Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 1,300 ethnic groups.
Otak-otak is a Southeast Asian fish cake made of ground fish mixed with spices and wrapped in leaf parcels. Otak-otak is traditionally served steamed or grilled, encased within the leaf parcel it is cooked in, and can be eaten solely as a snack or with steamed rice as part of a meal.
Tempoyak, asam durian or pekasam is a Malay condiment made from fermented durian. It is usually consumed by the ethnic Malays in Maritime Southeast Asia, notably in Indonesia and Malaysia. Tempoyak is made by crushing durian flesh and mixing it with some salt and kept in room temperature from three to seven days for fermentation. Tempoyaks are usually made during the durian season, when the abundance of durian and excess production are made into fermented tempoyak.
Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a nonya, and a male Peranakan is known as a baba. The cuisine combines Chinese, Malay, Javanese, South Indian, and other influences.
Oncom is one of the traditional staple foods of the Sundanese cuisine of Indonesia. There are two kinds of oncom: red oncom and black oncom. Oncom is closely related to tempeh; both are foods fermented using mold.
The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrapping, and food-serving in a wide range of cuisines in tropical and subtropical areas. They are used for decorative and symbolic purposes in numerous Hindu and Buddhist ceremonies. In traditional homebuilding in tropical areas, roofs and fences are made with dry banana-leaf thatch. Bananas and palm leaves were historically the primary writing surfaces in many nations of South and Southeast Asia.
En papillote, or al cartoccio in Italian, is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. This method is most often used to cook fish or vegetables, but lamb and poultry can also be cooked en papillote. It is a combination cooking method of baking and steaming. This method of cooking has been popular since the 17th century in France.
Swikee or Swike is a Chinese Indonesian frog leg dish. The dish can be served as soup, deep fried or stir fried frog legs. Originally a Chinese dish, this dish is popular in Indonesia.
Lontong is an Indonesian dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Rice is rolled inside a banana leaf and boiled, then cut into small cakes as a staple food replacement for steamed rice. The texture is similar to that of ketupat, with the difference being that the ketupat container is made from woven janur fronds, while lontong uses banana leaf instead.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.
Botok or ꦧꦺꦴꦛꦺꦴꦏ꧀ (Bothok) is a traditional Javanese dish made from grated coconut flesh which has been squeezed of its coconut milk, often mixed with other ingredients such as vegetables or fish, and wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. It is commonly found in the Javanese people area of Java Island (Yogyakarta Special Region, Central, and East Java. It has a soft texture like the mozzarella cheese and is usually colored white.
Steamed curry is a Southeast Asian type of curry steam-cooked in banana leaves and served with cooked rice. In Laos, it is also roasted on embers. The base of the curry is made with a curry paste with or without the addition of coconut cream or coconut milk and eggs. A wide range of leaves and staple ingredients are also added to the dish, such as:
Lemper is an Indonesian savoury snack made of glutinous rice filled with seasoned shredded chicken, fish abon or serundeng. The specific lemper filled with seasoned shredded chicken is called lemper ayam. The meat filling is rolled inside the rice, in a fashion similar to an egg roll; this is in turn rolled and wrapped inside a banana leaf, oil paper, plastic sheet, or tinfoil to make a packet ready for serving. If banana leaf is not available, corn husk can be used. Lemper are most often seen as snacks, but may sometimes be served as appetizers as well. Lemper usually has an elongated shape, similar to lontong.
Sundanese cuisine is the cuisine of the Sundanese people of Western Java, and Banten, Indonesia. It is one of the most popular foods in Indonesia. Sundanese food is characterised by its freshness; the famous lalab eaten with sambal and also karedok demonstrate the Sundanese fondness for fresh raw vegetables. Unlike the rich and spicy taste, infused with coconut milk and curry of Minangkabau cuisine, the Sundanese cuisine displays the simple and clear taste; ranged from savoury salty, fresh sourness, mild sweetness, to hot and spicy.
Nasi timbel is an Indonesian hot dish, consisting of steamed rice wrapped inside a banana leaf. It is a traditional Sundanese cuisine from West Java. The heat of the hot-cooked rice touches the banana leaf and produces a unique aroma. It is made in ways similar to making lontong; compressed, rolled, and wrapped in banana leaves; it then evolves into a complete dish served with various side dishes such as fried chicken, empal gepuk, jambal roti, tahu goreng, tempeh, salted duck egg, sayur asem, with lalab and sambal. Nasi timbel later evolved to nasi bakar.
Arem-arem is an Indonesian-Javanese compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, filled with diced vegetables, tempeh, or oncom, and eaten as a snack. It is sometimes also filled with minced meat or abon. Arem-arem is often described as a smaller size lontong with fillings, so it is sometimes also called lontong isi.
Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. Sambal is an Indonesian loanword of Javanese origin. It originated from the culinary traditions of Indonesia and is also an integral part of the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Sri Lanka. It has also spread through overseas Indonesian populations to the Netherlands and Suriname.
Palembangese cuisine is the cuisine of the Palembangese people of the city of Palembang in the South Sumatra province of Indonesia. It is the second most well-known cuisine from Sumatra after Padang.
Nasi tutug oncom or sometimes simply called tutug oncom, is an Indonesian style rice dish, made of rice mixed with oncom fermented beans, originally from Tasikmalaya, West Java. It is usually wrapped in banana leaves and served with various side dishes.
Brengkes is a Javanese word that refers to a specific dish, i.e. a fish slathered with spices and wrapped in a banana leaf.
