What to eat in Indonesia: The best local recipes

When we pick up a conversation about food, Indonesia’s cuisine probably isn’t the one that immediately comes to mind with something super distinct and world famous. In fact, even if we’re just talking about Asian recipes, the Pad Thai in Thailand and the Pho in Vietnam are likely to come up much quicker than any delight coming from an Indonesian descent.

That’s not to say that Indonesian food is plain and unexciting. It only means that people haven’t explored the country for as long as say, Thailand and Vietnam have been on the travelers’ bucket lists.

So calm yourself down as you sure won’t be starving yourself because of lack of choice or eating rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner (not every day anyway 😀 ).

Indonesians actually are crazy about their pork and chicken. In fact in Bali pork is the main meat they would add to their rice, noodles, and veggies. But unlike many other countries, Indonesia is actually pretty awesome for vegetarians (like me) as well. In fact, everywhere I’ve traveled to so far I’ve been able to get a veggie option with some extra tofu and tempeh to load up my protein 😀

Here is the list of the most traditional and yummiest Indonesian recipes that you can either have with chicken (“ayam”), pork (“babi”), fish (“ikan”) or vegetarian (but always ask for tofu and tempeh as well to make the veggies even more exciting LOL).

Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng is probably the most traditional dish you will find on any menu. Regardless of which part of the country you are heading to, even in the most remote little villages, you will be able to order a plate of good old fried Indonesian rice served with a fried egg on top, veggies, and a choice of meat, fish or tofu & tempeh. For the most authentic nasi goreng, head over to the local night market where you’re guaranteed to get the real deal. Then you’ll know what to compare to next time you have it.

Nasi Goreng is so basic and so classic that it’s usually the first thing to look for on the menu if you wanna do a quick check on the prices. If you get it for 20k IDR, then you’ve got yourself a nice, local, super cheap warung (local eatery) but more pricey places will happily charge you 50k IDR and more for the same bowl of rice and a few other bits.

Mie Goreng

Mie Goreng is the sister dish of nasi goreng, i.e. same ingredients with the only difference that this time you’ve got yourself some noodles instead of rice Yeeey, how nutritious 😀 Having said that if you go to places as remote as the traditional villages in Flores for example where people don’t even produce rice, all that you’ll be able to get is a pack of instant noodles, fried real quick, with a few veggies and some chicken and that’ll be it. So this is an important dish to try and fall in love with if you’re thinking of venturing into the wild.

Nasi Campur

Now we’re talking! If you’re gonna try only one single dish whilst you’re in Indonesia, this MUST be it. Nasi Campur is the so-called “everything in one plate” kinda dish, quite literally because it’s got a bit of everything. Maybe not everything but a few Indonesian recipes nonetheless. You’ll get your rice, your peanuts, meat, egg (Indonesians LOVE their chickens and their eggs LOL), a couple of veggie dishes, tempeh, bamboo and a few other bits which tend to vary (depending on what else they’ve got in the kitchen 😀 ).

You’re likely to pay a bit more for a Nasi Campur. Some places even charge double the Nasi Goreng price, but honestly, it’s so delicious that even the lowest budget must be stretched for it.

So far the best Nasi Campur I have had was in a place called Warung Blajong in Sanur, Bali (pictured below, nom nom).

Cap Cay

Calling all healthy eaters! This dish can be simple but nonetheless pretty flavoursome. It’s basically a lot of veggies stir-fried in a wok with a bit of water added towards the end to form a juicy sauce which is then thickened with corn starch. The dish can be served vegetarian or with meat or fish added to it. It tends to be relatively light so it’s not uncommon for very hungry people to have it as an appetizer.

Usually it would come with rice as well (ofc!).

Sate

At one point during your travel, you will simply get bored of rice and noodles. It’s just inevitable. That’s when a traditional Indonesian sate will come to satiate the need for something different. But what is sate? It’s basically fried and then grilled meat served with rice (which you can put aside and just get more sate instead, stop it with the rice already 😀 ) . If you’re lucky you might even find grilled tempeh serviced with homemade peanut sauce but unfortunately not a lot of places seem to bother grilling tempeh, for my deepest disappointment since I LOVE it. You’ll find sate serviced virtually everywhere, from the little on the side of the road pop up eateries, to night markets and warungs to upper-end restaurants.

If you ever get to Moni on the island of Flores which is the base town for hiking up to the Kelimutu lakes, definitely have the tempeh sate at Mopi’s Place. These guys honestly master the art of making sate and peanut sauce.

Read: Adventure itinerary across Indonesia’s Flores island

Gado Gado

You’re looking for a classic salad dish that is served cold, unlike everything else in Indonesia that comes sizzling and hot? Gado Gado is your answer. It’s a salad with a lot of veggies, mainly cabbage, bean sprouts, potato, beans and carrots, served with a boiled egg (usually), tofu or tempeh AND a traditional peanut sauce. If it doesn’t have a homemade peanut sauce, take it back 😀 ’cause it ain’t Gado Gado. I swear, it’s the peanut sauce that makes this dish what it is and without it, well … it’s not it.

Indonesian Curry

You might think that Shri Lanka or Thailand have the best curry but hold on a second. You haven’t been to Indonesia yet. Honestly, Indonesian make such a fantastic curry that even if you’re not a huge curry fan normally, you’ll be sold.

It’s a fine mixture of coconut milk, local spices and a choice of meat, fish or tofu & tempeh (again) serviced with a scoop of rice (if you’re lucky with some crispy fried garlic on top) and a side of veggies.

If you’re ever in Sanur, don’t leave before you’ve tried the curry at Lilla Warung (pictured below). It honestly is INCREDIBLE or like the Indonesians would say “sangat lezat” (i.e very delicious).

Also, if you’re kinda obsessed with staying healthy (like I am), the curry is a great way to actually eat super healthy in Indonesia as it’s one of the few dishes where the meat and the tofu and tempeh aren’t deep fried.

---

Looking for more articles on Indonesia?

• Adventure of a lifetime: Mount Bromo without a tour
• What it’s really like to visit Wae Rebo without a guide

Liked this post? Pin it for later!