Indonesian Food
Learn the names of different kinds of foods in Indonesia
Also see: Dishes, Drinks and Eating
Indonesians eat differently from us - it is common for them to cook in the morning, and then leave the food out on the table (with a cover to protect it from the flies) for the rest of the day. Indonesians also seem to eat more often _ know Indonesians who eat five times a day, but never seem to get fat!
The general advice when visiting Indonesia is never to eat anything off the street that hasn't been cooked or peeled. At the risk of giving you food poisining, I think this is fine for tourists, but when living in a country I always choose to get used to the bugs so you can eat what you want.
Tourists usually choose the better restaurants and hotels to eat in. However, this is not always the best choice. The only time I have ever had serious food poisoning in Indonesia was in Bali when staying in a nice hotel. This was after six months of eating off the streets without getting anything worse than the runs. A friend later told me that while the cheaper warongs and cafes will cook their food fresh and then stay open until it has all been sold, the hotels will cook food and the refreeze anything that has not been eaten - to be served to the guest again at a later time.
| Food | Makanan |
| Rice (cooked) | Nasi |
| Rice (uncooked) | Beras |
| Bread | Roti |
| Noodles | Mie |
| Salt | Garam |
| Pepper | Merica |
| Chilli | Cabe/lombok |
| Sugar | Gula |
| Fish | Ikan |
| Meat | Daging |
| Ayam | Chicken – note that chicken is not counted as meat. Thus, sometimes an Indonesian will say: saya mau ayam, bukan daging – I want chicken not meat. |
| Soup | Sup |
| Pork (forbidden for much, but not all, of Indonesian’s population) | Babi |
| Beef (lit. meat cow) | Daging sapi |
| Goat/mutton | Daging kambing |
| Vegetables | Sayur |
| Fruit | Buah-buahan |
| Sauce | Kecap |
| Tomato sauce | Saos tomat |
| Sweet soya sauce | Kecap manis |
| Spicy sauce made with garlic, tomatoes, chillis, onion | Sambal |
| Crackers | Krupuk |