Indonesian Cuisine

Indonesian cuisine

Indonesian cuisine is diverse, in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 of the total 18,000 inhabited island in the world's largest archipelago. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon cultural and foreign influences. Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Additionally, Indonesia’s indigenous techniques and ingredients were influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and finally Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of the archipelago. The Indonesian islands The Moluccas , which are famed as "the Spice Islands", also contributed to the introduction of native spices, such as cloves and nutmeg, to Indonesian and global cuisine.

Some popular goreng, gado-gado, sate, and country and considered as

Indonesian dishes such as nasi soto are ubiquitous in the Indonesian national dishes.

Some popular dishes Indonesia are now common across Indonesian dishes such as satay, also favoured in Malaysia dishes, such as variations of popular. Tempe is regarded as a adaptation of soy-based food Another fermented food is tempe but using a variety of by different fungi, and

that originated in much of Southeast Asia. beef rendang, and sambal are and Singapore. Soy-based tofu and tempe, are also very Javanese invention, a local fermentation and production. oncom, similar in some ways to bases (not only soy), created particularly popular in West Java.

Indonesian meals are commonly eaten with the combination of a spoon in the right hand and fork in the left hand , although in many parts of the country, such as West Java and West Sumatra, it is also common to eat with one's hands. In restaurants or households that commonly use bare hands to eat, like in seafood foodstalls, traditional Sundanese and Minangkabau restaurants, or East Javanese pecel lele (fried catfish with sambal) and ayam goreng (fried chicken) food stalls, they usually serve kobokan, a bowl of tap water with a slice of lime in it to give a fresh scent. This bowl of water should not to be consumed, however; it is used to wash one's hand before and after eating. Eating with chopsticks is generally only found in food stalls or restaurants serving Indonesian adaptations of Chinese cuisine, such as bakmie or mie ayam (chicken noodle) with pangsit (wonton), mie goreng (fried noodles), and kwetiau goreng (fried flat rice noodles).

Rice is a staple for all Indonesia, and it holds the central it shapes the landscape; served in most meals both as a importance of rice in Indonesian through the reverence of Dewi ancient Java and Bali. cycles linked to rice through rituals, such as Seren

classes in contemporary place in Indonesian culture: is sold at markets; and is savoury and a sweet food. The culture is demonstrated Sri, the rice goddess of Traditionally the agricultural cultivations were celebrated Taun rice harvest festival.

Rice is most often eaten few protein and vegetable also served, however, as cooked with coconut milk and in woven packets of steamed in banana leaves), crackers), desserts, vermicelli, and nasi goreng (fried omnipresent in Indonesia and

as plain rice with just a dishes as side dishes. It is nasi uduk , nasi kuning (rice turmeric), ketupat (rice steamed coconut fronds), lontong (rice intip or rengginang (rice noodles, arak beras (rice wine), rice). Nasi goreng is considered as national dish.

Rice was only incorporated into diets, however, as either the technology to grow it or the ability to buy it from elsewhere was gained. Evidence of wild rice on the island of Sulawesi dates from 3000 BCE. Evidence for the earliest cultivation, however, comes from eighth century stone inscriptions from the central island of Java, which show kings levied taxes in rice. The images of rice cultivation, rice barn, and mouse pest investing a ricefield is evident in Karmawibhanga bas-reliefs of Borobudur. Divisions of labour between men, women, and animals that are still in place in Indonesian rice cultivation, were carved into relief friezes on the ninth century Prambanan temples in Central Java: a water buffalo attached to a plough; women planting seedlings and pounding grain; and a man carrying sheaves of rice on each end of a pole across his shoulders . In the sixteenth century, Europeans visiting the Indonesian islands saw rice as a new prestige food served to the aristocracy during ceremonies and feasts.

Rice production in development of iron tools and the Buffalo as water buffalo for fertilizer. Rice production Once covered in dense landscape has been gradually and settlements as rice fifteen hundred years.

Indonesian history is linked to the domestication of Wild Asian Water cultivation of fields and manure for requires exposure to the sun. forest, much of the Indonesian cleared for permanent fields cultivation developed over the last -

Other staple foods in starchy tubers such as; yam, and cassava; also starchy jackfruit and grains such as maize called Papeda is a staple food Sago is also often mixed with pancake. Next to sago, people of various kind of wild tubers as

Indonesia include a number of sweet potato, potato, taro fruit such as breadfruit and and wheat. A sago congee especially in Maluku and Papua. water and cooked as a simple eastern Indonesia also consume staple food.

Many types of tubers such as talas and breadfruit are native to Indonesia, while others are introduced from elsewhere. Wheat, the base ingredient for bread and noodles were probably introduced from India or China; yam was introduced from Africa; while maize, potato, sweet potato, cassava and maize were introduced from Americas through Spanish influence and finally reached Java in 17th century. Cassava is usually boiled, steamed, fried or processed as popular snack kripik singkong (cassava crackers). Dried cassava, locally known as tiwul, is an alternate staple food in arid areas of Java such as Gunung Kidul and Wonogiri, while other roots and tubers are eaten especially in hard times. Maize is eaten in drier regions such as Madura and islands east of the Wallace Line, such as the Lesser Sunda Islands.
A number of leaf vegetables are widely used in Indonesian cuisine, such as kangkung, spinach, genjer, melinjo, papaya and cassava leaves. These are often sauteed with garlic. Spinach and corn are used in simple clear watery vegetable soup sayur bayam bening flavoured with temu kunci, garlic and shallot. Other vegetables like labu air , labu siam (chayote), kelor, kacang panjang (yardlong bean), terung (eggplant), gambas and belustru, are cut and used in stir fries, curries and soups like sayur asem, sayur lodeh or laksa. Sayur sop is cabbage, cauliflower, potato, carrot, with macaroni spiced with black pepper, garlic and shallot in chicken or beef broth. The similar mixed vegetables are also stir fried as cap cai, a popular dish of the Chinese Indonesian cuisine.

Vegetables like (cucumber) and the small variety of commonly eaten raw, like in variety is usually boiled. are a common Indonesian spiced shredded coconut meat vegetables, asinan betawi are and pecel are a salad of peanut-based spicy sauce, while

kecipir , tomato, mentimun peria (bitter melon) are lalab. The large bitter melon kecombrang and papaya flower buds vegetable. Urap is seasoned and mixed together with preserved vegetables. Gado-gado boiled vegetables dressed in a karedok is its raw version.

The main meat source diet mostly are poultry and fish, however meats such as beef, water buffalo, goat and mutton are commonly found in Indonesian marketplaces. The most common poultry consumed is chicken and duck, however to a lesser amount, pigeon and wild migrating sea bird are also consumed. As a country with an Islamic majority, Indonesian Muslims follows the Islamic halal dietary law which forbids the consumption of pork. However in other parts of Indonesia where there are significant numbers of non-Muslims, boar and pork are commonly consumed. Dishes made of non-halal meats can be found in provinces such as Bali, North Sumatra, North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, West Papua, Papua, and also in Chinatowns in major Indonesian cities. Today to cater for the larger Muslim market, most of the restaurants and eating establishments in Indonesia put halal signs that signify they neither serve pork nor use lard in their cooking.

The meat can be cooked in such as beef, goat or lamb grilled chicken or mutton as sliced and cooked in rich broth various offals can be use as curry. In Bali, with its Hindu popular among locals as well as Batak people of North Sumatra similar dish. The meat also can thinly-sliced and dried as dendeng floss). Dendeng celeng is meat.

rich spices and coconut milk rendang, skewered, seasoned and satay, barbecued meats, or soup as soto. Muttons and ingredients for soto soup or gulai majority, the babi guling is non-Muslim visitors, while the have babi panggang that is a be processed to be (jerky), or made into abon (meat Indonesian "dried, jerked" boar -

As an archipelagic nation, seafood is abundant and commonly consumed especially by Indonesian resides in coastal areas. Popular seafood in Indonesian cuisine among others; mackerel, tuna, wahoo, milkfish, red snapper, anchovy, cuttlefish, shrimp, crab and mussel. Seafood is commonly consumed across Indonesia, but it is especially popular in Maluku islands and Minahasa cuisine. Seafood are usually being bakar (grilled), rebus (boiled) or goreng (fried). However another method of cooking like stir fried in spices or in soup is also possible. Ikan asin (salted fish) is preserved seafood through cured in salt, it is also can be found in Indonesian market. Fresh water fisheries can be found in inland region or area with large rivers or lakes. Popular fresh water fish among others; carp, gourami, snakehead, tilapia, catfish and pangasius.
Rempah" is Indonesian word for spice, while "bumbu" is the Indonesian word for spices mixture or seasoning, and it commonly appears in the names of certain spice mixtures, sauces and seasoning pastes. Known throughout the world as the "Spice Islands", the Indonesian islands of Maluku contributed to the introduction of its native spices to world cuisine. Spices such as pala , cengkeh (clove), and laos (galangal) are native to Indonesia. It is likely that lada hitam (black pepper), kunyit (turmeric), sereh (lemongrass), bawang merah (shallot), kayu manis (cinnamon), kemiri (candlenut), ketumbar (coriander), and asam jawa (tamarind) were introduced from India, while jahe (ginger), daun bawang (scallions) and bawang putih (garlic) were introduced from China. Those spices from mainland Asia were introduced early, in ancient times, thus they became integral ingredients in Indonesian cuisine.
In ancient times, the kingdom of Sunda and the later sultanate of Banten were well known as the world's major producers of black pepper. The maritime empires of Srivijaya and Majapahit also benefited from the lucrative spice trade between the spice islands with China and India. Later the Dutch East India Company controlled the spice trade between Indonesia and the world. The Indonesian fondness for hot and spicy food was enriched when the Spanish introduced cabai chili pepper from the New World to the region in 16th century. After that hot and spicy sambals have become an important part of Indonesian cuisine. Sambal evolved into many variants across Indonesia, ones of the most popular is sambal terasi and sambal mangga muda (young mango sambal). Dabu-dabu is North Sulawesi style of sambal with chopped fresh tomato, chili, and lime juice. Traditionally prepared laboriously ground upon stone mortar, today sambals is also available as industrial processed products in bottles or jars.

Soy sauce is also an Indonesian cuisine. Kecap asin was however Indonesian developed soy sauce) with generous sauce. Sweet soy sauce is an meat and fish, such as satay soy sauce is also an Indonesian stew.

important flavorings in adopted from Chinese cuisine, their own kecap manis (sweet addition of palm sugar into soy important marinade for barbecued and grilled fishes. Sweet important ingredient for semur, -

One of the main characteristics of Indonesian cuisine is the wide application of peanuts in many Indonesian signature dishes, such as satay, gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, and pecel. Gado-gado and Sate for example have been considered as Indonesian national dishes. Introduced from Mexico by Portuguese and Spanish merchants in 16th century, peanuts assumed a place within Indonesian cuisine as a key ingredient. Peanuts thrived in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia, and today they can be found, roasted and chopped finely, in many recipes. Whole, halved, or crushed peanuts are used to garnish a variety of dishes, and used in marinades and dipping sauces such as sambal kacang for otak-otak or ketan. Peanut oil, extracted from peanuts, is one of the most commonly used cooking oils in Indonesia.
Bumbu kacang or peanut sauce represents a sophisticated, earthy seasoning rather than a sweet, gloppy sauce. It should have a delicate balance of savoury, sweet, sour, and spicy flavours, acquired from various ingredients, such as fried peanuts, gula jawa , garlic, shallots, ginger, tamarind, lemon juice, lemongrass, salt, chilli, peppercorns, sweet soy sauce, ground together and mixed with water to form the right consistency. The secret to good peanut sauce is “not too thick and not too watery.” Indonesian peanut sauce tends to be less sweet than the Thai version, which is a hybrid adaptation. Gado-gado is a popular dish particularly associated with bumbu kacang, and is eaten across Indonesia.

The use of coconut milk Indonesian cuisine. It can also be Thai, Malaysian, Filipino, Nonetheless, the use of coconut milk Indonesia, especially in Minahasan cuisine, coconut milk except in Minahasan cakes and

isn't exclusive to found in Indian, Samoan, and Brazilian cuisines. is quite extensive in Minangkabau cuisine, although in is generally absent, desserts such as klappertart.

In Indonesian cuisine, are found, thin coconut The difference depends on Thin coconut milk is usually lodeh and soto, while the rendang and desserts. It can be coconut meat in traditional processed in cartons at the

two types of coconut milk milk and thick coconut milk. the water and oil content. used for soups such as sayur thicker variety is used for made from freshly shredded markets, or can be found supermarket.

Related Sites for Indonesian cuisine

• Merry's Kitchen of Indonesian Cuisine & Recipes - Melrose Flowers read Indonesian cuisine
• Indonesian Cuisine - Recipes Wiki read Indonesian cuisine
• Indochef.com :: Indonesian food & recipes read Indonesian cuisine

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(http://computer.howstuffworks.com)