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Sriruya Food & Drinks in Indonesia

Food

With 17,000 islands to choose from, Indonesian food is an umbrella term covering a vast variety of cuisines, but if used without further qualifiers the term tends to mean the food originally from the central and eastern parts of the main island Java and now widely available throughout the archipelago. All too many backpackers seem to fall into a rut of eating nothing but nasi goreng (fried rice), but there are much more interesting options lurking about if you're adventurous and take the trouble to seek it out. With the exception of Balinese, Padang and Manadonese dishes, local flavors tend to be rather simple compared to neighbouring Malaysia or Thailand, the predominant flavorings being peanuts and chillies, and the Javanese in particular like their food rather sweet.
The main staple is rice (nasi), served up in many forms including:
bubur nasi, rice porridge with toppings, popular at breakfast
lontong and ketupat, rice wrapped in leaves and cooked so it compresses into a cake
nasi goreng, the ubiquitous fried rice
nasi kuning, yellow spiced rice, a festive ceremonial dish usually moulded into a sharp cone called a tumpeng
nasi padang, white steamed rice served with numerous curries and other toppings, originally from Padang but assimilated throughout the country with lots of variations and adjustments to taste.
nasi timbel, white steamed rice wrapped in a banana leaf (looks pretty but doesn't add any flavor)
nasi uduk, slightly sweet rice cooked with coconut milk, eaten with omelette and fried chicken; popular at breakfast
Noodles (mi or mie) come in a good second in the popularity contest. Worth a special mention is Indomie, no less than the world's largest instant noodle manufacturer. A pack at the supermarket costs under Rp 1000 and some stalls will boil or fry them up for you for as little as 2000 Rp.
bakmi, thin egg noodles usually served boiled with a topping of your choice (chicken, mushroom, etc)
kuetiaw, flat rice noodles most commonly fried up with soy sauce
Soups (soto) and watery curries are also common:
bakso/baso ("BAH-so"), meatballs and noodles in chicken broth
rawon, spicy beef soup, a speciality of East Java
sayur asam vegetables in a sour soup of tamarind
sayur lodeh, vegetables in a soup of coconut milk and fish
soto ayam, chicken soup Indonesian style with chicken shreds, vermicelli, and chicken broth and various local ingredients
Popular main dishes include:
ayam baka r, grilled chicken
ayam goreng, deep-fried chicken
cap cay, Chinese-style stir-fried vegetables
gado-gado, boiled vegetables with peanut sauce
gudeg, jackfruit curry from Yogyakarta.
ikan bakar, grilled fish
karedok, similar to gado-gado, but the vegetables are finely chopped and mostly raw
perkedel, deep-fried patties of potato and meat or vegetables (adopted from the Dutch frikadel)
sate (satay) , grilled chicken and lamb
sapo, Chinese-style claypot stew
Chillies (cabe or lombok) are made into a vast variety of sauces and dips known as sambal. The simplest and perhaps most common is sambal ulek, which is just chillies and salt with perhaps a dash of lime pounded together. There are many other kinds of sambal like sambal pecel (with peanut), sambal terasi (with shrimp paste), sambal tumpeng, etc. Many of these can be very spicy indeed, so be careful if you're asked whether you would like your dish pedas (spicy)!
Crackers known as kerupuk (or keropok, it's the same word spelled differently) accompany almost every meal and are a traditional snack too. They can be made from almost any grain, fruit, vegetable or seed imaginable, including many never seen outside Indonesia, but perhaps the most common is the light pink keropok udang, made with dried shrimp.
If you are daring enough to try the spiciest and even outlandish local foods, look for Batak eateries (Lapo) and Manadonese eateries. These two ethnicities have a different way of cooking than the standard Javanese and Padang style. Very hot and spicy, with unusual ingredients like wild boar, pork cooked in blood, dog and bat meat, all of which are "haram" (not halal) for Muslims. Tamed Muslim-friendly versions are available in malls and food courts, but it's worth it to seek out the real thing.
Perhaps the cheapest, tastiest and healthiest option, though, is to buy some fresh fruit, which is available throughout the year, although individual fruits do have seasons. Popular options include mango (mangga), papaya (papaya), banana (pisang), starfruit (belimbing) and guava (jambu), but more exotic options you're unlikely to see outside Indonesia include the scaly-skinned crisp snakefruit (salak) and the alien-looking local passionfruit (markisa). Probably the most infamous Indonesian fruit, though, is the durian. Named after the Indonesian word for thorn, it resembles an armor-plated coconut the size of a human head, and it has a powerful odor often likened to rotting garbage. Inside is yellow creamy flesh, which has a unique sweet, custardy, avocadoey taste and texture. It's prohibited in most hotels and taxis.

Drink

Tap water is generally not potable in Indonesia. Water or ice served to you in restaurants may have been purified and/or boiled (air minum or air putih), but do ask. Bottled water, usually known as Aqua after the best-known brand, is cheap and available everywhere, but check that the seal is intact.
Most hotels provide free drinking water because tap water is rarely potable. Do not use tap water for brushing your teeth. Also beware of ice which may not have been prepared with potable water or kept in hygienic conditions.
Quite a few Indonesians believe that cold drinks are unhealthy, so specify dingin when ordering if you prefer your water, bottled tea or beer cold, rather than at room temperature.
Juices
Fruit juices — jus for plain juice or es if served with ice — are popular with Indonesians and visitors alike, although the hygiene of the water used to make them can be dubious. In addition to the usual suspects, try jus alpokat, a surprisingly tasty drink made from avocadoes, often with some chocolate syrup poured in!
Coffee and tea
Indonesians drink both coffee (kopi) and tea (teh), at least as long as they have had vast quantities of sugar added in. An authentic cup of Java, known as kopi tubruk, is strong and sweet, but let the grounds settle to the bottom of the cup before you drink it. Last and least, no travel guide would be complete without mentioning the infamous kopi luwak, coffee made from beans which have been eaten, partially digested and excreted by the palm civet (luwak), but even in Indonesia this is an exotic delicacy costing upwards of Rp.200,000 (US$20) for a small pot of brew.
Tea (teh) is also quite popular, and the Coke-like glass bottles of the Tehbotol brand of sweet bottled jasmine tea are ubiquitous.
Jamu
The label jamu covers a vast range of local medicinal drinks for various diseases. Jamu are available in ready-to-drink form as well as in powder satchets or capsules. Most of them are bitter and drunk for the supposed effect, not the taste. Famous brands of jamu include Iboe, Sido Muncul, Jago, and Meneer; avoid buying jamu from the street as the water quality is dubious.

Traditional drinks

Wedang Serbat - made from star anise, cardamon, tamarind, ginger, and sugar. Wedang means "hot water".
Ronde - made from ginger, powdered glutinous rice, peanut, salt, sugar, food coloring additives.
Wedang Sekoteng - made from ginger, green pea, peanut, pomegranate, milk, sugar, salt and mixed with ronde (see above).
Bajigur - made from coffee, salt, brown sugar, cocount milk, sugar palm fruit, vanillin.
Bandrek - made from brown sugar, ginger, pandanus leaf, coconut meat, clove bud, salt, cinnamon, coffee.
Cinna-Ale - made from cinnamon, ginger, tamarind, sand ginger and 13 other spices.
Cendol/Dawet - made from rice flour, sago palm flour, pandanus leaf, salt, food coloring additives.
Talua Tea/Teh Telur (West Sumatra) - made from tea powder, raw egg, sugar and limau nipis.
Lidah Buaya Ice (West Kalimantan) - made from aloe vera, french basil, javanese black jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar, pandanus leaf, sugar.