Food in Indonesia

A salad - one of the nices dishes I have eaten.

Eating Sumatran style.

Indonesia is a massive country spanning some 17000 island. Yes, 17000! Not all are inhabited. I have only been to 3 of the islands, so still a few to do. When people hear of Indonesia, most people think of the island of Bali. This is a tourist hot spot, but it is by no means representative of Indonesia. Bali is one of my favourite places to visit and I will probably do a few posts on Bali at a later stage, but in this post I am focusing on the Food of Indonesia. I just love the Indonesia food. On my recent trip to Northern Sumatra I discovered a very interesting style of eating. The restaurant brings out any number of small plates with different dishes on. You eat what you want and leave the rest. At the end of the meal, the waiter or waitress removes the dishes you have not eaten an you just pay for what you have eaten. Obviously, if you like a particular dish very much, you can just get more of it. This is a great way to sample different dishes.

Being predominantly a Muslim country, pork is not found very often on the menus. Rice is grown on the islands of Indonesia, so this is the staple food. Coconuts are also plentiful, so coconut milk is widely used. Coconut milk is not the liquid from a coconut. It is made from grinding up the flesh of a coconut and squeezing out the white liquid. The coconut cream is the first press without the addition of any water. The aromatics used in Indonesian cuisine are chili, ginger, lemon grass and lime. Palm sugar is also widely used in Indonesian food. Palm sugar is delicious! This gives a unique flavor to so many of the Indonesian dishes. It is not very sweet, but has a taste almost like caramel. They do, when making it boil the sap, from the coconut  plant for many hours. The sap is not from the same tree which gives us coconuts. It is a different tree. Looks the same as a palm tree, but is not the same. Just as the tree from which palm oil is produced is not the same species.

Man, just talking about all of these wonderful ingredients, just wants to make me grab a pan and cook. My wife and I did do a cooking course in Bali some time ago. We have not been to Bali for some time now, so time to go again. Just love Bali!
Being made up of a few islands, the sea is never that far away, so seafood is plentiful.
As Indonesia is Muslim (as I have mentioned above), alcohol is not that common. It is available in many places, but it is expensive. Talking about drinks, what is available in Indonesia is coffee. It is grown widely in Indonesia and is a major export product. Ever hear of Moca Java? Java is the main Island of Indonesia, so connect the dots! Different coffees from different islands, so also still quite a few to try out.

A local seafood place. Soft shelled crab.

With the type of travelling I do, I am very fortunate to be with local people most of the time. They pick where we eat. Sometimes, the places they pick can look a bit dodgy from the outside, but the food has always been amazing. One of the best eat experiences I have every had was in the Shagri La hotel in Jakarta - definitely not a dodgy hotel! Their buffet dinner was to die for! Amazing. It always fascinates me watching people eat at a buffet. They often pile their plates so high with food! You can go back as many times as you want! no-one is counting. At the Shangri La, they had a special Thai dinner, with a well known Thai chef. There was just this overwhelming display of dishes. The famous Thai chef was standing at the food. I went up and put a tiny spoonful of rice on my plate and a spoon full of the first dish, then turned to walk back to my table. The chef asked me if that was all I was going to eat. I told him, No. I am going try every dish, but just one dish at a time. I want to taste the dish. I have never seen such a big smile on anyone's face! Indonesia - well worth a visit and not just to Bali. There is soooo much more to see and experience in Indonesia.

Dinner with the locals

Lets eat

All done!