Living in Indonesian for around 8.5 years has definitely made us fond of the Indonesian Cuisine. When we came to Indonesia for the first time, we were always looking for the taste, to which our taste buds were familiar with.
But with the passage of time, we started trying out Indonesian food, mostly due to the fact that whenever we went to places like hilly areas and likes, the options were limited. Although, Jakarta has wide variety of cuisines to offer, but you can’t ignore the fact that Indonesians can’t do without the Nasi (sticky rice), you even get them at the fast food chains.
Now, we are at a point, where we sometimes, prefer to eat Nasi and Ayam (sticky rice and chicken)/noodle soups over many other things.
Some of the Indonesian Delicacies:
AYAM BETUTU
Ayam Betutu is a Balinese dish of steamed chicken seasoned with a spicy Betutu sauce made with onions and red chilies. There are many versions available, depending on where you eat it. This one here is a milder version. But I definitely like mine more spicy, like this version below:
SATE AYAM
If you know a little bit about Indonesian food, I doubt, if you haven’t heard of Sate. A very popular dish all over Indonesia. You could get so many varieties of it, be it chicken, lamb, mutton, beef or even fish. It’s a skewered and grilled meat served over peanut sauce.
SOTO AYAM
Soto Ayam is a yellow spicy chicken soup, with rice or vermicelli noodles. It is commonly found all over Indonesia, with turmeric added to get the yellow chicken broth.
ACAR KUNING
Acar is basically pickled vegetables, but this one here is Acar Kuning made in coconut milk and spices; with fried Tofu, egg plant and tomatoes added to it.
ES CAMPUR OR CENDOL
Es Campur and Cendol are not the same, but the concept is definitely similar. Es Campur is a shaved ice dessert, containing green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, and palm sugar syrup, with sometimes avocado and/or other fruits added to it, whereas Cendol is all this without the shaved ice.
DURIAN PANCAKE
Durian is that large spiky fruit, which is infamous for its unique odor. Although, it’s eaten widely all over Indonesia, due to its sweet flavor. In Indonesia, they call it the king of fruits, people either love it or hate it. In the picture, is the Durian pancake; when my husband made me try this, I just loved it and couldn’t stop myself from eating it, though I have yet to try Durian on its own.
MANGOSTEEN OR MANGGIS
Who would’ve thought that inside of the beautiful purple tropical Mangosteen, would consist of white flesh. It’s juicy, it’s sweet and tiny bit sour. One of my favorite fruits.
CORN ON THE COB
Yes, this is eaten all over the world, but this is how Indonesians eat it, grilled to perfection. I love the sweet corn and the softness just adds to the yumminess.
Indonesian Cuisine is so varied, due to the diversity of food every province has to offer, that it can’t be covered in one post. Yet, I believe, these are some of our favorites.
Happy eating and exploring! 🙂
Fusion Tales 