and give a feeling of well-being. Indonesian basil leaves or leaf of lemon basil is a small leaf with the special flavor, usually used for salad, pipes (steamed spicy fish in banana leaves), and laksa (rice noodles with coconut milk soup). According to Chef Rail Imam Wibowo, “ ‘Leaf of lemon basil’ become Indonesian special herb which is not found in another countries cuisine”. Lemongrass has a refreshing strong aroma, which also has a good taste and often used in various Asian cuisine, especially Indonesia cuisine. For cooking, just crushed the lemongrass, but if we want to produce strong spices, chopped it softly. Indonesian bay leaves or Salam leaves may be used fresh or dried; they are common in the cuisines of Sumatra, Java, and even more Bali. They are applied to meat and to a lesser extent vegetables; in order to release their flavor; they must be fried or cooked for a while.  There is also Pandan leaves are used in sweet dishes for its delicate fragrance and green coloring and usually used to flavor rice, curries, milk puddings, and ice cream. However, in general, spices and herbs which usually used are almost having the same function in foods that give flavors and fragrances to the food.

Besides spices and herbs, coconut milk is most common in Indonesian cuisine; a fluid from the grated meat of a coconut. Coconut milk is a seasoning which is important to make food like curry and some of the Indonesian traditional cakes. In Indonesia, coconut milk is really needed for make rendang, opor (chicken soaked in coconut milk), semur (stew) and much more, because it is the main seasoning of those foods. Coconut milk gives concentrated flavor and makes the food more tasty and delicious. Another seasoning is sauces, such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, tomato sauce, chili sauce, peanut sauce, etc. In addition, all of the seasonings give a better taste to the food and make the food has a unique texture.

Secondly, Indonesian traditional foods are unique with its tastes. The seasoning gives effect to the taste of the foods, whether the taste is spicy, sour, sweet, fresh, etc. Can you imagine if there is a food without flavor? You surely will not be interested in eating because it is tasteless. So, taste is something important for foods because everybody loves delicious foods. As Indonesian people, we must proud for its traditional foods. Why? Because there are many kinds of Indonesian traditional foods which come from different provinces with unique flavor and tastes. Indonesian food that is common in the world is “Rendang” and “Nasi Goreng”. Both of them are becoming not only nationwide foods but also world foods. Based on the observers of CNN news station which posted in www.cnngo.com, “Rendang” become the most delicious food followed by “Nasi Goreng” as the second delicious food in the world. Those foods are worth to be proud of because of its delicious taste which comes from simple recipes.

In general, Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. For example, Sumatran cuisine often has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables, while Javanese cuisine and Sundanese cuisine are more indigenous. The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine. Elements of Chinese cuisine can be seen in Indonesian cuisine: items such as bakmi (noodles), bakso (meat or fish balls), and lumpia (spring rolls) have been completely assimilated. Some popular Indonesian dishes such as  nasi goring (fried rice),  gado-gado (steamed vegetables with peanut dressing, sate (satay), and soto (aromatic soup) are present in the country and considered as Indonesian national dishes.

Sumatran Cuisine. Indonesian foods spread from north to the west, we can start from Aceh, this province has “Mie Aceh”; a rich and spicy noodle dish with slices of meat or other sea foods, “gulai itik (duck curry)”, and “thimpan”; a banana’s cake which wrapped with banana’s leaves. In Padang, West Sumatra, you can find “rendang”; a beef which is slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, allowing the meat to absorb the spicy condiments.  Another one is “Sate Padang”, this satay is different from another kind of satay because it is made from “cow tongue” or “cow innards” and dressed with yellow or red sauce. Palembang, South Sumatra offers “Empek-empek (fish cake in vinegar sauce)”; a deep fried fish and sago dumpling, “Pindang Patin (a milky fish dish)”, and “Mie Celor noodle dish served in coconut milk mixed bean sprouts and hard-boiled eggs)” which means brewed noodles,this food is made from yellow noodles and combined with soup from coconut milk which is mix with juice of prawn and seem like glutinous. Sumatran foods tend to be spicier than other foods.

Javanese Cuisine. Everybody is already familiar with this island because most of the Indonesian people lived in Java Island.  In this island, you will find food with less spicy and sweeter. From Yogyakarta, you can find “Gudeg”; a raw jackfruit that cooked in a Javanese traditional way and “Krecek”; a food made from cowhide crackers which is cooked with “tempe (tofu)” and some spices, and “bakpia ”, a small round-shaped Indonesian pastry. In Semarang, you will find “Lumpia (traditional spring rolls)”; Semarang style spring roll, made mainly from cooked bamboo shoots and chicken/prawn. Different with Yogyakarta and Central Java, East Java provides foods which are not really sweet, one of its special traditional food is “Rawon”; a kind of Javanese black beef soup, the main spice of this food is called “keluak (black nut)”, this spice gives the soup an exotic, deep black color. This food is served with “tauge”, “bihun”, and “telur asin”. Mmm, yummy! In West Java, you will find “Batagor (fried fish dumpling)”, “Mie Kocok (mixed noodles)”, “Pepes (steamed fish in banana leaves)”, and many seafood dishes. The next region is the capital city of Indonesia, DKI Jakarta, nowadays, this province is being metropolitan city, but don’t worry because it still has traditional food namely “kerak telor (egg and glutinous rice cake)” which is made from white glutinous rice, chicken eggs or duck eggs, ebi (dried shrimp), dry roasted grated coconut, and spices. This food is cooked with charcoal; it makes a unique aroma with savory taste. Unfortunately, nowadays, this food is difficult to found and just exist in Jakarta’s occasion like “Jakarta fair”. Other foods are Jakarta or Betawi’s traditional cakes like cucur (rice flour and palm-sugar cake), uli (glutinou rice), kembang goyang (crunchy flower-shaped cookies), etc.

Balinese Cuisine. Bali’s traditional foods are “Bebek Betutu”; a roasted duck in banana leaves with spices, “Sate Lilit”; a satay made from snapper fillet with spices and coconut milk then wrapped in a piece of bamboo and then burnt on a charcoal, and “Babi Guling”; this food is just exist in some Indonesia’s region, because most of Indonesian’s people are Muslim. Nusa Tenggara Barat has a lot of traditional foods, one of them is “Sate Bulayak”, “Bulayak” is a kind of glutinous rice which wrapped with “aren leaves” and eaten with satay . Then, West Kalimantan offers “Tempoyak”; a ripe durian which is salted and processed. In addition, there is “Soto Banjar” from South Kalimantan; one of this food characteristic is the use “ayam kampong (village chicken)” as main ingredient and without flavoring MSG. In Sulawesi, there are “Bubur Manado”, mixed vegetable porridge from Manado, “Coto Makassar” and “Sop Konro” from Makassar, “Sup Ikan Jantung Pisang” from Palu, etc. The last are Papua and Maluku, these regions have traditional foods like “Papeda” is made from “sagu (flour)” and served with grilled tude fish and yellow soup which made from tongkol (skipjack tuna) or mubara fish that adding with seasonings like turmeric and limes. Papeda is substitute rice as their main dish. In addition, Indonesian’s traditional foods become tastier when the recipes are passed on from generation to the generation.

In conclusion, seasonings and tastes are the two factors that determine the uniqueness of  Indonesian traditional foods. Actually, two of them are having a relation related, that is tastes are formed by the seasonings that used. When someone used different seasonings then the foods will be different too. For example, when someone used chili, coriander, onion, green onion, clove, soy sauce and rice, then he is going to make “nasi goreng”, but when he is going to make rendang, he will need bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, shallots, turmeric, ginger, galingal, coconut milk, and beef. So, the reasons why there are many unique foods in Indonesia is that because every cooked food is added with different seasonings which produce a variation of tastes.   There is no reason for Indonesian not to prefer our native foods as our dishes because it is already  suitable for Indonesian tastes.  However, in the future there is a great possibility that Indonesian foods are well-known to foreigners due to its variety, flavors and tastes.

By Ishmah