WEIRD FOODS IN INDONESIA

satay biawak made with monitor lizard meat indoindians

Strange foods found in Indonesia over the years include octopus and strawberries, fresh fruit bat, sperm whale, cobra blood, shark cartilage, sea turtle, orangutan meat, bear paws, tiger penises, geckos, python, dried seahorses, monkey brains, and monitor lizards. Some are consumed as Chinese medicine. Other are as gourmet delicacies. Many concoctions from wild animals are consumed as aphrodisiacs. In the early 2000s, they were much cheaper than Viagra which sold for $8 a pill in 2003. Cobra bile and shark cartilage are consumed as cancer cures. [Source: Richard Paddock, Los Angeles Times, March 11 2003]

On frogs eaten in Indonesia one person posted: not just legs, really nice like chicken, but not much meat, but apart from the novelty factor dont really see the point easier to eat chicken. On fried chicken head: didn't look great, but tasted fine, just like the rest of the chicken. On baby birds that perhaps were pigeons: they look like there only just been born (not quail)- like chicken but, not much meat, didn't really get into it, still some feathers really doesn't seem worth the trouble.[Source: livinginindonesiaforum.org]

The consumption of Javan rhinos, Sumatra tigers, orangutans, Green sea turtles and sun bears for food and medicine played a role in their achieving threatened status. Bears are valued for their gall bladders and bile. Some are consumed locally. Big money can be made if they are smuggled to China. Penises from Sumatran tigers in the past could be found for sale in Jakarta. Laws banning the sale of food from endangered animals are widely ignored.

Lon Tong Ku is a specialty of Surabaya and cannot be found anywhere else save Indonesia. This dish uses Ku Pang and Lon Tong as their main ingredients. While Lon Tong (rice roll wrapped and steamed in banana leaves) is widely used for many Indonesian dishes, Ku Pang can only be found in coastal areas. It is a small shellfish which lives in water. What makes this dish bizarre is that Ku Pang is usually caught using human faeces as bait. One popular Ku Pang fishing spot is a small river which is also used by poor local people as a sewer. You are supposed to eat Lon Tong Ku Pang with green coconut juice, which is said to kill the bacteria in Lon Tong Ku Pang. [Source: travelhappy.info/indonesia]

Bats, Snakes and Cobras Eaten in Indonesia

fried grasshoppers, a specialty of Gunung Kidul, Central Java indoindians

In Jakarta, vendors sell skinned snakes and cobra blood. "It's good for you, sir," one vendor told AFP, "Cures and prevents all diseases." One person who tried it said: “they brought it out live and played with it, teasing me a bit, then, skinned it and filleted it in front of me, fryed it up with spices and served it all to me with rice, I ate the whole thing, but didn't really enjoy it, was expecting it to taste like chicken but it didn't have that much taste and was chewy, I was offered the blood to drink, but had to pass on that.” [Source: livinginindonesiaforum.org]

Some cobras sold as food are caught in the wild. Almost every part of their body is used. Typically they are beheaded and the blood is drained and mixed with arak, a powerful local alcohol. When bile is added it is consumed as cure for skin ailments and respiratory diseases. The penises are taken as an aphrodisiacs. Bottles of arak are sold with a cobra penis in a way that calls to mind the worm in a mescal bottle.

Live fruit bats were sold by roadside vendors for about $3 a piece in Medan on Sumatra in the early 2000s. They had their wings, mouths and feet tied with twine or rubber bands and were hung upside down from a pole. As a cure for asthma, the animal’s heart is cut out while it is still alive and cooked and eaten. The meat is made into a soup. The bats were captured in the rain forests outside the city by nets strung between trees. Vendors said they never have trouble selling them.

Cruel Monkey Brain Restaurants in Indonesia

Monkey meat is eaten in many places in Indonesia. On some islands, before they are eaten shaman sometimes communicate with the spirit of the monkey to be killed to apologize for their imminent death. On Sumatra, monkeys are burned ro death before butchering under the belief that they taste better if the blood is not drained from the body.

Ethnic Chinese are among the main consumers of animal remedies. They are the ones who like bear paws, tiger penises, dried seahorses and monkey brains. There are restaurants that specialize in things like monitor lizard meat, bat hearts, raw monkey brains and cocktails made cobra bile and blood. Some have been in business for decades and make handsome profits.

Perhaps the cruelest dish served at these restaurants is monkey brains, usually from long-tailed macaques, prepared in tables that have special holes in them for the monkeys’ heads. A monkey that is consumed is tied up and its skull is cut open with a sharp knife. The brain is eaten while the monkey is alive, Sometimes arak is poured n the skull and mixed with the brain.

Dog Meat in Indonesia

Dogs are often eaten by the Dayaks of Kalimantan and the Bataks of North Sumatra. Dayak dog-eating, a ProFauna representative named Dedi indicated, may have a ritualistic and menacing context. “While surveying the Kalimantan sun bear population, she wrote, "We were staying in one of the Dayaks' house, and a neighbor of his caught their home dog, who usually accompanied them to go to the jungle and guarded their house, and killed and ate it." Added Hardi, of ProFauna Jarkata: "There are many, many restaurants that serve dog meat." [Source: animalpeoplenews.org, September 2003]

Some satay stalls in Bali marked “RW” sell dog meat, often without tourists’ knowledge. An investigation by an animal welfare group found that dogs—both stray and owned—are captured and killed using cruel methods, sometimes involving poison such as cyanide. Vendors may mislead customers about the meat’s origin. [Source: Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, November 17, 2012]

Beyond animal cruelty, the trade poses serious health risks. Poison used to kill dogs can remain in the meat, potentially causing illness or even death. The meat may also be contaminated with harmful bacteria, and the movement of dogs from rabies-affected areas raises further public health concerns.

Although eating dog meat is not illegal in Bali, many aspects of the trade violate laws related to animal welfare and disease control. Activists and organizations are working with authorities to stop the practice, citing both ethical concerns and risks to human health.

Insects as a Food in Indonesia

Van der Burg (1904) documented numerous insect species consumed in Indonesia, along with taboos among Muslims against eating ants, bees, flies, worms, and certain aquatic animals. Drawing on earlier work by Greshoff, he noted that cicadas (gareng), caterpillars of Hyblea puera (entong or oengker), and palm weevil grubs (Rhynchophorus palmarum and R. ferrugineus, known by various local names) were commonly eaten. These grubs were especially prized for their high fat content and were often roasted with glutinous rice (ketan). Greshoff also reported that some species were poisonous, including caterpillars of Euproctis mulleri and certain orthopterans such as Poecilocerus punctatus, Acanthoderus bifoliatus, and Bactarina nematodes. [Source: “Human Use of Insects as a Food Resource”,Professor Gene R. De Foliart (1925-2013), Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002]

Grasshoppers and locusts (short-horned grasshoppers: Acridium aerigonosum) have been eaten in West Java, where they were known by names such as walang, belalang, djankirk, gansir, walang gapoek, and belalang gambar. In Timor, people have prepared “wholesome cakes” from pounded locusts (1946). Crickets (cricket: Brachytrupes portentosus) have commonly been eaten in Java and Sumatra. As described (1951): “Crickets… are caught by boys… by digging in their galleries in the ground. The boys put a number of them on a stick… and so roast them, eating them with delight.” Mole crickets (mole cricket: Gryllotalpa sp.) were also used as food in West Java (1904).

Waterbugs such as Hemiptera Corixidae (water boatmen) Leptocorisa acuta and adult Sternocoris varicornis were used to make sambal, a spicy sauce widely used in Indonesia. Analysis by Van Eek found them to be rich in nutrients, containing about 38 percent protein and 29 percent fat. Cicadas (family Cicadidae) were also noted as edible. Among bees (Hymenoptera), larvae and pupae of stingless bees (Melipona minuta and M. vidua), along with their honey (tawon or leba), were widely consumed. The brood was typically wrapped in leaves and roasted, though some reports suggested the pupae could cause throat discomfort. Bodenheimer, citing Brygoo, noted that bee larvae were especially valued as food in Timor.

The people of Sulawesi raise two kinds of cicada: one for frying and eating and another for fighting. The fighting cicadas are sold in tiny cages by small boys. Their fighting ability is linked with tone of their song and great sums are bet on the fights which usually take place on the tables of small restaurants. Some Chinese and Balinese are into fighting crickets. [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York ♢]

Among the Batak of Tapanuli, Scheltema (1930) reported that diets included various insects, including cricket larvae, wasps, and other pupae.Red weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) have been consumed in Borneo. Among the Dayak people, as noted by Odoardo Beccari (1904), these ants were mixed with rice and used as a flavorful condiment.

In the Moluccas, larvae of palm weevils (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), commonly called palmworms, were widely sold in markets and considered highly nutritious. According to Ghesquière (1947), these larvae were often recommended for the sick, including tuberculosis patients, because they were easy to digest and rich in nutrients. Bodenheimer, again citing Leefmans, emphasized that large beetle larvae developing in palm stems, including Rhynchophorus and Psodocerus, were prized foods in the Moluccan Islands.

Dog, Bats and Wild Animals Eaten in North Sulawesi

Dog meat is a well known delicacy in the Minahasa in northern Sulawesi. One person postsed: No marriage without a few dogs being asked to participate. You will easily recognize dog meat among the other strange stuff. Look for the black meat. I often eat dog meat. It's OK in my book as long as it wasn't mine. [Source: livinginindonesiaforum.org]

“Cats get on the menu sometimes and that REALLY piss me off: my last cat, Bambula, is missing and I assume he has been stolen a couple of days ago to be served as snack in a pesta miras. I've tried recently cat meat but I had a lot of trouble enjoying it. Let's say that I just wanted to be polite and avoid refusing.

“Apart dogs and cats, we eat paniki (bats), tikus utang* ekor putih (forest rat with white tail) and a few other interesting stuff such as soa-soa (varan), ular patola (black snake), various type of monyet (monkey).

Some places in North Sulawesi serve a dish made dog and bat meat. One traveler wrote: The meat is commonly fried and served in sweet and sour sauce. This dish is originated from Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi. During my visit to Manado, my colleague took me to eat this dish. I did not know that they used dog and bat’s meat since it appeared perfectly normal. The taste was savory but the meat was kind of hard to chew. I was so shocked after my colleague told me that he has just served me dog and bat’s meat. While I might not mind so much about bat but I am a dog lover. I felt somewhat annoyed with my colleague for not telling me that I had eaten a dog for my dinner.[Source: travelhappy.info/indonesia]

Tomohon Extreme Meat Market

Six days a week, butchers at Tomohon Extreme Market in northern Sulawesi cut up bats, rats, snakes and lizards, many of them caught in the wild. According to AFP: “Its grubby stalls feature a dizzying array of animals including giant snakes, rats impaled on sticks and charred dogs with their hair seared off by blowtorches — a gory scene described by some critics as "like walking through hell". Some butchers slaughter dogs—many allegedly stolen pets—prompting strong criticism from animal rights groups.[Source: AFP, February 12, 2020]

Activists have long called for the market’s closure. “The market is like a cafeteria for animal pathogens,” Wiku Adisasmito told the New York Times, warning that “consuming wild animals is the same as playing with fire.” Most wild animals sold at the market are killed before arrival, but dogs are often kept alive in cages and slaughtered on-site for customers who prefer fresh meat. “It is like a time bomb,” said Billy Gustafianto Lolowang. “We can only wait until we become the epicenter of a pandemic like Wuhan.” [Source: Richard C. Paddock and Dera Menra Sijabat, New York Times, May 13, 2020]

In North Sulawesi, where the population is largely Christian, bush meat is widely consumed and even sold in supermarkets. Some residents believe certain animals have medicinal value, such as bats, which are thought to cure asthma. At Tomohon, “Bats are the most popular, followed by rats and pythons,” said Roy Nangka, who has worked in the trade since 1999.

The extreme market is part of the larger Tomohon Faithful Wilken Market, which also sells everyday goods like produce, clothing, and electronics. Roughly 120 butchers work in the market’s wildlife section, processing animals such as pythons up to 20 feet long, monitor lizards, rats, wild boars, and frogs. The market has also drawn criticism for its treatment of animals, with reports that some cats and dogs are beaten to death and burned with blowtorches.

Activists say many of these animals are stolen pets. A 2016 survey by Animal Friends Manado Indonesia found that 90 percent of pet owners in the region reported losing a dog or cat to theft. The group’s program manager, Frank Delano Manus, along with Lolowang, has also warned that protected species—including the dwarf cuscus, anoa, Sulawesi crested black macaque (yaki), and babirusa—sometimes end up in the meat trade. But shutting down the market is a cultural challenge: “The majority of people in North Sulawesi consume wild animal meats,” Lolowang said. “There will be a public outcry if they shut down the wildlife market totally.”

Tomohon During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Initially, bats, rats and snakes continued to be sold at Tomohon Extreme market when the Covid-19 pandemic started even though it was suggested that the disease originated as pathogesn from bats or other wildlife. [Source: AFP, February 12, 2020]

In mid February 2020, weeks after the pandemic started, vendors at the market said business was booming and curious tourists showed up to check out exotic fare. Bat seller Stenly Timbuleng told AFP he was still moving his fare for as much as 60,000 rupiah ($4.40) a kilogram to buyers in the area. “"I'm selling between 40 and 60 kilograms every day," he said. "The virus hasn't affected sales. My customers still keep coming." The activity occurred despite pleas from the local government and the health agency to stop selling the bats and other wildlife. “"We're also urging people not to consume meat from animals suspected to be carriers of a fatal disease," said Ruddy Lengkong, head of the area's government trade and industry agency.

Restaurateur Lince Rengkuan — who serves bats including their heads and wings in stew with coconut milk and spices — said there was no danger of getting disease-causing pathogens from her dishes. “"If you don't cook the bat well then of course it can be dangerous," she said. “"We cook it thoroughly and so far the number of customers hasn't gone down at all."

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, was slow to respond to COVID-19 and lagged in testing. Animal rights groups, including Dog Meat Free Indonesia, urged President Joko Widodo to close wildlife markets, warning that without action another pandemic was inevitable. [Source: Richard C. Paddock and Dera Menra Sijabat, New York Times, May 13, 2020]

While the Environment Ministry encouraged closures, decisions ultimately rested with local governments. Officials identified several major wildlife markets across Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Sulawesi, though many smaller ones also existed. Local authorities, including those in Tomohon, resisted shutting them down because the wildlife trade was an important source of income and a key part of regional food culture, where serving a wide variety of meats was seen as a sign of a high-quality meal.

Bushmeat Trade in Northern Sulawesi

A study on the bat bushmeat trade in North Sulawesi, published in 2015, stated that Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, is the center of the high intensity bushmeat trade in Indonesia. The predominantly Christian population is not prohibited from eating wildlife like bats and boar, unlike other parts of Indonesia where a majority of people are Muslim and must observe halal dietary restrictions. Eight markets scattered throughout the province represent the trading hubs for bushmeat: Karombasan (PK) and Beserhati (PB) in Manado; Airmadidi (PAi) in North Minahasa; Tomohon (PT), Kawangkoan (PKa), and Langowan (PL) in Minahasa; and Amurang (PA) and Motoling (PM) in South Minahasa. [Source: Kelly Buchanan, Foreign Law Specialist, Library of Congress Law Library, Legal Legal Reports, August 2020]

“Locals believe that during holidays or other special occasions (e.g. birthdays, weddings), they should serve several types of “unique meat” (daging unik) to enliven the atmosphere. Despite its name, “unique meat” belies the level of abundance and ubiquity at which it occurs in the market. “Unique meat” encompasses any kind of meat not available through domestication (e.g. beef, pork, chicken, duck) and refers to wild animals such as: endemic black macaques (Macaca nigra), pythons from Kalimantan (Python reticulatus or P. curtus) (Stuebing, 1991), water monitors (Varanus salvator), Sulwaesi wild pigs (Sus celebensis) (Milner-Gulland and Clayton, 2002), and Bornean bearded pigs (Sus barbatus). Species are valued by rarity, and occasionally available in the market in limited quantities. Flying foxes are commonly found in the market, making them considerably cheaper and more accessible than these other types of “unique meat”. The price of other bushmeat varies from Rp 20, 000 to 60, 000 (US$2.00 to $6.00), depending on the season, market, and availability of stock. These “unique meats” can only be found in North Sulawesi, making it the iconic local delicacy of the province. |*|

“The bushmeat trade that previously existed only on a local level increased in intensity over the past few decades and developed into a sophisticated multi-province trade network. The markets in North Sulawesi are connected via a distribution network, with Tomohon, Langowan, and Motoling at the center as supply hubs for other markets by receiving bats from external sources directly. Tomohon established itself as the main market by maintaining a stockpile of bats as inventory. |*|

A 2017 BBC Indonesia article reported that, of the unprotected wild species most traded at the Tomohon Faithful Market, only pythons were subject to a quota set in North Sulawesi. A species of bat, Pteropus vampyrus, was subject to quotas in North Sumatra and Central Java, while the bats endemic to Sulawesi were not included in the quota list. The head of the North Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Center also explained that “law enforcement measures related to quotas on the use of wild animals had not yet been applied to traders in traditional markets for cultural reasons.”

Regulation of Wild Animal Wet Markets in Indonesia

Kelly Buchanan wrote in Library of Congress Law Library Report: Reports indicate that there are a number of traditional markets in Indonesia where meat from wild animals is sold. The most well-known market is the Tomohon Faithful Market in North Sulawesi province, which, along with other markets in the province, serves as a hub for the multi-province bat bushmeat trade. Unprotected animals, including bats, can be hunted and traded with a permit, and a quota system applies, although this system is reportedly not fully implemented or enforced. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities in North Sulawesi have sought to limit the supply of wild meats and have encouraged traders and consumers to switch to other products. However, they have not closed the relevant markets. [Source: Kelly Buchanan, Foreign Law Specialist, Library of Congress Law Library, Legal Legal Reports, August 2020]

Traditional markets are established and managed under central and local government regulations. Traditional market management may be carried out by a cooperative, private sector entity, state-owned company, or regional-owned company, with managers required to hold a traditional market business license. Central and local governments, in accordance with their areas of responsibility, are to conduct “guidance and supervision” of the markets. City/regency regulations contain provisions on the responsibilities and oversight of traditional market managers. For example, the regional market company that manages the Tomohon Faithful Market has responsibilities related to community welfare, including social aspects, health, and cleanliness. |*|

Different Indonesian laws apply to the hunting and trading of “protected” and “unprotected” wild animals. There are currently 919 protected endemic species. According to a 1999 regulation, unprotected wild animal species may only be traded by business entities established in accordance with Indonesian law, unless the trading is conducted on a limited scale in the local community around the hunting area. Hunting is further regulated by regulations and decrees related to hunting licenses, game hunting, and the designation of hunting locations. In addition, a 2003 Minister of Forestry regulation concerning the capture or harvesting and distribution of wild animals and plants established a quota system for various unprotected species. |*|

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