INDONESIAN CUISINE: INGREDIENTS, DISHES, SAUCES, SPICES, DESSERTS

INDONESIAN CUISINE

Food at a Sundanese restaurant in Jakarta: ikan bakar (grilled fish), nasi timbel (rice wrapped in banana leaf), ayam goreng (fried chicken), sambal, fried tempeh and tofu, and sayur asem; the bowl of water with lime is kobokan (a small bowl of water used for washing your hands or fingers)

Indonesian cuisine is shaped by a wide mix of regional and cultural influences, including indigenous traditions as well as Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Western elements. Despite Indonesia’s environmental and cultural diversity, rice and noodles remains a unifying dietary staples, even in regions where other starches such as corn, cassava, taro, or sago are more common. [Source: Clark E. Cunningham, Countries and Their Cultures, Gale Group Inc., 2001]

Nothing edible from the land or the sea escapes the cooking pot, and each region puts its own spin on traditional cooking processes. Cooks offer a variety of contrasts, with individual dishes falling into the spicy or mild, hot or cold, crunchy or soft, and sweet or sour categories. The staple food of most Indonesians is rice. In some eastern Indonesian islands, the traditional staple food ranged from corn and sago to cassava and sweet potatoes, though this is changing as rice becomes more popular. [Source: Bali Tourism Board]

Indonesian cuisine has many spices. Indonesia after all is the home of the Spice Islands which supplied the world for centuries with nutmeg and cloves as well as cinnamon, pepper, candlenuts, coriander seeds and star anise. Spiciness is often provided by “sambal”, an incendiary relish made with red chilies, onions, garlic, shrimp paste, candlenuts, tamarind, galanga; and oil. In Indonesia there are many cuisines and a lot of traditions: food taboos, ritualistic food, food for health, and ceremonies.

Describing some of the foods found in an Indonesia market, Max Falkowitz wrote in the New York Times, Jengkol beans, as fat as silver dollars, bobbing in chile sauce. Jackfruit braised in sticky-sweet soy sauce until it falls apart like pulled pork. Tender slices of beef lung nestled among famously fragrant stink beans. “Bakso is a classic Indonesian dish of meatballs in soup, often with noodles and a dizzying array of toppings such as fried fish cakes, spicy sambol and crisp won ton skins. [Source: Max Falkowitz, New York Times, February 24, 2020]

Each ethnic group tends to eat foods associated with their group. Similar to Malaysia food, Indonesian food is not as diverse as Vietnamese food or spicy as Thai food, but it is still pretty good and it can be spicy.The Chinese like noodle and rice dishes and their influenced has affected Indonesia as a whole. Most Indonesian meals are comprised of rice or noodles served with meat and vegetables. Flavors of Vietnamese and Thai food can also be found in the cuisine of Indonesia. Spices, notably chili, and coconut milk are fundamental ingredients in most of the dishes, especially fish and chicken ones.

Ingredients in Indonesian Food

Essential ingredients in Indonesian dishes include lime juice, ground peanuts, sweet soy sauce, condensed milk, cumin, vinegar, garlic, lemon grass, coriander, coconut, sambal (chili sauce), “acar” (pickles), sugar, grated coconuts, tamarind, ginger, shallots, onion, dill, pepper, shrimp paste, fried peanuts, ginger root. pandan leaves, and palm sugar (which looks like a petrified brown eggs in it original form and is shaved).

Fish features prominently in the diet, whether fresh, salted, dried, smoked or in the form of a paste. In coastal areas, seafood is abundant and varied, including lobster, oysters, prawns, shrimp, squid and crab. Coconuts are found everywhere, and besides being processed for cooking oil, their milk and flesh are used in many dishes, especially curries. Coconut milk is a key ingredient in Indonesian cooking, frequently added at the final stage to enrich dishes and thicken sauces. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World, Gale Group, Inc., 2002; Bali Tourism Board]

Many of the ingredients that flavour Indonesian cuisine originated from around the globe. The hot chilli pepper was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish from Mexico, along with green beans, tomatoes, maize and potatoes. The Portuguese introduced peanuts, sweet potatoes, papayas, and pineapples from their African and Brazilian colonies. The Dutch brought cabbage, carrots and cauliflower. Centuries earlier, the Chinese had introduced soy products, stir-frying, noodles and domestic pigs. The earliest known influences arrived from India, introducing onions, garlic, aubergines, and spices such as coriander, cumin, and ginger. Most notably, India also introduced the fine culinary art of making curries, which the Indonesians adopted and recreated with ingenuity and enthusiasm. It seems that Indonesians used turmeric, coconut, cassava, palm sugar, salt, tamarind and fish paste before other foods were introduced. [Source: Jill Forshee, “Culture and Customs of Indonesia”, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Fish was probably the most common source of protein in early Indonesian diets, alongside wild pigs, dogs and chickens. In most of the eastern islands, cassava (ubi kayu in Indonesian) used to be the main source of carbohydrates, and people still mix pieces of this root into their rice. Many believe this improves the quality of the rice, but more often than not, mixing cassava or maize enables people to make their rice supply last until the next harvest or until they can afford to buy more.

Spices in Indonesian Food

Indonesian meals are typically simple, with a wide range of roots, herbs, spices, grasses, and leaves used to enhance flavor. Although the frequent use of chili peppers may give the impression that all Indonesian food is intensely hot, this is not the case. Many commonly used spices—such as coriander, cumin, and ginger—are relatively mild and contribute more subtle flavors. Indonesian cuisine often emphasizes contrast, combining elements like sweet and spicy or mild and hot. Common examples are the flavorful, seasoned sauces served over plain white rice. [Source: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World, Gale Group, Inc., 2002]

homemade sambal belacan (spicy relish prepared from chilli peppers and shrimp paste)

Indonesia's wet and volcanic Maluku archipelago (the Moluccas) are often referred to as the 'Spice Islands'. Historically they produced mace, nutmeg, cloves and galangal for export and domestic use. Teri, small salted fish, shrimp paste, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, are also popular seasonings. [Source: angloinfo.com]

Imported spices have played a significant role in shaping Indonesia’s culinary culture. Lemongrass, black pepper, turmeric, shallots, cinnamon, candlenuts and coriander were most likely introduced to the country from India, while ginger, spring onions and garlic came from China. , along with other imports such as soy sauce and chilli (from the Americas),

The finest Indonesian cuisine requires subtle combinations of flavours and complementary dishes. Seasonings may include lemongrass, ginger, shrimp paste, chillies, puréed peanuts, coconut milk, lime leaves, lemon juice, garlic, shallots, tamarind, galangal, cloves, nutmeg, coriander and salt, as well as a variety of ready-made sauces. In recent decades, monosodium glutamate (MSG), has become popular across Indonesia. This ingredient now goes into many foods, especially those stir-fried. Many simply call it rasa (“ﬂavor”). [Source: Jill Forshee, “Culture and Customs of Indonesia”, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Sauces in Indonesian Food

“Sambal” is a popular sauce made from shrimp paste and chilies. It can be very spicy and there are an endless variety. Many people make their own by pounding chilies with oils, shallots, garlic, sugar, salt, shrimp paste, and other seasonings using a mortar and pestle. Some people like to fry pounded pastes to enhance their flavours. Sambals can be sweet, salty, sour, seasoned with garlic, or extremely hot with chillies. Somewhat ssimilar to Mexican salsas, they can be either smooth or chunky, containing ingredients such as shallots, chillies, tomatoes and orange peel. Don't eat it plain. Mix it with rice or use it as an ingredient. [Source: Jill Forshee, “Culture and Customs of Indonesia”, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Satay and gado gado are among the most popular Indonesian dishes and the one thing that makes them really good are their peanut sauce. Karishma Vaswani of the BBC wrote: “There's something particularly special about Indonesian peanut sauce. You can find variations in Malaysia and Singapore — but nothing really comes close to the creamy almost peanut-butter like texture of the sauce in Indonesian satay stalls. The sauce isn't just used for satay, it's a main characteristic of Indonesian cuisine. You can also find it used as a dressing for Indonesian salad — or "gado-gado"; literally translated that means "to mix together". It's thought that peanuts were originally introduced to Indonesia by Portuguese and Spanish merchants in the 16th century. That's just one example of how Indonesian food has managed to blend cultures and tastes into a unique cuisine. [Source: foodandtravel.com; Karishma Vaswani, BBC News, June 17, 2011]

kecap manis in teh southern Philippines

Many dishes feature bumbu, a basic spice paste that accompanies rice and is used to flavor meats such as chicken, goat, or beef. According to the Washington Post: Bumbus and sambals are as indispensable to the Indonesian pantry as ketchup and mustard are to the America fridge and are traditionally found in soups, stir-fries, grilled poultry, fish or a curry, the owners behind Three Anoa — Indonesian-born friends Anthonios Munaba and Agus Wong — insist it’s OK to use their traditional condiments any way you see fit, even as a chip dip. “How you apply [them] is up to your creativity,” Wong says. “We don’t want to limit it to the way Indonesians eat [them].” [Source: Washington Post, June 5, 2014]

The two men produce a line of bumbus and sambals (hot sauces).Their Bumbu Bali has strong red chili and shallot flavors, and their Bumbu Rujak, a sweeter variety with palm sugar, works perfectly as a glaze for barbecued meats. Their Lado Sumatra is full of green tomatoes and chilies and the Mango Sambal combines the sweetness of candlenut (akin to a chestnut) and green mango with fiery red chilies. “The heat levels are potent but not overpowering. “Indonesians will say this isn’t too spicy,” Wong says. The recipe for Bumbu Bali, in fact, mutes the chilies with a large helping of red bell pepper.

Many Indonesian dishes contain “kecap manis” (a teriaki-like sauce made with molasses, soy sauce and spices. The word “ketchup” in English comes from the similarly pronounced Indonesian word kecap (“sauce”). Two favorite Indonesian dipping sauces a saus kacnag (a thick peanut sauce seasoned with garlic, shrimp paste, ginger, kepac manis, brown sugar and Thai chilies) and “sambal kepac” (a sweet soy sauce with lime juice and Thai chilies). “Sambal goreng” and “nasi kuning” are made with these spices.

Indonesia Dishes

Indonesia Dishes include “satay” (skewered and marinated beef, chicken or mutton cooked over an open fire, and served with a delicious peanut sauce), “nasi goreng” (fried rice with vegetables and spices), “gado gado” (vegetables and rice with the delicious peanut butter sauce), “nasi putih” (white rice), “nasi campur” (rice with vegetables and bits of meat), “mie goreng” (fried noodles), “mie kuah” (noodle soup), “nasi udok” (rice and coconut milk), jaffles (similar to crepes), perfumed salak salad and several other rice dishes and soups.

Worth trying are “longtong” (rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed), “soto ayam” (chicken soup with ginger, bean sprouts, onions and celery, often poured over rice), “opor ajam” (chicken and coconut milk), “cao cai” (a mixture of friend vegetables), “udnag bando” (stir-fried shriimp, tomatoes and green peppers with a spicy red sauce made from chilies and kaffir lime leaf); redang sapi” (Sumatran beef stew, flavored with coconut milk, cinnamon, star anise and cardamom); gulai ayam” (mild chicken curry with spices and coconut. milk); and mire goreng” stir fried with chicken, shrimp and vegetables.

In coastal areas you can get dishes made with fresh fish such as Indonesian whitefish barracuda, prawns and other kinds of seafood. Chinese food and curry dishes are also widely available. Chinese restaurants serve mainly fired rice, fried noodles, noodles soups and Cantonese and southern-Chinese-style dishes. Rijsttafel” is a Dutch smorgasbord adaption of Indonesian cuisine with a buffet with a sampling of up to 20 or 50 different Indonesian dishes such as stir-fry chicken, shrimp and green noodles in spicy coconut milk.

Favorite Indonesia Dishes

Indonesia is best-known for satay and gado-gado (ketoprak). Satay, sometime spelled sate, is Indonesia’s kebab consisting thick slices of chicken, beef or mutton skewered on bamboo sticks and deliciously barbequed on a grill and then covered with with hot peanut sauce or soya sauce or with hot green peppers and shallots.

Gado-gado is an Indonesian salad consisting of boiled spinach, watercress, bean sprouts, boiled potatoes and boiled egg, topped with ground peanut sauce. It is sometimes eaten with lontong, which is rolled rice boiled in leaves. One variety of Ketoprak consists of bean sprouts, tofu and rice noodles served with fresh peanut sauce mixed with spices.

Ikan panggang is a whole grilled fish marinated and basted with a mixture of spices, coconut, chili, lime, and ginger, and typically served with a flavorful sauce. Opor Ayam is chicken cooked in coconut milk (ayam means chicken) Be sure to ask for all meat or you may end up with fat or chicken livers.

Rice Dishes in Indonesia

Nasi goreng (literally “fried rice” in Indonesian and Malay) is arguably the most common dish in Indonesia. It typically refers to pre-cooked rice stir-fried in a wok and combined with a mix of ingredients such as spices, eggs, vegetables, meat, or seafood. The dish is usually flavored and given its distinctive color with red sambal, and can range from a simple side to a complete one-pot meal. [Source: angloinfo.com; Jill Forshee, “Culture and Customs of Indonesia”, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Nasi campur (“mixed rice”) consists of a serving of steamed white rice accompanied by a variety of side dishes. These may include meats, seafood, vegetables, potato or corn fritters, sambal, krupuk crackers, peanuts, and tahu (tofu) or tempeh. The dish presents a colorful assortment of Indonesian foods and condiments. A related style, nasi Padang, features white rice served with richly spiced, curried meats and vegetables characteristic of West Sumatra cuisine.

Nasi Uduk is rice cooked in coconut milk and fragrant pandan leaves topped with fried shallots. This is a traditional Betawi (native Jakarta) dish, but can be found throughout Indonesia. Nasi rames is a rice dish served with vegetables, a fried egg, and a selection of meats, offering a hearty and varied meal.

In regions in eastern Indonesia such as Flores, Sumba, and Timor, people commonly eat nasi jagung (corn rice), a simple dish made by cooking rice with ground maize. Lemper is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, filled with meat and spices, then wrapped in banana leaves; it resembles small green tamales and is widely sold in Java and other areas. For takeaway meals, nasi bungkus (“wrapped rice”) is popular—rice and assorted dishes are packed in banana leaves, often accompanied by a small spoon also fashioned from the leaf.

Curries and Soups in Indonesia

Pungent, richly spiced curry dishes are among the most flavorful foods in Indonesia. These curries can include a wide range of ingredients—chicken, beef, fish, eggplant, beans, or young jackfruit—slowly simmered in aromatic blends of spices, coconut milk, and herbs. The result is a complex layering of heat, sweetness, and earthiness that reflects the diversity of the archipelago’s regional cuisines. [Source: Jill Forshee, “Culture and Customs of Indonesia”, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Indonesian curries and soups are known for their distinctive aromas and bold tastes, often featuring chicken, goat, beef, or seafood as the main protein. In non-Muslim communities, pork is also widely enjoyed. Meals are typically accompanied by vegetables such as kangkung, a leafy aquatic green similar to watercress, commonly stir-fried with garlic or cooked in savory sauces. Plates are further enhanced with an array of side dishes and condiments, including crispy shrimp crackers (krupuk), stir-fried peanuts, and small fritters made from potato or corn. These additions provide contrasting textures and help tie together the different elements of a meal.

Soto (also known as sroto in some regions) is one of Indonesia’s most beloved traditional soups. Found throughout the country in many regional variations, soto generally consists of a fragrant broth filled with meat—such as chicken or beef—and vegetables, often served with rice or noodles. Each region brings its own twist, using local spices and ingredients to create unique versions of this comforting and deeply satisfying dish.

Debate Over Chicken Rendang

A British cooking show sparked a lively debate across Southeast Asia over whether the popular dish chicken rendang should ever be crispy—and even over where it truly originates. Malaysian-born chef Zaleha Kadir Olpin served the spicy chicken alongside nasi lemak, a traditional Malaysian dish, during a quarter-final episode of MasterChef UK. However, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace rejected the dish, criticizing the chicken skin for not being crispy. Their comments quickly sparked outrage online and ignited heated discussion in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei. “Saying chicken rendang should be crispy is like saying hamburgers should be boiled,” said K. F. Seetoh, a Singapore-based street food expert and founder of Makansutra. [Source: Reuters, April 4, 2018]

Torode and Wallace later clarified their remarks, explaining that “crispy” may have been the wrong term but maintaining their judgment. Wallace argued that the chicken itself was undercooked, describing it as “white and flabby,” and emphasized that the contestant was eliminated because other competitors performed better overall.

Chef Haikal Johari of the Michelin-starred restaurant Alma by Juan Amador in Singapore noted that he had never encountered a crispy version of chicken rendang. His view echoed those of Malaysian leaders Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad, who unusually found common ground in defending the traditional preparation of the dish.

As hashtags like “gastrodiplomacy” and “rendanggate” spread online, the judges continued to stand by their critique. Torode, who has previously presented a series on Malaysian cuisine, insisted that his concern was simply that the dish was not properly cooked.

The controversy deepened when Torode suggested on social media that rendang originated from Indonesia, a claim that further stirred debate. In reality, the dish’s origins remain contested. Many trace rendang back to the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia, where it is believed to have been prepared as early as 600 years ago.

Today, rendang exists in many forms across the region. As Johari noted, it is prepared by Indonesians, Malaysians, Singaporeans, and others, with similar dishes found even in Thailand—such as massaman curry—highlighting the shared culinary heritage of Southeast Asia.

Indonesia Snacks and Desserts

Indonesians love snacks and sweets. Vendors and warungs sell sweets, biscuits, ice cream and batter-fried bananas. Some warungs specialise in ice-based (es) dishes. These are composed of finely crushed ice mixed with fruit and colourful bits of sweet agar jelly. Sweetened condensed milk is added to drench all the ingredients and add richness. Es dishes are Indonesia’s version of ice cream sundaes, and young people flock to these stalls.

Bread is often served as a desert with butter and sugar. “Rempeyek” (peanut cookies), “tape” (a sweet and sour snack made from boiled vegetable roots) and tempe” (fermented soybean cake) are common snacks. A popular refresher is “es campur”, a combination of crushed ice, syrup, jelly, crushed rice, condensed milk and cut up fruit.

Traditional deserts include “sagu” (tapioca-like milk pudding), “pisang goreng” (a deep-fried banana tempura dish), “colenal” (roasted cassava with sweet coconut sauce), “ulen” sticky rice with peanut sauce, “dodol” (a toffee-like sweet), “srikaya” (green custard of sticky rice with sugar, coconut milk and egg) and combinations of crushed ice, syrup, jelly and crushed fruit.

Martabak are stuffed Indian pancakes that usually come in two varieties: sweet martabak, which are sweet, and martabak telor (egg martabak), which are egg pancakes filled with meat. The sweet version may contain condensed milk, cheese, chocolate, sesame seeds, or sticky black rice. Martabak and cold steamed vegetables and tofu, and tempe with peanut sauce are popular.Tempe (or tempeh) is a traditional Indonesian staple food made from fermented soybeans.

Describing the desserts at Wayan, an Indonesia Restaurant in New York, Pete Wells wrote in the New York Times:The purple-yam ice cream with banana cake and caramelized bananas is good if sundaes are your thing. The pandan custard under passion-fruit pulp gets a lot of mileage from just a few flavors. But the one that sounds too boring to bother with (“assorted exotic fruit?”) is worth a second look. Lychee, mango, pineapple and dragon fruit may not be particularly exotic, but a dip or a dunk into a dark, spicy syrup of tamarind and palm sugar will wake them right up. [Source: Pete Wells, New York Times, April 23, 2019]

Indonesia Food in New York

Describing some of the dishes food offered at an Indonesia restaurant in New York, Ligaya Mishan wrote in the New York Times, There were “bowls of soto ayam, chicken soup rich from long simmered bones, gilded by turmeric, with shredded chicken breast, cabbage still crunchy and rice and mung-bean thread noodles in the depths. The steam brought a faint piney whiff of galangal, and lemongrass and kaffir-lime leaves like stray shafts of sun. The halves of a hard-boiled egg sat on top, alongside a whole lime wedge and a crumble of prawn crackers. The accompanying sambal, in a plastic tub, was all chile, and edifying. [Source: Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, September 28, 2017]

“Nasi campur, curry and vegetables crowded round a heap of rice. Here the curry was beautifully sour from tamarind, over a plank of kingfish. It was flanked by ruffles of kale, a substitute for the cassava leaves she used back in Indonesia, stewed in coconut milk but still bringing a residual brightness; and blocks of fried tofu so engorged with sauce — a flare of long hot peppers, ginger and terasi (shrimp paste) — that when squeezed between the teeth, they rained it down onto the plate like clouds.

“Farther up the plate’s circumference were tiny tentacles and curled-up hulls of salted squid, as purple as a bruise, rinsed five times until swollen. The salt was frank, barely tempered by a douse of kecap manis, the Indonesian sweet soy sauce. Last, a hard-boiled egg, peeled and fried, with a whisper-thin golden crust and a green crush of sambal hijau: raw jalapeño, onion and ground anchovies.

“Rijsttafel, Dutch for “rice table,” is a buffet for one, with leftovers for nearly three. The plate spills over with airy fritters, fried tofu, hard-boiled eggs lashed with sambal and your choice of ayam bakar Bali, sweet-hot chicken blackened on the grill, or beef rendang — saucier than you might find in Indonesia, because “people like a lot of sauce over the rice.”

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources:“Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006; National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Indonesia Tourism website (indonesia.travel), Indonesia government websites, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated April 2026