Indonesian Common Dishes

When Obama visited Indonesia, He said that he likes Bakso very much. Thank you, Mr.President!
What is Bakso?

Bakso or baso is Indonesian meatball. Bakso is commonly made from the mixture of grounded beef and tapioca flour, however bakso can also be made from other ingridients, such as chicken, fish, or shrimp. Bakso are usually served in a bowl of beef broth soup, with yellow noodles, bihun (rice vermicelli), salted vegetable, tofu, egg (wrapped within bakso), Chinese green cabbage, bean sprout, siomay or steamed meat dumpling, and crispy wonton, sprinkled with fried shallots and celery. Unlike other meatball recipes, bakso has a consistent homogeneous texture. Bakso can be found all across Indonesia; from the traveling cart street hawkers to restaurants. Today various type of ready to cook bakso also available as frozen food commonly sold in supermarkets in Indonesia. Slices of bakso often used and mixed as compliments in mi goreng, nasi goreng, or cap cai recipes.

Well, Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including fried rice accompanied with other items, or a more complicated fried rice, typically spiced with tamarind and chilli and including other ingredients, particularly egg and prawns. There is also a special nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across the country. And recently, more type of Nasi goreng appears everywhere in Indonesia. The latest I heard about Nasi Goreng Gila (Crazy Fried Rice), i don't know why they called it like that but this Nasi goreng is mixed with Instant noodle when it cooked.

Nasi goreng is considered the national dish of Indonesia. There are many Indonesian cuisines but few national dishes. Nasi goreng is the best of them. Indonesia's national dish knows no social barriers. It can be enjoyed in its simplest manifestation from a tin plate at a roadside warung, or food stall; eaten on porcelain in fancy restaurants, or constructed at the ubiquitous buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.

The typical Indonesian fruit rujak consists of slices of assorted tropical fruits such as jambu air (water apple), pineapple, raw mangoes, bengkoang (jicama), cucumber, kedondong, and raw red ubi jalar (sweet potato). Sometimes Malang variants of green apple, belimbing, and jeruk Bali (pomelo) are added. The sweet and spicy-hot bumbu rujak dressing is made of water, gula jawa (palm sugar), asem jawa (tamarind), ground sauteed peanuts, terasi (shrimp paste), salt, bird's eye chili, and red chili. All of the fruits are sliced to bite-size, and put in the dish. The bumbu rujak or thick sweet spicy rujak dressing is poured on the fruit slices. An addition of sambal garam powder (simple mixture of salt and ground red chilli) is put on side as the alternative for those who love a salty taste for their rujak.

Nasi Kuning is an Indonesian rice dish cooked with coconut milk and turmeric, hence the name nasi kuning (yellow rice). Nasi kuning might comes in a form of a cone called a tumpeng and is usually eaten during special events. The rice looks like a pile of gold, so it is often served at parties and opening ceremonies as a symbol of good fortune, wealth and dignity.

It is usually served with a variety of side dishes such as shredded omelet, serundeng (relish of grated coconut and spices), urab (vegetable in shredded coconut dressing), teri kacang (fried anchovy and peanuts), sambal goreng (fried tempeh and potato caramelized in spicy sauce), ayam goreng (Javanese-style fried chicken), balado udang (shrimp in chilli), or perkedel (potato fritters). More elaborate nasi kuning might include fried cow's brain, fried cow's lung, beef and seafood. It is common to serve nasi kuning with kerupuk udang (shrimp cracker) and a decoratively cut cucumber.

The top of the tumpeng is customarily given to the most senior person in attendance. but you can find Nasi kuning every morning which is sold everywhere.

Soto, sroto, tauto or coto is a common dish to be found in various regional variations of Indonesian cuisine. It is a traditional soup mainly composed of broth, meat and vegetables. There is no clear definition what makes a soto, but normally all traditional soups are called soto, while western/foreign influenced soups are called sop. It might be considered Indonesia's national dish, served as it is from Sumatra to Papua and in enough variations to fill an entire cookbook. Soto is omnipresent in Indonesia, available in many an open-air eatery and on seemingly every other street corner.

There are so many variety of soto in Indonesia. You can find Soto Ayam, Soto Babat, Soto Kaki, and many more.