I moved away from Indonesia when I was 18, but after 3 decades living in California where there is no shortage of Asian food, I still miss authentic Indonesian food.
It’s not just because I eat a lot, it’s because there’s something about the way food is made at home, in its country of origin. Like all cultural foods, there are smells, tastes, sights, and conversation that accompany Indonesian cuisine.
If you ask any Indonesian what they miss the most living away from home, I would bet they all agree with me.
As the largest archipelago country in the world with over 17,000 islands and 300+ ethnic groups, Indonesian cuisine reflects the diversity of this unique nation.
Indonesia boasts over 5,000 traditional recipes including some that were adapted from the people that have passed through when Indonesia was involved in trade due to its location and natural resources (Indian, Middle Eastern, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese) and during the colonial era (the Dutch).
Below, I’ll highlight some of the most popular questions I get about Indonesian food. If you happen to be traveling to Indonesia, this list should help you know what to expect.
1. What Are The Most Popular Foods In Indonesia?
In my opinion, the most popular food in Indonesia is a tie between nasi goreng and satay (check out my favorite nasi goreng recipe and satay recipe). Although in 2018 Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has named Soto, Rendang, and Gado Gado to accompany Nasi Goreng and Satay as Indonesia’s 5 national dishes.
One of my favorite Indonesian dishes is actually Nasi Goreng Komplit, which is typically served with a side of Chicken Satay, crispy, seasoned Indo Fried chicken, pickled cucumber with shallots, birds eye chili and a massive shrimp cracker.
When I go for a visit, I will have this almost every morning in the hotel’s breakfast buffet.
Yes. I love my rice breakfast, just like any good Indonesian.
2. Is Indonesian Food Spicy?
You’ve probably heard of sambal, which is Indonesian hot sauce. As much as I remember, most Indonesian food is spicy or served with sambal on the side – a testament to how much Indonesians love spice.
I remember ordering Gado Gado (Indo steamed/blanched vegetable dish served with a generous amount of spicy peanut sauce infused with lime, sprinkled with fried shallots) from our neighborhood street stall.
The lady that made it while we watched and I’d always tell her how many birds eye chili pepper I wanted.
For me the spicier the better. I would sweat like crazy from the heat of the food as I enjoyed my rich, spicy gado gado.
3. What Is The Food Like In Jakarta?
As the capital metropolitan city, Jakarta offers everything from traditional Indonesian food to other Asians and Western cuisines.
You can even find western chains such as McDonalds and KFC in Indonesia, but don’t be surprised if a bowl of rice is displayed on the menu. We like our fried chicken with rice, although mashed potato with gravy is an option too.
You can find street push-cart vendors (such as mie baso, which is a cheap spicy noodle soup with meatball that former President Obama grew up with as a young child in Jakarta).
There are curb-side food establishments in tent-like structures (my all-time favorite is sop kaki kambing – coconut based soup with goat meat and its innards).
There are massive food courts in all the malls spread out throughout Jakarta where you can find a lot of the local favorites such as nasi campur kenanga – rice with Chinese-Indo barbecue pork or roast pork and pork satay).
And of course, there are restaurants that boast anything from local Indo food, Asian food such as Korean barbecue, Vietnamese hot-pot, Japanese shabu shabu and Indian cuisine to Western cuisine and anything fusion.
From delicious street food to 5-star restaurants, you can pretty much find anything in Jakarta…except a nice carne asada or carnitas taco. Don’t look for Mexican food while in Indonesia.
4. What Is The Food Like In Bali?
Bali is not one of the 5 major islands in Indonesia but it’s definitely the most known and popular Indonesian island in the world. In 2017 Bali had over 5.7 million visitors.
It’s also unique the fact that Bali is the last remaining Hindu island in Indonesia, while the majority of the country is Muslim, thus Balinese consume a fair amount of pork.
To feed its local and international tourist, Bali offers a wide variety of traditional Balinese and trendy fusion cuisine. What is also fascinating about Bali is it’s an artistic center of Indonesia, and you will see it reflects on the presentation of the food.
There are three food joints my family never miss when visiting Bali:
- Babi Guling Ibu Oka in Ubud. This local food joint specializes in Balinese roast suckling pig. So if that’s what you’re looking for, come and visit this place and enjoy a plate of warm steam rice with seasoned succulent roast pig with pieces of crispy pork skin on top (unfortunately I could not just order the crispies because this is my favorite part) and urapan (steamed vegetable with seasoned and spiced grated coconut) on the side. Don’t forget to order a coconut drink to wash down the spices.
- Bebek Bengil. This place specializes in marinated crispy-to-the-bone fried duck. I can proudly inform you that Bebek bengil in Ubud was the place where I introduced my 2 girls to this delicacy. Imagine a 2-year-old chomping down on crispy fried duck and cleaning out all the meat off the bone. Priceless. Bebek Bengil in Ubud is backed to a vast rice paddy. It was such an unforgettable experience to take my daughters for a walk through the rice paddy before dinner was served.
- Grilled Fish “Jimbaran Style”. A short drive from Bali International airport is Jimbaran Bay, the home of several sea-side restaurants, specialize in grilled seafood, served Jimbaran style. Imagine eating fresh seafood where you get to choose your own fish or shrimp or muscles on the table set atop of the sand while relaxing looking over the Indian Ocean.
I remember the first time I took my 2 girls to Menega Café (one of the places suggested to us). The girls were frolicking in the warm Jimbaran water and cart-wheeling on the beach, while waiting for our food to be ready.
This is the first time my eldest at 7 ever ate muscles. She loved those grilled muscles, served with a thick sweet sauce. She ate close to 10 of them along with other delicacies.
5. Is It Safe To Eat Street Food In Indonesia?
I’ve taken my 2 girls to Indonesia a few times. Not once they have suffered from Bali Belly, a gastro intestinal condition that will give you abdominal bloating, cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. It’s usually caused by a change in diet or lifestyle or consuming food that is different (sanitation/hygiene) than what one is used to.
If you do have a weak stomach, definitely need to take some cautions on eating Indonesian street food.
There are plenty of options to get similar menu as street food in the traditional restaurants or in the food court that is inside the big indoor malls.
If you do have strong stomach, I say go for it. I love the street food scene in Indonesia. You can get anything from satay, martabak manis (honeycomb-texture pancake lather in butter with chocolate, cheese and crushed peanut toppings), pisang goreng (fried banana) to mie bakso (cheap noodle with meatballs in spicy broth).
Also, it is important to remember, tap water in Indonesia needs to be boiled prior to drinking, this means it safer to always drink from bottled water and use judgement when consuming fresh fruits and vegetables.
6. Can I Get Western Food In Indonesia?
Western food or fusion food is very popular in Indonesia among the young generations. You can also find a lot of western food chain such as Pizza Hut, McDonald, KFC, TGIF, although they do offer some Indonesian food in their menu as well.
One of my kids’ favorites, when we stay in hotels, is spaghetti Bolognese. For some reason, the taste really fits my kids western-Indo palette.
It’s funny when we visit my family, sometimes my dad would ask if we want to go to Pizza Hut since he loves Pizza. You know what my answer is 🙂
7. Is Indonesian Food Diverse (Depending On The Region)?
With over 300 ethnicities, Indonesian diversity also reflects in the cuisine. One of the subjects I always remember from my elementary day in social studies is that the different ethnics, cultures, languages are the result of the fact Indonesia is a large archipelago.
Historically all different islands spread out around the country creates isolation, thus the subtle differences in language and traditions.
And this diversity also reflects on the food prepared. In a way, every single ethnic has its own traditional food.
One of the most famous ethnic food is Padang food. It’s the traditional tapas style food eaten by the people of Padang, in West Sumatra. It has been so popular, and you can now find Padang food everywhere in Indonesia.
I love Padang-style food. When I go to Indonesia, I’ll eat this several times before I have to go back to the States.
One of my favorites are Rendang (beef that has been simmered for hours in different spices and coconut milk) and gulai kikil (tendon curry).
8. Is All Indonesian Food Halal
As the most populous Muslim country in the world, the majority of traditional Indonesian cuisine is halal. But you can definitely get non-halal Chinese food anywhere through the major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya.
The island of Bali is a Hindu island, thus pork dishes are quite popular such as Babi Guling (roast suckling pig), pork satay, and fried pork feet.
One of my family favorites in Jakarta is a humble curb-side food tent where they specialize in pork satay served with Indonesian kecap manis with pickle shallot and birds eye chili pepper and a bowl of tangy mustard green pork-ribs soup.
You can choose from pork meat, pork intestine, pork skin and pork liver, grilled to perfection that will make your mouth watering if you like pork.
9. Is Food Expensive In Indonesia?
You can feed yourself under 2 dollars a day or you can spend 200 dollars for a meal for 2.
Most of the traditional food is actually quite inexpensive for the Western wallet. For example, you can get a satisfying nice satay dinner from the street-side push cart vendor for under $2 dollars or you can go to the pricier satay house (restaurants that specialize in satay) for a few-times that amount.
10. What Do Indonesians Eat For Breakfast?
Rice, rice, and rice…
Nasi goreng is a very popular meal for breakfast. It’s served in just about every hotel.
In my family home, we eat a lot of left-overs from last night dinner, from chicken satay, mutton soup to padang food, all accompanied with a bowl of hot steamed rice.
I know it sounds weird, but if you eat cold pizza or cold steak for breakfast, we can definitely eat our brain or tendon curry with rice for breakfast (yes, brain and tendons).
11. Is Indonesian Food Similar To Filipino Food?
Indonesian food definitely has some similarity to Filipino food, although much spicier. I have never met Filipino than can rival my spicy tolerance.
Our avocado smoothie is similar in preparation. We both love our sweet barbecue meat and bibingka is similar to our bika ambon, although I think our bika ambon is much better (I know I’m biased since I am an Indonesian).
12. What Spices Are Used In Indonesian Cuisine
Indonesia has been known throughout several centuries as the spice islands. This is one of the reasons the Dutch colonialized Indonesia for over 350 years and one of the reasons the Arabs, Indians and some European traders went to Indonesia.
Some of the essential spices are:
- Tumeric
- Nutmeg
- Coriander
- Lemongrass
- Kaffir Lime leaves
- Ginger
- Galangal
- Daun Salam (this is not available in America)
- Candlenut
- White pepper
Often spices are being ground into a paste (bumbu) using mortal and pestle for cooking. Coconut milk is also a big part of Indonesian cuisine, to tie out all the complex flavor of the ingredients.
You’d be surprised how easy you can find most of the spices in any Asian grocery stores and of course on Amazon.
13. Can I Get Indonesian Food In America or Europe?
Indonesians don’t solely live in Indonesia. They live and travel all over the world. Amsterdam, Los Angeles, San Franciso and New York, you can find numerous Indonesian restaurants.
Where I live (San Diego), we don’t have any local Indonesian restaurants, but if you have some Indonesian connections, they might be able to refer you to people that make home-cooked Indo food – in this case, you can order when you really crave it.
Another option is to find a recipe from my blog and make it at home. Some recipes are simple to make. It’ll take you less than 20 minutes to prepare delicious Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice).
14. Do Indonesians Like Desserts or Sweet Food?
Indonesian love their sweet snacks. We don’t think of it as dessert, because we don’t eat them after a meal. Instead, we eat them any time of the day, usually as a snack.
You can visit traditional snack stalls at the mall or around the city and get your dose of klepon, bika ambon, lapis legit, putu mayan, among others.
There are so many to choose from and most of the traditional Indonesian sweet snacks are dairy free and gluten free.
Also to quench thirst, Indonesian consume a lot of sweet cold drinks such as es teler, es oyen, avocado smoothie and durian smoothie.
I’m get hungry just thinking about all these delicious sweet snacks and drinks. One of my favorites is es oyen that I can get from one of the little stalls inside a food court in the mall in Kelapa Gading.
Es oyen is a concoction of pacar cina (bright pink tapioca pearl), young coconut and pieces of avocado serve with shaved ice on top and a generous drizzle of condensed milk and coconut milk). It is just heavenly after a long day of walking around shopping.
15. Can I Take Cooking Classes In Indonesia
The best place to take cooking class is when you vacation in Bali. Some, like the one offered at the FourSeasons Jimbaran, will take you to the local market, which itself is quite an experience.
Conclusion
In America, Indonesian cuisine might not be as popular as Thai or Vietnamese food. This is due to the fact that few of us call America home compared to those two ethnicities.
Once you have tasted, you will start getting an idea of why food is what Indonesian living abroad miss the most.
With so many different types of food, you will never run out of options what to eat. The options are many and include:
- Nasi Goreng komplit (Indo spicy fried rice with chicken satay and fried chicken) for breakfast.
- Risoles (thick creamy chicken ragout wrapped in a crepe-like skin, breaded and deep fried) for midday snack.
- Nasi Padang (a bowl of rice with a variety of tapas style dishes from beef rendang, dendeng balado to spicy eggs and brain/tendon curry) for lunch.
- Mutton satay and mutton gulay for dinner.
- End the night with martabak manis (Indo honeycomb thick pancake lather in butter with crushed peanut, grated cheddar and chocolate sprinkle) for sweet late-night snack, that will set you back for less than $10.00
I hope this article will give you a little insight to what you have been missing out and hopefully you will try to make some at home or take a trip to my home country to experience all the food Indonesia has to offer.