10 Top Iconic Indonesian Food You Have to Taste

One of the interesting things to do in Indonesia is to explore and try Indonesian food and cuisine. Even one of the Indonesian dishes was the most delicious food in the CNN version in 2017. In this list, we just put the top 10 Indonesian foods that you must try. There are many traditional dishes in Indonesia.

Top Indonesian Food That You Must Try 

So, if you’re in Indonesia don’t miss your chance to try Indonesian foods. Let’s start :

1. Rendang Beef

Rendang Beef became the most delicious food in the world in 2017. The uniqueness of Rendang is its strong taste in spices. it takes at least 5-7 hours to cook rendang so that the texture of the beef is tender and the spices soak into the meat. You can eat rendang beef with warm rice and vegetables.

Read Also: 7 Best Historical Places Jakarta City to Must Visit

2. Sate

Sate or satay, chicken or goat meat cut into small pieces and stabbed with bamboo spears, after that, it was grilled with coals. It is served with peanut sauce and soy sauce. In Jakarta, there is a typical satay restaurant, namely Sate Senayan Restaurant.

The satay is only one piece of whole meat. Other differences are in the peanut flavor. The beans are really soft and have a thick peanut flavor. This restaurant has no branches outside Jakarta.

3. Oxtail soup

Oxtail soup or Indonesian people call it “Sop Buntut”. This might be an unusual food for yours because, as the name suggests, the main ingredient is oxtail. This soup is cooked with some vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Oxtail soup is usually cooked for quite a long time, to get a soft oxtail texture. For those of you who are beef lovers, you must try this food when in Indonesia.

4. Gado-Gado

If you are a vegetarian this food is perfect for you because it is similar to salad. Gado-Gado is made from various boiled vegetables such as cabbage leaves, long beans, bean sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and corn.

All vegetables are stirred with peanut sauce so that all are mixed. In addition, there is tofu, Tempe, and cucumber as a compliment. If you like spicy food, you can request the waiters to provide spicy Gado-Gado. This menu is perfect for lunch and is enjoyed with rice and crackers.

5. Fried Rice

You are probably familiar with this dish, it’s easy to find fried rice because it is available in many countries. However, the taste of Indonesian fried rice is more typical because it uses complete spices. Some fried rice is also mixed with mutton, chicken, and meatballs to taste delicious.

6. Gudeg

This is a particular food from Yogyakarta and Central Java. It’s made from young jackfruit cooked with coconut milk. It takes hours to make this dish. Gudeg is usually cooked together with teak leaves that make this dish brown. You can eat gudeg with rice and serve with thick coconut milk, chicken, eggs, tofu, and sambal goreng krecek.

7. Soto Betawi

Soto is a kind of soup, Indonesia has a variety of Soto. One of the best is from Jakarta known as Soto Betawi. The uniqueness of Soto Betawi is the sauce mixed with coconut milk, so it has a savory taste.

The main ingredient is beef, but some restaurants add other organs from cows such as the liver and lungs. There are vegetables, potatoes and tomatoes, and particular crackers as a compliment.

8. Tempe

Tempe is a healthy food, made from soybean fermentation. Usually, tempeh is processed into several dishes such as orek Tempe, sayur Tempe or usually Indonesian people serve fried tempeh as a compliment. The taste of Tempe is very unique because there are healthy bacteria that have a high protein. It’s very easy to get tempeh in Indonesia. Trust me, you will like it.

9. Pempek

Pempek is one of the traditional snacks from Indonesia. It’s made from mackerel fish and flour, and several other compositions such as eggs, mashed garlic, and seasoning Pempek is served with a special sauce that makes it more delicious. Brown sugar, vinegar, and various types of spices are the main ingredients.

10. Martabak

Another typical Indonesian snack that you must try is Martabak. There are 2 types of martabak, sweet and salty. Sweet martabak is made from flour dough and usually in the middle of the martabak is cheese, chocolate, and peanuts, so the taste becomes sweet.

Salted martabak is made of thinner flour dough, inside it contains beef, various types of spices, and leeks. So which do you think is more delicious?

If you have a plan to visit Indonesia for a business trip or go on vacation to Bali or anywhere in Indonesia you should not miss exploring Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and many more beautiful places in Java and Sumatra island.