Putting together a few phrases for Indonesian Food will help you decipher a menu or ask for a snack or dish at a street market or warung in Indonesia.
Be sure to check the Indonesian Recipes Index for some of these popular dishes:
Indonesian Food Terms
- mee
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Mee means noodles. There are a huge variety of Indonesian noodle dishes. The Recipe for Travel has a great, easy-to-make vegan noodle recipe with Indonesian peanut sauce available now!
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Nasi means rice. Rice is the staple of Indonesian meals in most parts of the country. For some Indonesians I met in my travels, plain steamed rice was the only dish in their breakfast and lunch.
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Goreng means fried. Nasi Goreng is fried rice. Mee Goreng is fried noodles.
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Indonesian soy sauce, much sweeter than Chinese soy sauce, used as a cooking ingredient and as a table condiment. I recall often having a choice of either sweet or hot, a ‘kicked up’ chili-infused version of the sweet, which I preferred
Popular Indonesian Dishes
Below is just a sample menu of some of the more popular dishes, with key ingredients, that you’ll find throughout Indonesia and in Indonesian restaurants around the world.
- sate
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also commonly spelled satay, basically small pieces of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp, skewered and grilled, and served with a peanut dipping sauce. A popular street snack in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
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a mixture of any vegetables on hand, usually a generous amount of crunchy cabbage and carrots included, with a peanut based sauce throughout
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fried rice, often served with a fried egg on top, and spruced up with ketcap, the Indonesian table condiment similar to Chinese food’s soya sauce
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fried noodles, often with a fried egg on top
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deep-fried, airy shrimp chips accompanying many meals and available as a snack
This menu of Indonesian food terms and dishes will expand over time and recipes from many Southeast Asian cuisines will be added to the Recipe Box, so be sure to check back regularly.
