Indonesian Cuisine

Indonesian cuisine is one of the most vibrant and colourful cuisines in the world, full of intense flavour. It is diverse, in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 18,000 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia their home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon indigenous culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia is home to a large number of mouth-watering foods; from affordable rice, noodle and soup dishes in warungs (local diners) to street-side snacks and top-dollar plates.

In 2011, Indonesian cuisine began to gain worldwide recognition, with three of its popular dishes make it to the list of 'World's 50 Most Delicious Foods (Readers' Pick)', a worldwide online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International. Rendang top the list as the number one, followed closely by nasi goreng in number two, and satay in number fourteen. You must try all the food....

Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences.Sumatran cuisine, for example, often has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables such as gulai and kari, while Javanese cuisine is mostly indigenous, with some hint of Chinese influence. The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine. Elements of Chinese cuisine can be seen in Indonesian cuisine: foods such as bakmi (noodles), bakso (meat or fish balls), and lumpia (spring rolls) have been completely assimilated.

Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Additionally, Indonesia’s indigenous techniques and ingredients were influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and finally Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonise 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.

Indonesian cuisine often demonstrates complex flavour,acquired from certain ingredients and bumbu spices mixture. Indonesian dishes have rich flavours; most often described as gurih (savory which equate to umami) and pedas (hot and spicy), and also combination of basic tastes such as manis (sweet), asin (salty), asam (sour) and pahit (bitter). Seven main Indonesian cooking methods are goreng (frying), bakar (roasting) or panggang (grilling), tumis (sautéing), sangrai (roasted), rebus (boiling) and kukus (steaming).

Some popular Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng,gado-gado,sate,and soto are ubiquitous in the country and considered as national dishes. The official national dish of Indonesia however, is tumpeng, chosen in 2014 by Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy as the dish that binds the diversity of Indonesia's various culinary traditions.

Today, some popular dishes that originated in Indonesia are now common to neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Singapore. Indonesian dishes such as satay, beef rendang, and sambal are favoured in Malaysia and Singapore. Soy-based dishes, such as variations of tofu (tahu) and tempe, are also very popular. Tempe is regarded as a Javanese invention, a local adaptation of soy-based food fermentation and production. Another fermented food is oncom, similar in some ways to tempe but using a variety of bases (not only soy), created by different fungi, and particularly popular in West Java.