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| Indonesian Food |
Basically there is no single form of "Indonesian Food", but rather, the diversity of regional food which is influenced locally by Indonesian culture and foreign influences. For example, rice which is processed into white rice, ketupat or lontong (steamed rice) as a staple food for the majority of Indonesia's population, but for the eastern part it is more commonly consumed sago, corn, cassava, and sweet potatoes. The general form of serving most Indonesian foods consists of staple foods with side dishes of meat, fish or vegetables on the side of the plate.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in world trade thanks to its location, and natural resources.
Historically, traces of Indonesian food have been found in a number of inscriptions from the 8th to the 10th centuries AD. At that time, the term catering was known, namely food related to the kitchen, made with a touch of art and provide pleasure. It was found in many Javanese and Sumatran inscriptions. But getting to the east of Indonesia, there are not many records, and the material is more homogeneous, namely sago. Cooking techniques, and native Indonesian food ingredients developed, and were later influenced by the culinary arts of India, the Middle East, China, and finally Europe. Spanish and Portuguese traders brought various food items from the American continent long before the Dutch succeeded in conquering Indonesia. The island of Maluku, known as the "Spice Islands", also donates native Indonesian spices to world culinary arts. The culinary arts of eastern Indonesia is similar to the art of cooking in Polynesia and Melanesia.
Sumatra food, for example, often displays Middle Eastern and Indian influences, such as the use of curry spices in meat and vegetable dishes, while Javanese food develops from the original cooking techniques of the archipelago. Cultural elements of Chinese food can be observed in several Indonesian dishes. Food such as noodles, meatballs, and spring rolls have been absorbed in the art of Indonesian food.
Several types of authentic Indonesian dishes can now also be found in several countries on the Asian continent. Popular Indonesian dishes such as satay, rendang, and sambal are also popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Soy-based foods, such as tofu and tempeh, are also very popular. Tempe is considered as an authentic Javanese invention, a local adaptation of soy fermentation. Another type of soy fermented food is oncom, similar to tempeh but using a different type of mushroom, oncom is very popular in West Java.
Indonesian food is generally eaten using a combination of spoon cutlery on the right hand, and a fork on the left hand, however in various places (such as West Java and West Sumatra) it is also commonly found to eat directly with bare hands.
In certain restaurants or households it is common to use hands to eat, such as a seafood restaurant, Sundanese and Padang traditional restaurants, or pecel catfish tent stalls and fried chicken typical of East Java. A place like this usually also serves kobokan, a bowl of tap water with sliced lime to give a fresh aroma. This bowl of water is not to be drunk; only used to wash hands before, and after eating using bare hands.
Using chopsticks for food is common in restaurants serving Chinese dishes that have been adapted into Indonesian dishes such as noodles or chicken noodles with dumplings, fried noodles, and fried noodles (fried flat noodles, similar to char kway teow).
