Joanna James
With the rendang voted the best dish in the world, in a poll conducted by CNN a couple of years, ago, Indonesian food has come to centre stage in recent years. With that being said, here are some noteworthy mentions to taste in Indonesia.
Sambal is pretty much a staple dish in Indonesia, being a popular side dish with the meals served there. The sambal is a mixture of shrimp paste, chillies, lime juice, sugar and salt all blended together in a mortar and pestle. Do you want to know what this does? Well, it's going to rise the taste of the dish to a whole new platform. If you're looking for hotels in Makassar for accommodation, then check out the Citadines Royal Bay Makassar for a comfortable stay from where you can check out many restaurants offering amazing local cuisine.
It's a must to taste Satay when in Asia. Popular all around the world, the satay is a skewered grilled meat dish. You can choose any kind of meat, be it, mutton, chicken or goat. Even rabbit, if you have a knack for it. The meat is first coated with a marination that comprises of turmeric and then barbecued. Once that's complete, the meat is topped with a rich peanut sauce, and that's it! A mouthwatering goodness one would die to taste. Satay might be popular all around the world, but Indonesians consider it a national dish. So make sure to order a plate no matter what happens!
Bakso is not only a local favourite, even Barrack Obama reminisced it as one of his favourite dishes during his trip to Jakarta. The is a noodle soup that contains flavoured savoury meatballs. These meatballs, typically the size of a golf ball or sometimes even bigger, can be of beef, pork or chicken. Or if you're up for the challenge, you can order meatballs that is made out of a mixture of all the meat. The Bakso is normally garnished with some wontons, boiled egg and fried shallots and is sold in pushcarts. A good old local dish to try!
Soto has strong roots in Indonesian culture and is another worthy mention. This is basically a meat soup and some street vendors sell the plain version which involves some soup that has chicken, beef or goat in it. But in Jakarta, this dish is on a whole new playing field. Soto served here has a rich coconut milk base and is garnished with fried garlic and shallots on top. To boot, sambal too is served adding more flavour! What more can you ask for?
Everyone has heard of the Nasi goreng, and it's a 'go to' rice dish in many parts of the world. But with Indonesians considering it a national dish, you can expect a truly exceptional plate of Nasi goreng when in this country. To boot, the country also offers Nasi Gila which means crazy rice. Crazy as it sounds, chefs hide away many different kinds of meat inside the rice and it's your duty to find them, taste them and guess them!
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