Indonesian cuisine
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of regional culinary traditions of the various ethnic groups that form 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 600 ethnic groups.
There are many regional cuisines, often based upon indigenous cultures, with some foreign influences.
Tradition and characteristics
Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia's cuisine ranges from rice, noodle and soup dishes in modest local eateries to street-side snacks to elaborate dishes in expensive restaurants.Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. Sumatran cuisine, for example, has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables such as gulai and curry, while Javanese cuisine is mostly indigenous, with some hints of Chinese influence.
The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine. Elements of Chinese cuisine can be seen throughout Indonesian cuisine: foods such as noodles, meat balls, spring rolls, and wontons have been completely assimilated.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. The country's indigenous techniques and ingredients were influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought New World produce even before the Dutch came to colonize most of the archipelago. Indonesia's Moluccas Islands, which are famed as "the Spice Islands", contributed to the introduction of spices such as cloves and nutmeg to Indonesian and global cuisine.
Indonesian cuisine often has complex flavours, acquired from certain ingredients and bumbu spice mixtures. Indonesian dishes have rich flavours; usually 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 spicy chili sauce with various optional ingredients, notably shrimp paste, shallots, and others, is a staple condiment at all Indonesian tables. The seven main Indonesian cooking methods are frying, grilling, roasting, dry roasting, sautéing, boiling and steaming.
File:Indonesian food during Eid.jpg|thumb|260px|Opor ayam, gulai, ketupat, diced potatoes with spices, and bawang goreng served during Lebaran in Indonesia
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. Later in 2018, the same ministry has chosen 5 national dish of Indonesia; they are soto, rendang, satay, nasi goreng, and gado-gado.
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 popular 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, created by different fungi, and particularly popular in West Java.
History
Indonesian cuisine has a long history—although most of it is not well-documented, and relied heavily on local practice and oral traditions. An exception is Javanese cuisine, which 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.
File:KITLV 40091 - Kassian Céphas - Relief of the hidden base of Borobudur - 1890-1891.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Bas-relief of Karmawibhanga of 9th century Borobudur depicts a rice barn and rice plants being infested by mouse pestilence. Rice farming has a long history in Indonesia.
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. Inscriptions from the 8th to 10th century Kingdom of Mataram era mention several ancient dishes, among others are hadaŋan haraŋ, hadaŋan madura, and dundu puyengan. Also various haraŋ-haraŋ either celeṅ/wök, hadahan/kbo, kidaŋ/knas or wḍus. Ancient beverages include nalaka rasa, jati wangi, and kinca. Also various kuluban and phalamula. Other ancient vegetable dishes include rumwah-rumwah, dudutan and tetis.
The 9th century Old Javanese Kakawin Ramayana mentions cooking technique as Trijata offered Sita some food ; scrumptious food of landuga tatla-tila and modakanda sagula.
Several foods are mentioned in Javanese inscriptions dated from the 10th to 15th centuries. Some of this dishes are identified with present-day Javanese foods. Among others are pecel, pindang, rarawwan, rurujak, kurupuk, sweets like wajik and dodol, also beverages like dawet.
In the 15th century Sundanese manuscript Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian, it was mentioned the common Sundanese food flavours of that times which includes; lawana, kaduka, tritka, amba, kasaya, and madura.
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 the case 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, 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.
File:Common Spices in Bali, Indonesia.jpg|thumb|left|Indonesian spices including peppercorn, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. The famed 16th century spice trade has prompted European traders to seek spices' sources as far as Indonesian archipelago.
According to the 17th century account of Rijklof van Goens, the ambassador of the VOC for Sultan Agung's Javanese Mataram court, meat was prepared for celebrations in Java by grilling and frying the seasoned meat. Unlike Europeans, the Javanese primarily use coconut oil instead of butter.
Chinese immigrants settled in the Indonesian archipelago as early as the Majapahit period, circa 15th century CE, and came in larger numbers during the Dutch colonial period. The Chinese settlers introduced stir-frying technique that required the use of the Chinese wok and a small amount of cooking oil. They also introduced some new Chinese cuisine—including soy sauce, noodles and soybean processing technique to make tofu. Subsequently, soybean processing led to the possibly accidental discovery of tempeh. The earliest known reference to tempeh appeared in 1815 in the Javanese manuscript of Serat Centhini.
Indonesian culinary traditions have been exposed to various influences. The vigor of spice trade during the Age of Discovery 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 Portuguese and Dutch, introduced European techniques, especially in terms of bread-making, pastries, cookies and cake-baking.
Each region has developed a specificity that ultimately leads to localization of regional taste.
Customs, serving and consumption
Indonesian traditional meals usually consists of steamed rice as staple, surrounded by vegetables and soup and meat or fish side dishes. In a typical family meal, the family members gather around the table filled with steamed rice and several other dishes. Each dish is placed in a large communal plate or in bowls. Each of these dishes has its own serving spoons, used only to move food from the communal plate to one's personal plate. Each of the family members has their own personal plate that is first filled with steamed rice. Usually the oldest family member or the husband has the right to initiate the meal, followed by the rest of the family to help themselves with the dishes. Each of them take some portion of dishes from the communal plates into their own individual plates.On their personal plate, the steamed rice will soon be surrounded by two, three or more dishes; vegetables and fish or meat, and maybe some fried dishes, sambal and krupuk. In Indonesian customs — unlike in Japanese their counterpart — it is quite acceptable to be seen to mix the various dishes on a personal plate during consumption. A practice commonly found in nasi campur, nasi Padang, or during a buffet. The soupy dish might be served in a separate small personal bowl. Today in contemporary Indonesian restaurants, a set menu is often offered. This has led to the personal serving practice, in a similar fashion to those of Japanese cuisine, with a personal plate on a tray, a rattan or bamboo container each with a separate small portion of dishes surrounding the rice. This can be found in the presentation of nasi Bali.
Indonesian meals are commonly eaten with a spoon in the right hand and fork in the left hand. Unlike the European dining custom, knives are absent from the dining table, thus most of the ingredients such as vegetables and meat are already cut into bite-size pieces prior to serving. In some 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 and ayam goreng 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.
Chopsticks are generally only used in food stalls or restaurants serving Indonesian adaptations of Chinese cuisine, such as bakmie or mie ayam with pangsit, mie goreng, and kwetiau goreng.