Gudeg, Authentic Food From Jogja

Gudeg is a traditional food from Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia which is made from young Nangka (jack fruit) boiled for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk. Additional spices include garlic, shallot, candlenut, coriander seed, galangal, bay leaves, and teak leaves, the latter giving a reddish brown color to the dish. It is also called Green Jack Fruit Sweet Stew.

Gudeg is served with white rice, chicken, hard-boiled egg, tofu and/or tempe, and a stew made of crisp beef skins (sambal goreng krecek).

There are several types of gudeg; dry, wet, Yogyakarta style, Solo style and East-Javanese style. Dry gudeg has only a bit of coconut milk and thus has little sauce. Wet gudeg includes more coconut milk. The most common gudeg came from Yogyakarta, and usually sweeter, more dry and reddish in color because the addition of teak leaves. The Solo gudeg from the city of Surakarta is more watery and soupy with lots of coconut milk and whitish in color because teak leaves is absent. The East-Javanese style gudeg employs a spicier and hotter taste, compared to the Yogyakarta-style gudeg, which is sweeter. Gudeg is traditionally associated with Yogyakarta, and Yogyakarta often nicknamed as "Kota Gudeg" (city of gudeg). The center of Yogyakarta gudeg restaurants are in Wijilan area, east side of Yogyakarta Kraton (Sultans' palace).

Rendang, traditional food from Minangkabau

Rendang is a 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. 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 Malay classical literature, rendang is mentioned in Hikayat Amir Hamzah as early as the 1550s.

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.

Composition

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally beef liver, chicken, mutton, water buffalo, duck, or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk, spices and sometimes kerisik (toasted coconut paste) for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, allowing the meat to absorb the spicy condiments. The cooking process changes from boiling to frying as the liquid evaporates. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender. The spices may include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemon grass and chillies. Chicken or duck rendang also contains tamarind and is usually not cooked for as long as beef rendang.

Types

There are two kinds of rendang: dried and wet. Dried rendang can be kept for three to four months, and it is for ceremonial occasions or to honour guests. Wet rendang, also known as kalio, can be found in Minangkabau restaurants, and without refrigeration, it should be consumed within a month.

Rendang is often served with rice, ketupat (Indonesian compressed rice cake), and lemang (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes) in Indonesia.

Nasi goreng (Fried Rice)

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 the country.

Nasi goreng is considered the national dish of Indonesia. 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.

Nasi goreng can trace its origin from Chinese fried rice, however it is not clear when Indonesians began to adopt the Chinese fried rice and create their own version of nasi goreng. The Chinese influences upon Indonesian cuisine can be seen in nasi goreng and mie goreng and appeared simultaneously with the introduction of stir frying technique that required the use of a Chinese wok. The trade between China and the Indonesian archipelago flourished since the era of Sriwijaya around the 10th century and intensified in the Majapahit era around the 15th century. By that time the Chinese immigrants began to remain in the archipelago, bringing along with them their culture and cuisine. Chinese people usually favor freshly cooked hot food, and in their culture it is considered a taboo to throw away uneaten foodstuffs. As a result, the previous day's leftover rice was often recooked in the morning. Previously, Indonesians probably simply sun-dried the leftover rice to make intip or rengginang (rice cracker), the dried rice also could be ground to make rice flour.

The main distinctions of Indonesian fried rice compared to its Chinese and other Asian counterparts was mainly the application of sweet soy sauce, and the preference of stronger and spicier taste. Indonesian nasi goreng often includes krupuk and bawang goreng (fried shallots) to give a crispy texture.

Nasi goreng was part of the dinner menu for Barack Obama's state visit to Indonesia in 2010, where he praised the dish, along with bakso (meatball soup) and emping (melinjo crackers made from Gnetum gnemon), as delicious.

Variations

There is no single recipe of nasi goreng, every fried rice dish with certain mixtures, additions, ingredients, and toppings could lead to another recipe of nasi goreng. Usually, in Indonesian households, the ingredients of nasi goreng to be prepared for daily breakfast in the morning could be the leftovers of the previous day's meals preserved in the refrigerator, added with fresh vegetables and eggs. The basic ingredients of nasi goreng are rice left over from yesterday's meal and sliced or ground bumbu (spices) mixture of shallot, garlic, pepper, salt, tomato ketchup, sambal or chili sauce, and usually sweet soy sauce. Some variants may add saus tiram (oyster sauce), ang-ciu (chinese cooking red wine), kecap ikan (fish sauce), or kecap inggris (Worcestershire sauce). The texture of leftover cooked rice is considered more suitable for nasi goreng than that of newly cooked rice, as freshly cooked rice is too moist and soft.
Some of common nasi goreng recipes are:

• Nasi goreng ayam: the most common nasi goreng with chicken, spices and sweet soy sauce, the color is golden brown
• Nasi goreng istimewa: special nasi goreng, usually refer to nasi goreng ayam with addition of fried eggs topping
• Nasi goreng ati ampela: nasi goreng with chicken gizzard and liver
• Nasi goreng sapi: nasi goreng with beef
• Nasi goreng kambing: nasi goreng with goat meat
• Nasi goreng pete: nasi goreng with green stinky beans, the combo variation of nasi goreng kambing-pete is also popular
• Nasi goreng sea food: nasi goreng with seafood such as cuttlefish, prawns, shellfish and fish
• Nasi goreng ikan asin: nasi goreng with salted fish usually without sweet soy sauce, as the result the color is paler than regular nasi goreng
• Nasi goreng teri Medan: nasi goreng with salted anchovy, specialty of Medan, North Sumatra
• Nasi goreng Aceh: Aceh style spicy shrimp nasi goreng
• Nasi goreng Jawa Timur: East Javanese style of nasi goreng, similar with nasi goreng ayam, but sweet soy sauce is replaced with tomato and chili sauce, as the result the color is red instead of golden brown. The Makassar nasi goreng also red, similar to this one
• Nasi goreng Magelangan: Central Javanese Magelang style of chicken nasi goreng mixed with noodles, it can be considered as the crossover between nasi goreng and mie goreng, it is sometimes called as nasi ruwet .
• Nasi goreng amplop : nasi goreng "enveloped" in thin omelette, can be found in Indonesia.
• Nasi goreng santri: means priest's nasi goreng, refer to a meatless vegetarian nasi goreng
• Nasi goreng sosis: nasi goreng with sausages
• Nasi goreng Hawaii or also called nasi goreng nanas: nasi goreng with pineapple
• Nasi goreng Hongkong: nasi goreng Hongkong style, more closely related to Chinese fried rice and similar to Japanese Chahan (Yakimeshi)

Condiments:

• Krupuk: various types of crackers, usually emping or prawn crackers
• Acar: pickles made from vinegar preserved cucumber, shallots, carrot, and small chilli pepper
• Sambal: somekind of traditional chilli sauce
• Slices of fresh vegetables: usually cucumber, tomato, lettuce and cabbage
• Fried eggs: fried eggs, omelette or shredded omelette could be served as nasi goreng toppings

In Indonesian , nasi means cooked rice and goreng means fried.

Ingredients

The main ingredients for the plain nasi goreng include pre-cooked rice, soy sauce, garlic, shallot and some spring onions for garnishing. Nasi goreng can be eaten at any time of day, and many Indonesians, Malaysians and Singaporeans eat nasi goreng for breakfast, often using leftovers from the previous day's dinner. The rice used to make nasi goreng is cooked ahead of time and left to cool down (so it is not soggy), which is one reason to use rice cooked from the day before.

Restaurants

In restaurants, the dish is often served as a main meal accompanied by additional items such as a fried egg, fried chicken, satay, vegetables, and kerupuk (meaning crackers, also called "prawn crackers" and many other names). In many warungs (street stalls), when accompanied by a fried egg, it is sometimes called nasi goreng istimewa (special fried rice). Nasi goreng is usually sold together with bakmie (noodle with meatballs) goreng by the street vendor. They sell a simple nasi goreng with small amount of shredded fried chicken, scrambled egg (that is mixed with water), green vegetables, and served with pickled cucumber.

Soto (Traditional Soup From Indonesia)

Soto, sroto, tauto or coto is a common dish, found in many regional variations of Indonesian cuisine. It is a traditional soup mainly composed of broth, meat and vegetables. There is no clear definition of what makes a soto, but normally many traditional soups are called soto, whereas foreign and Western influenced soups are called sop. Soto is sometimes considered Indonesia's national dish, as it is served from Sumatra to Papua, in a wide range of variations. Soto is omnipresent in Indonesia, available in many an open-air eateries and on many street corners.

Varieties

Many metropolitan areas have their own regional versions of soto, so sotos can be classified by regional style:

• Ambon soto, It is made of chicken and broth, flavored and colored with turmeric, ginger, galangal, garlic (the three g's), lemongrass and loads of spices. Served with rice, the add-ins and toppings are blanched bean sprouts, shredded chicken, glass noodles, chopped celery leaves, golden fried shallots, fried potato sticks, kecap manis, hot sauce, and tiny potato croquettes. A healthy squeeze of lemon china, a really fragrant citrus, really brightens up the soup.
• Bandung soto, a clear beef soto with daikon pieces.
• Banjar soto, spiced with lemongrass and sour hot sambal, accompanied with potato cakes.
• Banyumas soto or sroto Banyumas or sroto Sokaraja, made special by its peanut sambal, usually eaten with ketupat (rice formed in coconut leaves).
• Betawi soto, made of beef or beef offal, cooked in a whitish cow milk or coconut milk broth, with fried potato and tomato.
• Kediri soto, a chicken soto in coconut milk.
• Kudus soto, made with water buffalo meat due to local taboos of the consumption of beef.
• Lamongan soto, a popular street food in various Indonesian metropolitan areas, a variation of the Madura soto.
• Madura soto or soto Sulung/soto Ambengan, made with either chicken, beef or offal, in a yellowish transparent broth.
• Makassar soto or coto Makassar, a beef and offal soto boiled in water used to wash rice, with fried peanut.
• Medan soto, a chicken/pork/beef/innards soto with added coconut milk and served with potato croqutte (perkedel). The meat pieces are fried before being served or mixed.
• Padang soto, a beef broth soto with slices of fried beef, bihun (rice vermicelli), and perkedel kentang (fried mashed potato).
• Pekalongan soto or tauto Pekalongan, spiced with tauco (a fermented miso-like bean paste).
• Semarang soto, a chicken soto spiced with candlenut and often eaten with sate kerang (cockles on a stick)
• Tegal soto or Sauto Tegal, almost same with Pekalongan soto spiced with tauco (a fermented miso-like bean paste). Sauto can be chicken soto, beef soto, or even beef offal.

Other sotos are named based on their chief ingredient:

• Soto ayam is chicken in a yellow spicy broth with lontong, nasi empit, ketupat (rice compressed by cooking wrapped tightly in a leaf, then sliced into small cakes), or vermicelli, commonly found inIndonesia.
• Soto babat is a cow's or goat's tripe, served in yellow spicy coconut milk soup with vermicelli, potato, and vegetables, usually eaten with rice. It is commonly found throughout Indonesia.
• Soto kaki (lit. "foot soto") is made of beef tendon and cartilage taken from cow's feet, served in yellow spicy coconut milk soup with vermicelli, potato, vegetables, and krupuk, commonly eaten with rice. It is Betawi food and can found in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Soto mi is a yellow spicy beef or chicken broth soup with noodles, commonly found in Indonesia. Bogor, Indonesia, is famous for its soto mi made with beef broth, kikil(cow's cartilage), noodles, and sliced risoles spring rolls.

Common Condiments

The following accompaniments are often eaten alongside soto.

• Stewed quail eggs or chicken eggs
• Cockles on a stick (sate kerang)
• Skewered grilled tripes (sate babat)
• Skewered grilled chicken giblets, such as intestine, gizzard and liver satay (sate ati ampela dan usus)
• Fried chicken giblets
• Prawn crackers, sometimes crushed and mixed with crushed fried garlic as koya in Madura or Lamongan soto
• Gnetum seed crackers (emping)
• Fried tofu or tempeh
• Mashed potato patties (perkedel)
• Hot chili sauce (sambal)
• Sweet soy sauce
• Fried shallot (bawang goreng)
• Spicy fried grated coconut (serundeng)
• Lime juice, sometimes replaced with vinegar

Ingredients

The meats that are most commonly used are chicken and beef, but there are also variations with offal, mutton, water buffalo meat and pork. The soup is usually accompanied by rice or compressed rice cakes (lontong, ketupat or buras). Offal is a very common ingredient in soto, and is considered as a delicacy: the rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe), reticulum (honeycomb and pocket tripe), omasum(book/bible/leaf tripe) and the intestines are all eaten.

Other ingredients of soto include soon alternatively spelled as sohun (rice vermicelli), mung bean sprouts and scallion.

Soto spices include shallots, garlic, turmeric, galangal, ginger, coriander, salt and pepper.

Soto can have a clear broth, a yellow transparent broth (coloured with turmeric) or a milky coconut-milk broth.

Soto in Malaysia and Singapore is the clear chicken broth type. Like many dishes, it may have been brought into the country by the many Javanese migrants in the early 20th century. Like bakso you can see many vendor here with the cheap price, its very delicious and indonesian people love it very much

Gallery of soto variants

• 

  Soto Bandung, beef in clear broth with daikon and fried soy nuts.
• 

  Soto Betawi, mainly consist ofoffals, with rice from Jakarta.
• 

  Soto Kaki Mencos (cow's foot tendons soto), a Betawi specialty.
• 

  Soto Kudus, a type of chicken soto.
• 

  Soto Sapi, beef soto fromYogyakarta.
• 

  Soto Madura.
• 

  Soto Padang, beef soto.
• 

  Soto Medan.
• 

  Coto Makassar, beef soto.
• 

  Soto mie, soto with noodles.

  
  

  Resource : wikipedia.org
• 

  Soto kambing, goat soto.

  
  

  
  

Bakso (Beef Meatball)

Bakso or baso is Indonesian meatball or meat paste made from beef surimi and is similar in texture to the Chinese beef ball, or fish ball.Bakso is commonly made from beef with a small quantity of tapioca flour, however bakso can also be made from other ingredients, such as chicken, fish, or shrimp. Bakso are usually served in a bowl of beef broth, with yellow noodles, bihun (rice vermicelli), salted vegetables, tofu, egg (wrapped within bakso), Chinese green cabbage, bean sprout, siomay or steamed meat dumpling, and crisp wonton, sprinkled with fried shallots and celery. Bakso can be found all across Indonesia; from the traveling cart street vendors to restaurants. Today various types of ready to cook bakso also available as frozen food commonly sold in supermarkets in Indonesia. Slices of bakso often used and mixed as compliments in mi goreng, nasi goreng, or cap cai recipes. Unlike other meatball recipes, bakso has a consistent firm, dense, homogeneous texture due to the polymerization of myosin in the beef surimi.

Variations

• Bakso urat: bakso filled with tendons and coarse meat

• Bakso bola tenis or bakso telur: tennis ball sized bakso with boiled chicken egg wrapped inside

• Bakso gepeng: flat bakso

• Bakso ikan: fish bakso (fish ball)

• Bakso udang: shrimp bakso

• Bakso Malang: A bowl of bakso dish from Malang city, East Java; complete with noodle, tofu, siomay and fried wonton

• Bakso keju: new recipe bakso filled with cheese

In Indonesia bakso sell by travelling vendor like this but you also can buy it in some restaurant and other. Many bakso vendor here because Indonesian like it very much. The cheapest price in 2011 is only Rp 6.000, 00 its equal almost only $1. You must try it.