Rice Dishes in Indonesia

When on a holiday to Indonesia, you must try out the Indonesian food. With over 17,000 islands to choose from where to eat in Indonesia is not a problem. All too often backpackers and tourists seem to fall into a kind of rut and eat only nasi goreng, fried rice, thinking they have tried Indonesian food. Well, they have but that’s just a start!. There is much more and if you’re adventurous enough the mouth-watering food of the archipelago will be just as much an enjoyment as your trip.

You will find that local flavours tend to be simple with the predominant flavours being chillies and peanuts but if you travel in Java you will find they like their food rather sweet. I would venture to say that Java is a Diabetic’s nightmare!. Rice is the staple diet of Indonesia and you can try out numerous rice preparations. Naturally, the most popular of rice dishes with tourists being nasi goreng.

Here’s a few rice dishes that you might find tempting:

Bubur Nasi: Rice porridge with toppings, popular at breakfast.

Lontong: Rice packed tightly into bamboo containers.

Nasi Goreng: The ubiquitous fried rice.

Nasi Kuning: Yellow spiced rice, originally a festive ceremonial dish.

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.

Nasi Uduk: Slightly sweet rice cooked with coconut milk, eaten with omelette and fried chicken; popular at breakfast.