What food should you try in Indonesia? What is most commonly sold in local restaurants?

Search for accommodation in Indonesia

Indonesian cuisine

The staple food is rice (nasi), Indonesians eat it 3 times a day. The most common accompaniment to rice is chicken or fish in a variety of spicy sauces, or fried.

The cuisine is influenced to some extent by the local religion, so you will basically only encounter pork, which is forbidden by Islam, in Bali, with the natural tribes and in Christian or Chinese restaurants.

In Hindu Bali, for a change, you'll be hard pressed to find beef.

The other common side dish is noodles (mie).

You will also encounter various kinds of soups, to which the Indonesian will of course order rice.

Sambal, a chili pepper sauce, is always added to the meal, and you can also season it with "kecap manis", which is a thick sweet soy sauce.

Local dishes are generally very spicy. In most restaurants or warungs, you can also ask for a "bunkus", which is a takeaway. They will wrap your portion in food paper, liquid in little bags. You can then consume such food on a longer journey.

Typical Indonesian specialties

The dishes you will most often encounter on the menu:

• Nasi goreng - fried rice
• Ayam goreng - fried chicken
• Ikan goreng - fried fish
• Mie goreng - fried noodles
• Satay - fried (most often) chicken skewer with peanut sauce
• Soto ayam - a delicious soup with rice, noodles, vegetables and chicken
• Bakso - soup with minced meat dumplings
• Babi - pork
• Sapi - beef
• Gado-gado - vegetable salad with tofu, egg and peanut sauce
• Cap-cay - mixed fried vegetables
• Tempeh - fried tofu slices
• Tahu - fermented soy slices
• Pisang goreng - fried banana

Not to be forgotten is the wide variety of exotic fruits such as salak (snake fruit), jackfruit (breadfruit), mariqisa (passion fruit), klenkeng or rambutan (similar in taste to lychee), mangosteen, sirsak, carambola, pineapple, mango, avocado and the controversial durian.

The fresh juices offered in most restaurants or warungs are perfect.

Typical drinks

• Air minum - drinking water
• Teh - tea
• Teh jahe - ginger tea
• Es teh - iced tea (tea with ice)
• Kopi - coffee (Turkish)
• Es jeruk - squeezed citrus with water, sugar and ice
• Susu - milk
• Jus - juice

Alcohol is quite expensive here. Bintang beer is the leading beer among tourists, and different regions also offer specific spirits, wines or liqueurs (arak, anggur, tuak, moke, ...), if you would like to taste it, beware of the quality of alcohol. Some tourists have been poisoned by homemade brandies.

Local people believe in the power of nature. You may come across a shop called "Jamu" along the way. It sells natural medicines. If you can describe any of your ailments to the herbalist (who probably won't speak English), you can look forward to a medicine that the locals can't get enough of.

During Ramadan, be prepared that shops and eateries may be closed during the day. This is because Muslims fast during daylight hours and only eat when night falls.

How to eat like a local

Most Indonesians who don't eat at home go to warungs or mobile stalls to eat. They often do not eat at tables but sit on mats.

You often get your food in a deep plate; if you eat with cutlery, you get a spoon and fork. The spoon is held in the right hand, the fork in the left hand, and the fork is used to pass the food onto the spoon.

Many locals eat with their hands; if you choose to do so, always use only your right hand. The left is considered unclean and Indonesians often have it drooping along the body.

Scoop the food between your fingers and slide the bite into your mouth with your thumb. It is often considered polite to finish the whole portion. It is also not considered polite to snort, even if the spicy food brings tears to your eyes. Stumbling is allowed.

Local street food stalls (warungs) are found in huge numbers all over the country. These local restaurants are often found in even the smallest villages, and in cities there are dozens of them on a single street.

Usual prices in restaurants

Indonesians eat their main meal for breakfast, rice, noodles, soups or various porridges for example, the price in a warung (a typical Indonesian street restaurant or stall) is usually around 20 000 idr.

Prices in tourist areas such as Bali or downtown Yogyakarta can be more than double that, and a normal meal in a local restaurant can be bought for around 40 000 idr.

Lunch or dinner will come out to a similar amount , beer in a restaurant you can get from around 40 000 idr, fresh juices from around 10 000 idr.