Indonesian Cuisine

Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands, and every region has its own cooking. What unites them is rice, sambal and coconut milk.

Kecap manis

A sweet, thick soy sauce made with palm sugar, almost like a molasses. It gives nasi goreng its dark colour and its sweet-salty flavour, and there's no exact substitute.

Sambal

Sambal is a hot chilli paste present on every Indonesian table, and it comes in dozens of forms. The best known are sambal oelek (chilli, salt and lime) and sambal terasi (with fermented shrimp paste).

Rendang

Meat cooked in coconut milk and spices for hours until all the liquid evaporates, the oil separates out of the coconut, and the meat begins to fry in it. One dish takes four hours, and the result keeps for weeks without refrigeration.

Satay

Small skewers of meat grilled and served with peanut sauce. Sold on every street, it's the best-known Indonesian street food.