Индонезия асқандарының сан алуан дәстүрлері

Culinary traditions of Indonesia

Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 1,300 ethnic groups. There are many regional cuisines, often based upon indigenous culture with some foreign influences. Indonesia's cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes in modest local eateries to street side snacks and top dollar plates. Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. Sumatran cuisine, for example, often has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables such as gulai and curry, while Javanese cuisine is mostly indigenous, acquired from certain ingredients and bumbu spices mixture. Indonesian dishes have rich flavours; most often described as savory, hot and spicy, and also combination of basic tastes such as sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Most Indonesians favour hot and spicy food, thus sambal, Indonesian hot and spicy chili sauce with various optional ingredients, notably shrimp paste, shallots, and others, is a staple condiment at all Indonesian tables. Seven main Indonesian cooking methods are frying, grilling, roasting, dry roasting, sautéing, boiling and steaming. Some popular Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng, gado gado, satay, and soto are ubiquitous in the country and are considered national dishes. The official national dish of Indonesia is tumpeng, chosen in 2014 by Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy as the dish that binds the diversity of Indonesia's various culinary traditions. Today, some popular dishes that originated in Indonesia are now common to neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Singapore. Indonesian dishes such as satay, beef rendang, and sambal are favoured in Malaysia and Singapore. Soy based dishes, such as variations of tofu and tempeh, are also very popular. Tempeh is regarded as a Javanese invention, a local adaptation of soy based food fermentation and production. Another fermented food is oncom, similar in some ways to tempeh but using a variety of bases (not only soy), created by different fungi, and particularly popular in West Java.

Indonesian cuisine has a long history—although most of it is not well documented, and relied heavily on local practice and oral traditions. A rare instance is demonstrated by Javanese cuisine that somewhat has quite a well documented culinary tradition. The diversity ranges from ancient bakar batu or stone grilled yams and boar practiced by Papuan tribes of eastern Indonesia, to sophisticated contemporary Indonesian fusion cuisine. The ethnic diversity of Indonesian archipelago provides an eclectic combination — mixing local Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Minang, Malay and other native cuisine traditions, with centuries worth of foreign contacts with Indian traders, Chinese migrants and Dutch colonials. Rice has been an essential staple for Indonesian society, as bas reliefs of 9th century Borobudur and Prambanan describes rice farming in ancient Java. Ancient dishes were mentioned in many Javanese inscriptions and historians have succeeded in deciphering some of them. The inscriptions from Kingdom of Mataram era circa 8th to 10th century mentioned several ancient dishes, among others are hadaŋan haraŋ (minced water buffalo meat satay, similar with today Balinese sate lilit), hadaŋan madura (water buffalo meat simmered with sweet palm sugar), and dundu puyengan (eel seasoned with lemon basil). Also various haraŋ haraŋ (grilled meats) either celeṅ/wök (pork), hadahan/kbo (water buffalo), kidaŋ/knas (deer) or wḍus (goat). Ancient beverages include nalaka rasa (sugarcane juice), jati wangi (jasmine beverage), and kinca (tamarind juice). Also various kuluban (boiled vegetables served in spices, similar with today urap) and phalamula (boiled yams and tubers served with liquid palm sugar). Other ancient vegetable dishes include rumwah rumwah (lalap), dudutan (raw vegetables) and tetis. The 9th century Old Javanese Kakawin Ramayana mentioned cooking technique as Trijata offered Sita some food (canto 17.101); scrumptious food of landuga tatla tila (cooked with oil) and modakanda sagula (sugared delicacies). In the 15th century Sundanese manuscript Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian, it was mentioned the common Sundanese food flavours of that times which includes; lawana (salty), kaduka (hot and spicy), tritka (bitter), amba (sour), kasaya (savoury), and madura (sweet). By the 13th to 15th century, coastal Indonesian polities began to absorb culinary influences from India and the Middle East, as evidence with the adoption of curry like recipes in the region. This was especially affirmative in the coastal towns of Aceh, Minangkabau lands of West Sumatra, and Malay ports of Sumatra and Malay peninsula. Subsequently, those culinary traditions displayed typical Indian culinary influences, such as kare (curry), roti cane and gulai. This also went hand in hand with the adoption of Islamic faith, thus encouraged halal Muslim dietary law that omits pork. On the other hand, the indigenous inhabitant that resides inland—such as the Bataks and Dayaks, retains their older Austronesian culinary traditions, which incorporate bushmeat, pork and blood in their daily diet. According to the 17th century account of Rijklof van Goens, the ambassador of the VOC for Sultan Agung's Javanese Mataram court, the techniques of meat processing (sheep, goats, and buffalo) during celebration in Java, was by grilling and frying the seasoned meat. Unlike European, the Javanese primarily use coconut oil instead of butter. The vigor of spice trade during the age of exploration has brought European traders to Indonesian shores. Subsequently, European colonialism was established in the 19th century Dutch East Indies. The influences of European cuisine—most notably the Portuguese and Dutch, has introduced European techniques, especially in bread making, pastries, cookies and cake baking. Indonesian culinary tradition has been exposed to various influences. Regarding the method of food processing techniques, each region has developed a specificity that ultimately leads to localization of regional taste. Although, in many parts of the country, such as West Java, Gorontalo and West Sumatra, it is also common to eat with one's bare hands. In restaurants or households that commonly use bare hands to eat, such as seafood food stalls, traditional Sundanese and Minangkabau restaurants, or East Javanese pecel lele (fried catfish with sambal) and ayam goreng (fried chicken) food stalls, kobokan is usually served along with the food. Kobokan is a bowl of tap water with a slice of lime in it to give a fresh scent, this bowl of water is not intended for consumption, rather 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 classes in contemporary Indonesia, and it holds the central place in Indonesian culture: it shapes the landscape; is sold at markets; and is served in most meals both as a savoury and a sweet food. The importance of rice in Indonesian culture is demonstrated through the reverence of Dewi Sri, the rice goddess of ancient Java and Bali. Traditionally the agricultural cycles linked to rice cultivations were celebrated through rituals, such as Seren Taun rice harvest festival. Rice is most often eaten as plain rice with just a few protein and vegetable dishes as side dishes. It is also served as nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk), nasi kuning (rice cooked with coconut milk and turmeric), ketupat (rice steamed in woven packets of coconut fronds), lontong (rice steamed in banana leaves), intip or rengginang (rice crackers), desserts, vermicelli, noodles, arak beras (rice wine), and nasi goreng (fried rice). Nasi goreng is omnipresent in Indonesia and considered a national dish. Today, instant noodles have become a staple in Indonesian households for quick hot meals. Certain brands such as Indomie have become household names.

Other staple foods in Indonesia include a number of starchy tubers such as yam, sweet potato, potato, taro and cassava. Starchy fruit such as breadfruit and jackfruit and grains such as maize are eaten. A sago congee called papeda is a staple food especially in Maluku and Papua. Sago is often mixed with water and cooked as a simple pancake. Next to sago, people of eastern Indonesia consume wild tubers as staple food. Many types of tubers such as talas (a type of taro but larger and more bland) and breadfruit are native to Indonesia, while others were introduced from elsewhere. Yam was introduced from Africa; while potato, sweet potato, cassava and maize were introduced from the Americas through Spanish influence and reached Java in the 17th century. Cassava is usually boiled, steamed, fried or processed as a 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. Clear vegetable soup includes sayur oyong. Other vegetables like calabash, chayote, kelor, yardlong bean, eggplant, gambas and belustru, are cut and used in stir fries, curries and soups like sayur asem, sayur lodeh or laksa. Daun ubi tumbuk is pounded cassava leaves dish, commonly found in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. 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. Tumis kangkung is a popular stir fried water spinach dish. Vegetables like winged bean, tomato, cucumber and the small variety of bitter melon are commonly eaten raw, like in lalab. The large bitter melon variety is usually boiled. Kecombrang and papaya flower buds are a common Indonesian vegetable. Urap is seasoned and spiced shredded coconut mixed together with vegetables, asinan betawi are preserved vegetables. Gado gado and pecel are a salad of boiled vegetables dressed in a peanut based spicy sauce, while karedok is its raw version.

Vegetarianism is well represented in Indonesia, as there is a wide selection of vegetarian dishes and meat substitutes that may be served. According to Euromonitor International survei conducted in 2018, Indonesia is the third highest rate of vegetarianism growth. Dishes such as gado gado, karedok, ketoprak, tauge goreng, pecel, urap, rujak and asinan are vegetarian dishes. However, dishes that use peanut sauce such as gado gado, karedok or ketoprak, might contain small amounts of shrimp paste, called "terasi", for flavor. Shrimp paste is also often used to add flavour to spicy sambal chili paste served with lalap assorted fresh vegetables. Fermented soy products, such as tempeh, "tahu" (tofu) and oncom are prevalent as meat substitutes and as a source of vegetable protein. In contemporary fusion cuisine, tempeh is used to replace meat patties and served as tempeh burger. Most Indonesians do not practice strict vegetarianism and may consume vegetables or vegetarian dishes for their taste, preference, economic and health reasons.

The main animal protein sources in the Indonesian diet are mostly poultry and fish, while meats such as beef, water buffalo, goat and mutton are commonly found in the Indonesian marketplaces.

The most common poultry consumed is chicken and duck to a lesser amount, pigeon, quail and wild swamp bird such as watercock are also consumed. Traditionally, Indonesians breed free ranged chicken in the villages known as ayam kampung (village chicken). Compared to common domesticated chicken, these village chicken are thinner and their meat are slightly firmer. Various recipes of ayam goreng (fried chicken) and ayam bakar (grilled chicken) are commonly found throughout Indonesia. Other than frying or grilling, chicken might be cooked as soup, such as sup ayam and soto ayam, or cooked in coconut milk as opor ayam. Chicken satay is also commonly found in Indonesia, it is a barbecued meat on skewer served with peanut sauce. Raised rabbits are also consumed as food in mountainous region of Indonesia. Some game meat such as venison might be sold and consumed in some areas of Indonesia. In Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, and Papua, deer meat can be found, usually wildly acquired by hunting. Other unusual and often controversial exotic meats include frog legs and softshell turtle consumed in Chinese Indonesian and Javanese cuisine, horse meat consumed in Yogyakarta, West Nusa Tenggara, and South Sulawesi, turtle meat consumed in Bali and Eastern Indonesia, snake, biawak (monitor lizard), paniki (fruit bats), dog meat, cat meat, and field rats consumed in Minahasan cuisine of North Sulawesi. Batak cuisine of North Sumatra is also familiar with cooking dog meat, while its consumption is diminishing in Central Java. Exotic and rare game meat such as crocodile, squirrel, civet, and monkey might also be sold and consumed in wilder parts of Indonesia.

In an archipelagic nation, seafood is abundant, and it is commonly consumed especially by Indonesian residents in coastal areas. Fish is especially popular in the eastern Indonesian regions of Sulawesi and Maluku, where most of the people work as fishermen. Both areas have a vast sea which brings them many different kinds of seafood. Popular seafood in Indonesian cuisine among others; skipjack tuna, tuna, mackerel, pomfret, wahoo, milkfish, trevally, rabbitfish, garoupa, red snapper, anchovy, swordfish, shark, stingray, squid or cuttlefish, shrimp, crab, blue crab, and mussel. Seafood is commonly consumed across Indonesia, but it is especially popular in Maluku islands, Gorontalo Peninsula and Minahasa (North Sulawesi) cuisine. Seafood is usually grilled, boiled or fried. Ikan bakar is a popular grilled fish dish that can be found throughout Indonesia. The method of cooking like stir fried in spices or in soup is also possible. Salted fish is preserved seafood through cured in salt, it also can be found in Indonesian market. Fresh water fisheries can be found in inland regions or in areas with large rivers or lakes. Fresh water fishes are popular in Sundanese cuisine of West Java, caught or raised in Lake Toba in Batak lands of North Sumatra, or taken from large rivers in Malay lands of Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, or large rivers in Kalimantan. Popular fresh water fish among others; carp, gourami, catfish, pangasius, snakehead, trichogaster, climbing gourami, Nile tilapia, and Mozambique tilapia.

Unlike Thailand, in Indonesia insect is not a popular food ingredient nor widely available as street food. In Java, locals do catch, breed and sell certain species of insects, usually sold fresh or alive as pet bird feed. Nevertheless, traditionally several cultures in Indonesia are known to consume insects, especially grasshopper, cricket, termite, also the larvae of sago palm weevil, bee and dragonfly. In Java and Kalimantan, grasshoppers and crickets are usually lightly battered and deep fried in palm oil as crispy kripik snack. Smaller grasshoppers, crickets and termites might be made as rempeyek batter cracker which resembles insect fossil. During monsoon rainy season, flying termites are abundant being attracted to lightbulbs to mate. Locals usually put a bucket of water under the lamp to trap the flying termites, pluck the wings, and roast the termites as additional protein rich snack. In Banyuwangi, East Java, there is a specialty dish called botok tawon (honeybee botok), which is beehives that contains bee larvae, being seasoned in shredded coconut and spices, wrapped inside banana leaf package and steamed. Dayak tribes of Kalimantan, also Moluccans and Papuan tribes in Eastern Indonesia, are known to consumes ulat sagu (lit. sagoo caterpillar) or larvae of sago palm weevil. This protein rich larvae are considered a delicacy in Papua, and often being roasted prior of consumption. Locals may also commonly eat the larvae raw or alive. In Bali, dragonflies are also consumed by processing them into pepes.

"Rempah" is the Indonesian word for spice, while "bumbu" is the Indonesian word for a spice 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 nutmeg or mace, clove, pandan leaves, keluwak and galangal are native to Indonesia. It is likely that black pepper, turmeric, lemongrass, shallot, cinnamon, candlenut, coriander and tamarind were introduced from India, while ginger, scallions and 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 chili pepper from the New World to the region in the 16th century. After that hot and spicy sambals have become an important part of Indonesian cuisine. Indonesia has perhaps the richest variants of sambals. In the Indonesian archipelago, there are as many as 300 varieties of sambal. The intensity ranges from mild to very hot. Sambal evolved into many variants across Indonesia, ones of the most popular is sambal terasi (sambal belacan) and sambal mangga muda (unripe mango sambal). Sambal terasi is a combination of chilies, sharp fermented shrimp paste called terasi, tangy lime juice, sugar and salt all pounded up with mortar and pestle. Sambal, especially sambal ulek, or sambal terasi can also become a base ingredient for many dishes, such as sambal raja (a dish from Kutai), terong balado, dendeng balado, ayam bumbu rujak, sambal goreng ati, among other things.

Soy sauce is also an important flavourings in Indonesian cuisine. Kecap asin (salty or common soy sauce) was adopted from Chinese cuisine, however Indonesian developed their own kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) with generous addition of palm sugar into soy sauce. Sweet soy sauce is an important marinade for barbecued meat and fish, such as satay and grilled fishes. Sweet soy sauce is also an important ingredient for semur, Indonesian stew.

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. All of these dishes applied ample of bumbu kacang (peanut sauce) for flavouring. Gado gado and satay, for example, have been considered Indonesian national dishes. It should have a delicate balance of savoury, sweet, sour, and spicy flavours, acquired from various ingredients, such as fried peanuts, gula jawa (coconut sugar), 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.

Coconuts are abundant in tropical Indonesia, and since ancient times Indonesians developed many and various uses for this plant. The broad use of coconut milk in dishes throughout the archipelago is another common characteristic of Indonesian cuisine. It is used in recipes ranging from savoury dishes – such as rendang, soto, gulai, mie koclok, sayur lodeh, gudeg, and opor ayam – to desserts – such as es cendol and es doger. The use of coconut milk is not exclusive to Indonesian cuisine. It can also be found in Indian, Samoan, Thai, Malaysian, Filipino, and Brazilian cuisines. Nonetheless, the use of coconut milk is quite extensive in Indonesia, especially in Minangkabau cuisine and Gorontalese cuisine, although in Minahasan (North Sulawesi) cuisine, coconut milk is generally absent, except in Minahasan cakes and desserts such as klappertaart. In Indonesian cuisine, two types of coconut milk are found, thin coconut milk and thick coconut milk. The difference depends on the water and oil content. Thin coconut milk is usually used for soups such as sayur lodeh and soto, while the thicker variety is used for rendang and desserts. It can be made from freshly shredded coconut meat in traditional markets, or can be found processed in cartons at the supermarket. After the milk has been extracted from the shredded coconut flesh to make coconut milk, the ampas kelapa (leftover coconut flesh) can still be used in urap, seasoned and spiced shredded coconut meat mixed together with vegetables. Leftover shredded coconut can also be cooked, sauteed and seasoned to make serundeng, almost powdery sweet and spicy finely shredded coconut. Kerisik paste, added to thicken rendang, is another use of coconut flesh. To acquire a rich taste, some households insist on using freshly shredded coconut, instead of leftover, for urap and serundeng. Serundeng can be mixed with meat in dishes such as serundeng daging (beef serundeng) or sprinkled on top of other dishes such as soto or ketan (sticky rice). An example of the heavy use of coconut is burasa from Makassar, rice wrapped in banana leaf cooked with coconut milk and sprinkled with powdered coconut similar to serundeng.

Most of the common Indonesian dishes are named according to their main ingredients and cooking method. For example, ayam goreng is ayam (chicken) and goreng (frying), which denotes fried chicken. Mie goreng is fried noodle, ikan bakar is grilled fish, udang rebus is boiled shrimp, babi panggang is roasted pork and tumis kangkung is stir fried water spinach. Cooking methods in Indonesian kitchen are goreng (frying) either in a small amount of oil or deep frying with a lot of cooking oil, tumis (stir frying), sangrai (sautéing). Roasting methods are bakar (grilling) usually employing charcoal, firewood, or coconut shell, panggang (baking/roasting) usually refer to baking employing oven. Other methods are rebus (boiling), kukus (steaming) and asap/salai (smoking). The fire used in cooking can be either a strong fire or a small fire for slow cooking. Cooking nasi goreng usually employs strong fire, while authentic rendang for example requires a small fire for slow cooking of beef, spices, and coconut milk until the meat is caramelised and all the coconut milk's liquid has evaporated. Traditional Indonesian dapur (kitchen) usually employs firewood fuelled kitchen stove, while the contemporary household today uses liquefied petroleum gas fuelled stove or an electric stove. The ingredients could be cut into pieces, sliced thinly, or ground into a paste. Cooking utensils are wajan (wok), penggorengan (frying pan), panci (cauldron), knives, several types of spoon and fork, parutan (shredder), cobek and ulekan (stone mortar and pestle). Traditionally Indonesians use a stone mortar and a pestle to grind the spices and ingredients into coarse or fine pastes. Today most households use blender or food processor for the task. Traditional Indonesian cooking wares are usually made from stone, earthenware pottery, wood, and woven bamboo or a rattan container or filter, while contemporary cooking wares, plates and containers use metals – iron, tin, stainless steel, aluminium, ceramics, plastics, and also glass.

Initially during the early years of Indonesian independence, the ubiquitous and extremely popular nasi goreng was considered the national dish of the republic, albeit at that time was unofficial. Nasi goreng that is commonly consumed daily in Indonesian households was considered the quintessential dish that represent an Indonesian family. It is in the menu, introduced, offered and served in Indonesian Theatre Restaurant within the Indonesian pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Howard Palfrey Jones, the US ambassador to Indonesia during the last years of Sukarno's reign in the mid 1960s, in his memoir "Indonesia: The Possible Dream", said that he likes nasi goreng. He described his fondness for nasi goreng cooked by Hartini, one of Sukarno's wives, and praised it as the most delicious nasi goreng he ever tasted. Popular Betawi dishes include nasi uduk (coconut rice), sayur asem (sweet and sour vegetable soup), asinan (salad of pickled vegetables), gado gado, (boiled or blanched vegetables salad in peanut sauce), ketoprak, (vegetables, tofu, rice vermicelli and rice cake in peanut sauce), and kerak telor (spiced coconut omelette). Born from a creole or hybrid phenomena, the Betawi cuisine is quite similar to the Peranakan cuisine.

A textural speciality of Sunda (West Java) is karedok, a fresh salad made with long beans, bean sprouts, and cucumber with a spicy peanut sauce. Lalab fresh vegetables served with spicy sambal dipping sauce is ubiquitous in Sundanese households and eating establishments. Other Sundanese dishes include mie kocok which is a beef and egg noodle soup, and Soto Bandung, a beef and vegetable soup with daikon and lemon grass. A hawker favourite is kupat tahu (pressed rice, bean sprouts, and tofu with soy and peanut sauce). Colenak (roasted fermented cassava tapai with sweet coconut sauce) and ulen (roasted brick of sticky rice with peanut sauce) are dishes usually eaten warm.

The food of Central Java is renowned for its sweetness, and the dish of gudeg, a curry made from jackfruit, is a particularly sweet. The city of Yogyakarta is renowned for its ayam goreng (fried chicken) and klepon (green rice flour balls with palm sugar filling). Surakarta's (Solo) specialities include Nasi liwet (rice with coconut milk, unripe papaya, garlic and shallots, served with chicken or egg) and serabi (coconut milk pancakes topped with chocolate, banana or jackfruit). Other Central Javanese specialities pecel (peanut sauce with spinach and bean sprouts), lotek (peanut sauce with vegetable and pressed rice), and opor ayam (braised chicken in coconut sauce).