Indonesia as a big country has a wide array of foods that you can try. The numerous options of foods that you can have allow you to fulfill your cravings and satisfy your tummy, and at the same time leaving you to want more. Indonesian foods are delicious because they use many varieties of spices and herbs and even some foods need a longer cooking process to prepare. Make sure that your stay in Indonesia lets you taste as many foods as possible so that it can enrich your culinary experience. This post might help you to find some tasty foods you can try, let’s get started!

• Nasi Uduk
  
  If you like savory and rich flavor of rice, you might like eating this dish. The word uduk itself means “mix” in English, so nasi uduk is actually “mixed rice” in Betawi dialect. This dish is from Betawi style steamed rice cooked using coconut milk. Nasi uduk uses many spices and herbs, such as coconut milk, clove, lemongrass, cinnamon, pandan leaf, coriander seed, bay leaves, and sometimes cardamom, and this is what makes this rice tasty and flavorful. Nasi uduk can be served with other side dishes to make it tastier, such as tempe orek (tempe stirred fried with sweet soy sauce), teri kacang (anchovy with peanuts), semur telur (egg steamed with sweet soy sauce), shredded omelette, sambal kacang (peanut chili sauce), or sambal bawang (chili, garlics, and shallots fried then pounded). These side dishes compliment the savory flavor of nasi uduk and make it taste even much better. You can serve nasi uduk when it is still warm, so it will taste more delicious.
  
  
• Pempek
  
  Pempek is another Indonesian dish that is so tasty, and it is recommended to try. Pempek is originally from Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra province. Fortunately, you do not have to go there to taste this food because it can be found across some places in Jakarta. The pempek itself is made from fish (mashed) and sago or tapioca. All those ingredients are mixed together into a dough then deep-fried in hot oil. To make it taste better, you need sauce when eating pempek. The sauce is called cuko and it is made from chili, pepper, garlic, sugar, and vinegar. There are several types of pempek that you can find in Indonesia, namely pempek kapal selam/pempek telok, pempek lenjer, pempek kulit, pempek pistel, pempek tahu, pempek sang kerupuk, pempek tunu, and pempek lenggang, all these pempek are made from fish meat and its skin. Pempek kapal selam is one the famous ones because of the shape and its taste. You can taste the fish and egg at the same time because the egg is inserted in the middle of the dough then deep-fried. The name of pempek kapal selam was inspired from the cooking process where the dough was drowning when boiled and it made it look like a submarine, and it is special because of its bigger size compared to others. The word selam is “dive” in English, and the drowning dough when it is cooked looks like a submarine diving in a sea, that is why it is called kapal selam. The word kapal selam itself in English is “submarine.” When serving pempek, people usually add some noodles and sprinkle some shrimp powder, and finally the essential point is to drench it in cuko sauce.
  
  
• Kerak Telor
  
  Kerak telor is a signature snack that comes from Betawi. This snack
  usually can be found in the annual Jakarta Fair held every July, and it is a
  a popular snack that is worth trying. In the past, kerak telor was considered to
  be food for the wealthy people and served at parties, but now everyone can
  taste it. Kerak telor is like an omellete cooked on a charcoal heated
  wok, it is made from glutinous rice fried with duck egg and topped with
  shredded coconut, fried shallots, and dried shrimp. Duck egg is one of the
  ingredients that make kerak telor tastier compared to chicken egg. You
  can measure the level of the spiciness according to your taste bud, if you
  want it spicy you can add more chillis. You should try kerak telor because it
  has a unique taste from regular snacks you usually find out there.
  
  
• Sate
  
  If you happen to find a dish of meat that is skewered on a bamboo skewer and grilled, you might be curious about it and want to taste it because it looks yummy. We bet you should try it, this dish is called sate or “satay” in English and it tastes so good that it makes you want more bites of it. Satay is originally from Java, this food can be found in almost every region in Indonesia and it is considered as the national dish of Indonesia. The meat that is usually used for sate is chicken, beef, and mutton, but you can also find other types of meat such as chicken’s intestines or liver, or other innards, you can find which one is the best for your taste bud. Sate commonly has barbeque flavor and it will be tastier if it is complemented with sauce that is made of sweet soy sauce or peanut. Each sauce can give you a different experience of taste, the cooking process over wood or charcoal fire can also give another sensation of the flavor, so what are you waiting for? Let’s try sate and enjoy!
  
  
• Gado-gado
  
  This dish will be a good option for those who like eating vegetables. Gado-gado is another type of Indonesian salad that is served with peanut dressing. The vegetables that are commonly used are cabbage, string beans, water spinach, bitter gourd, corn, chayote, and bean sprouts, and gado-gado is often complimented with potato, tempe, tofu, boiled egg, and rice cake. The
  peanut dressing can be made from peanuts or cashews (more delicious) and this dressing really goes well with the fresh boiled vegetables and other components in this dish. Gado-gado is also served with crackers or kerupuk and this makes this dish more interesting to try. You can find gado-gado at street food carts or sometimes in a restaurant and one of the best restaurants to eat gado-gado is Gado-gado Boplo. What makes the peanut dressing special is the use of terasi or shrimp paste, this paste gives unique and rich flavor to gado-gado. This food can also be a good option for those vegetarian people because it does not contain meat. One thing you must do when eating gado-gado is not to forget to mix the food with the peanut sauce and voila! you will get a scrumptious dish that can satisfy your hungry tummy.
  
  

Indonesia as a diverse nation with its rich cultures can offer you with many options of mouth-watering foods. Even several Indonesian foods are in the list of top delicious foods in the world like rendang. The myriad of rich flavors of Indonesian foods can leave you to stay longer and want more. So, make sure that your gastronomic journey in Indonesia is a special one that will be unforgettable for you.