Indonesian Street Foods

Indonesia has 6,000 inhabited islands, 300 distinct native ethnicities, 742 different languages and one common link—a love of the street foods sold at warung-warung (food stalls) or from mobile kaki lima (vendors) who hawk their signature dishes or beverages from baskets balanced on their heads, wooden poles hung across shoulders, bicycles with baskets or push carts. Street foods are peddled for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks or late-night meals.

Vendors generally have a kuali (wok) on a burner or two, with an array of ingredients, condiments and seasonings to make sweet and savory deep-fried, steamed or boiled foods. Beverage vendors typically have a juicer for squeezing fresh juice, colored syrups and a display of colorful drinks in plastic containers.

Fresh-cut fruits, like longan, lychee, mangosteen, pineapple, papaya, star fruit, mango, guava, pomelo, jackfruit, durian and duku, are also available. Simple signs display available foods, often with claims of “best tasting” or “the only”—whether mee goreng (fried noodles), bakso (meatball soup), ayam panggang (grilled chicken) or ikan bakar (fried fish).

Sate (charcoal-grilled meats), nasi goreng (stir-fried rice with eggs, meatballs, chicken, beef or shrimp with vegetables), nasi uduk (fragrant rice with coconut milk), bubur ayam (spicy chicken porridge), rendang daging (slowcooked spicy beef) and rujuk (spicy salad) are common throughout Indonesia.

However, each of Indonesia’s many islands—often each town—boasts of its own specialty, such as rawon, a dark, beef stew with kluwek nuts from Java; laklak, a steamed rice cake with palm sugar and grated coconut from Bali; nasi gudeg, rice with jackfruit, chicken, egg and tofu in coconut milk from Jogjakarta; ayam taliwang, grilled chiles, tomatoes and seasoned chicken from Lombok; and empek-empak, deep-fried fish cakes served with kecap asin (a light soy sauce) from Sumatra. Nasi Padang is a Sumatran recipe of white rice and side dishes spiked with fiery chiles. 

Vendors also whip up delicious plates of steaming rice and noodles served with fiery sambals. Popular noodle dishes include bakmie goreng (stir-fried noodles), mie rebus (noodles in savory broth) and bihun ayam (rice vermicelli with chicken). Street foods are a snacker’s heaven. Simple jajanan (snacks) include pisang goreng (deep-fried banana), kacang goreng (fried, unshelled peanuts), kerupuk (shrimp crackers) and pergedel (shrimp or fish fritters with tofu and bean sprouts). Sweet snacks include es cendol (tapioca with coconut milk), bubur kacang hijao (mung-bean porridge), es teler (avocado, red beans and jackfruit, with shaved ice and milk), bajek (glutinous rice flour wrapped in corn leaves), and kipo (tapioca dough with a sweet, grated-coconut filling).

Popular drinks include kopyor (coconut water with chunks of coconut meat), air jeruk (orange juice), kopi susu (coffee with condensed milk), bandrek (spiced, hot ginger with pandan), jahe telor (ginger and raw egg froth), bajigur (palm sugar, milk and spices), teh telur (tea with egg froth) and fresh fruit juices with ice, sugar and evaporated milk. 

Susheela Raghavan is president of Taste of Malacca, a New Rochelle, NY–based supplier of innovative spice blends, including Indian, Southeast Asian, Malaysian and others from around the world, for retail, wholesale and foodservice. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]or by visiting www.tasteofmalacca.com.