Nasi goreng

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Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, tamarind and chilli and accompanied with other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia.

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Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia,[ though there are many other contenders. There are many Indonesian cuisines but few national dishes. Indonesia's national dish knows no social barriers. It can be enjoyed in its simplest manifestation from a tin plate at a roadside warung, travelling night hawker's cart; eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or constructed at the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.

In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Nasi Goreng as the number two of their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang

Gulai

Gulai is a type of food contained rich, spicy and succulent curry-like sauce. The main ingredients might be chicken, beef, mutton, various kinds of offals, fish and seafoods, and also vegetables such as cassava leafs and young jackfruit. The gulai sauce commonly have thick consistency with yellowish color because of the addition of ground turmeric. Gulai ingredients consists of rich spices such as turmeric, coriander, black pepper, galangal, ginger, chilli pepper, shallot, garlic, fennel, lemongrass, cinnamon and caraway, all these spices is ground into paste and cooked in coconut milk with main ingredient. Gulai is often described as an Indonesian type of curry, although Indonesian cuisine also recognize kari or kare (curry).

Gulai is one of the popular and widely distribute dish in Indonesian archipelago, especially in Sumatra, Java and also Malay peninsula. The dish was originated from Sumatra, and thought to be the local adaptation of Indian curry, developed and derived from Indian cuisine influence on Indonesian cuisine. The thick and yellowish gulai sauce is one of the most common sauce in Minangkabau cuisine to gave rich and spicy taste for meats, fishes or vegetables. The gulai sauce found in Minangkabau, Aceh, and Malay cuisine is usually have thick consistency, while the gulai in Java is thinner served in soup-like dish contains pieces of mutton, beef or offal.

Gulai usually served with steamed rice, however some recipe such as goat or mutton gulai might be served with roti canai.

Rendang

Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia,and is now commonly served across the country. One of the characteristic foods of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guests. Also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand, rendang is traditionally prepared by the Indonesian community during festive occasions.

Culinary expert often describe rendang as: 'West Sumatra caramelized beef curry'. Though rendang is sometimes described as being like a curry, and the name is sometimes applied to curried meat dishes in Malaysia, authentic rendang is nothing like a curry.In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Rendang as the number one dish of their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list.

Rawon or Nasi Rawon/Rawon Rice

Rawon or Nasi Rawon/Rawon Rice (when served with rice) is a strong rich tasting traditional Indonesian beef black soup. Originally from Surabaya in Indonesian province of East Java. It uses black nuts/keluak (Pangeum edule, fruits of kepayang tree) as the main spice which gives the strong nutty flavor and dark color to the soup.

The soup is made of ground mix­ture of garlic, shallot, keluak, ginger, candlenut, turmeric, red chili and salt sauteed with oil until it gets aromatic. The sauteed mixture is then poured into boiled beef stock with diced beef. Lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves and sugar are then added as seasonings.[ The spe­cial dark/black color of rawon comes from the keluak as the main spice.


The soup is usually garnished with green onion and fried shallot, and served with rice, hence the name Rawon Rice or Nasi Rawon in Indonesian language, together with baby bean sprouts, salted preserved egg, shrimp crackers and sambal chili sauce on the side.

Karedok

Karedok is a raw vegetable salad in peanut sauce from West Java, Indonesia.It is one of the Sundanese signature dish. It is made from cucumbers, bean sprouts, cabbage, legumes, Thai basil, and small green eggplant, covered in peanut sauce dressing. It is very similar to gado-gado, except all the vegetables are raw, while most of gado-gado vegetables are boiled, and it uses kencur,Thai basil and eggplant. 

Karedok is also known as lotek atah (raw lotek or raw gado-gado) for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce. Karedok is widely served as daily food in the Sundanese family, usually eaten with hot rice, tofu, tempeh and krupuk. Nowadays karedok can be found in many variation from hawkers carts, stalls (warung) as well as in restaurants and hotels both in Indonesia and worldwide.

Karedok is part of a wide range of Indonesian dressing and salad combinations, along with lotek, pecel and gado-gado. In many places, to retain authenticity in both the production and flavor, the peanut sauce is made in individual batches, in front of the customers. However, since the dish has gained popularity (because of the increase of Asian-themed restaurants) Karedok sauce is now mostly made ahead of time and cooked in bulk, although this is probably more common in Western restaurants rather than in Indonesia. Nowadays in supermarket and stores, many peanut seasoning for karedok are made and sold.

Gado-gado

Gado-gado (in Indonesian or Betawi language), also known as Lotek (in Sundanese and Javanese) is an Indonesian dish consisting of boiled vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing.It is differed from lotek atah or karedok for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce.

Another similar dish is Javanese pecel. It is thought to have originally been a Sundanese dish. It is widely served from hawkers carts, stalls (warung) as well as in restaurants and hotels both in Indonesia and worldwide.

Gado-gado is part of a wide range of Indonesian dressing and salad combinations, along with lotek, pecel and karedok. In many places, to retain authenticity in both the production and flavor, the peanut sauce is made in individual batches per order, in front of the customers to suit customers' personal preference on the degree of spiciness (the amount of chili pepper).

However, since the dish has gained popularity (because of the increase of Asian-themed restaurants) Gado-gado sauce is now mostly made ahead of time and cooked in bulk, although this is probably more common in Western restaurants rather than in Indonesia. Compared to Western and Indonesian salads, Gado-gado has much more sauce in it. Instead of being used as a light dressing, the vegetables should be well coated in the sauce.

Many stores now offer Gado-Gado dressing in dried blocks to which simply require to add hot water, making it easier and cheaper to cook at home.

Satay or sate

Satay or sate, is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce.

[1] Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo skewers are often used. These are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings.

Satay originated in Java, Indonesia.

[2] Satay is available almost anywhere in Indonesia, where it has become a national dish.

[3] It is also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries, such as: Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand as well as in the Netherlands, as Indonesia is a former Dutch colony.

Satay is a very popular delicacy in Indonesia; Indonesia's diverse ethnic groups' culinary arts (see Indonesian cuisine) have produced a wide variety of satays. In Indonesia, satay can be obtained from a travelling satay vendor, from a street-side tent-restaurant, in an upper-class restaurant, or during traditional celebration feasts. In Malaysia, satay is a popular dish—especially during celebrations—and can be found throughout the country.

Close analogues are yakitori from Japan, shish kebab from Turkey, shashlik from Caucasus, chuanr from China, and sosatie from South Africa. satay is listed at number 14 on World's 50 most delicious foods readers' poll complied by CNN Go in

Satay has achieved wide popularity in other parts of the world, which adds interest to the question of its origin:

The word "satay" is derived from Indonesian: sate.From Java, the satay spread across the archipelago and as the result wide variants of satay recipes has been developed. By late 19th century, satay has crossed the straits into neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. In the 19th century the term migrated, presumably with Malay immigrants from Dutch East Indies, to South Africa, where it appears as sosatie. The Dutch brought this dish — and many other Indonesian specialties — to the Netherlands which has influenced Holland’s cuisine to this day