Indonesia is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines with a diverse range of delicious foods that reflect its history and geography from spicy sambals to sweet desserts.
Indonesia is also very vegetarian and vegan-friendly you can usually get any of the dishes which are mentioned below with tofu or tempeh, tempeh is an Indonesian soy product made from fermented soybeans.
It’s a nutty and nutritious meat substitute, Here are the Top 10 Indonesian Foods that you must try on your next visit to the country.
1. Nasi Goreng
Nasi Goreng is the most popular Indonesian dish and can be found in almost every street corner. We can also prepare it in our home in a very simple way.
This is a fried rice dish that is usually served with various toppings such as chicken, shrimp, or beef.
The main ingredients to prepare Nasi Goreng are cooked rice, oil, Kecap Manis, Soy sauce, Kosher salt, and Ground pepper.
It is considered one of the most important staples of Indonesian cuisine. While preparing Nasi Goreng we can add some additional toppings like sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, etc.
While preparing Nasi Goreng we can also make it as spicy as we want. Some of the ingredients to make Spice paste are small shallots which are roughly chopped, cloves of garlic, Fresh green chile or sambal Oelek, and Terasi (Indonesian Shrimp Paste).
2. Mie Goreng
Mie Goreng is similar to Nasi Goreng but it is another popular Indonesian dish. In Indonesia Mie Goreng is also known as “Bakmi Goreng”.
In the Indonesian language, Mie Goreng is called “fried noodles”. It has been claimed that this dish was introduced by Chinese immigrants in Indonesia.
Normally according to the Indonesian Etymology Mie Goreng is cooked with Yellow wheat noodles.
The main ingredients to prepare Mie Goreng are Yellow wheat noodles, scallions/ green onions, garlic, cabbage, egg, and stir-fry sauce.
While preparing Mie Goreng we can also use noodles like Instant ramen noodles, spaghetti noodles, rice ramen noodles, and so on.
It is a fried noodles dish that is typically served with vegetables, meat, and a variety of spices and they love to add shrimp chips as a small side to dishes like nasi goreng.
3. Satay
Satay is a popular street food in Indonesia and is a skewered meat dish that is usually grilled over a charcoal fire.
Satay is also sometimes known as sate, satai, and Satti in the Indonesian language.
Satay can be made by using different types of meat such as chicken, lamb, mutton, beef, and so on. We can keep the uncooked satay in a freezer.
The main ingredients to prepare Satay are skewered, grilled meats with various sauces as per your wish. While preparing Satay we can also bake it in the oven along with burning. Also, we can fry it in a pan.
The meat is usually marinated in a sweet and savory sauce you can also find it as a side dish including as part of your meals.
4. Sate Lilit ( Minced Meat Satay)
Sate Lilit is an Indonesian food that originated from Balinese Cuisine. It is also a variety of Satay.
The main ingredients to prepare Sate Lilit are Minced meat, lemongrass sticks, grilled over charcoal, and so on.
Sate Lilit is specially made from pork, fish, chicken, beef, turtle meat, and so on. The term lilit means “to wrap around” in the Indonesian language.
Sate late is prepared by grinding chicken with spices and coconut until it forms a sticky paste.
We can prepare Sate Liti in a very easy way at home but some ingredients are hard to find.
5. Gado Gado
Gado Gado is a traditional Indonesian salad that is made with a variety of vegetables such as Bean Sprouts, Tofu Tempeh, Cucumber, and Cabbage.
The main ingredients to prepare Gado Gado are Vegetable oil, Firm Tofu, Cooked Potatoes, Eggs, Chinese Cabbage (Chinese Cabbage), Bean Sprouts, Carrot, Prawn Crackers, Crispy, Coriander, and Green beans.
We can find Gado Gado almost in every part of Indonesia. The salad is typically served with peanut sauce making it a delicious and healthy dish.
We can have this food with different sauces as per our wish. We can prepare this food easily in our home but it may be challenging to find some ingredients sometimes around us.
6. Rendang
Rendang is a traditional Indonesian curry dish that is made with meat such as beef or chicken and a variety of spices.
Rendang is also especially delivered to elderly people in the Minangkabau community.
There are two types of Rendang and they are Dry rendang and Wet rendang.
The main ingredients to prepare Rendang are meat (beef, lamb, or goat), coconut milk, chili, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, and garlic shallot.
The dish is slow-cooked for hours making the meat tender and flavorful, this is a great comfort food.
7. Soto
Soto means soup in Indonesian, it’s made with chicken or beef and a variety of herbs and spices.
It is always served with a warm texture. Soto can also be found in Singapore and Malaysia.
It has been claimed Soto was introduced in Indonesia by Chinese immigrants. In Malaysia and Singapore Soto is also known as “soto aayam”.
It is usually served with vegetables and noodles, and it’s a comforting and satisfying dish that is perfect for a rainy day.
8. Bakso
Basko is a traditional Indonesian meatball dish that is made with beef or chicken. It is mainly made with beef surimi.
Bakso is served with Noodles, Tofu, Wonton, Rice vermicelli, and so on. We can find Bakso almost in every part of Indonesia.
The main ingredients to prepare Bakso are ground beef, tapioca, noodles, rice, vermicelli, beef broth, kailan, celery, salted vegetables, and fried shallots.
The meatballs are usually served in a savory Broth and noodles, it is a very popular street food in Indonesia.
9. Nasi Campur
Nasi Campur which is also sometimes known as Nasi Rames is an Indonesian dish that is made with steamed rice and other side dishes.
In the Indonesian language, Nasi Campur means “mixed rice”. The main ingredients of Nasi Campur are steamed rice, meat, vegetables, peanuts, eggs, and fried shrimp krupuk.
After cooking Nasi Campur it is mixed with coconut milk so we can taste the sweetness while having it.
For those who are vegetarian, they can have it with vegetables, stir-fried beansprouts, and tofu instead of meats.
In this way, we can have Nasi Campur. We can also easily prepare this food at home but some ingredients may be hard to find around us.
10. Ikan Bakar
Ikan Bakar is an Indonesian and Malaysian dish that is prepared with grilled fish, and other kinds of seafood along with chopped garlic.
The fish is marinated with a variety of spices including Chili tamarind and then grilled over hot coals.
The main ingredients to prepare Ikan Bakar are grilled fish, other types of seasoned seafood, chopped garlic, other spices, and additional toppings as per your wish.
In Indonesian and Malay language Ikan Bakar means “grilled fish”. The dishes are often served with rice sambal and a variety of vegetables.
It is a popular dish in coastal areas of Indonesia and can be found in many seafood restaurants and street food vendors.
11. Babi Guling
Babi Guling is usually only found in Bali, Babi Guling is a traditional dish from Bali made from a whole roasted pig.
The main ingredient to prepare Babi Guling is the meat of Pork. Babi Guling is famous in Indonesia because many ceremonies include it.
Babi Guling is especially spicy because of turmeric, coriander seeds, lemongrass, black pepper, garlic, and other additional toppings.
It is typically filled with a mixture of spices and served with rice vegetables and various sambal sauces.
Sweet shop or food stand, that will sell traditional Indonesian desserts, If you are not close to a traditional market just search for “Toko Kue” on Google Maps which is Indonesian for a cake shop.
Indonesia is a huge country and there are so many different kinds of foods that you can eat depending on where you are and what island you are on so it’s very hard to narrow down to just 10 dishes but these are 11 great dishes to try if you’ve never had Indonesian foods or don’t know what to order strongly trust that not all menu have pictures, especially in small warungs.
These are some of the famous Indonesian foods that we should try while visiting Indonesia.
Read About: Japanese Street foods
| Verified Article by: Mr. Sudeep Thapa |
