Maybe some of you never heard any Indonesian Foods, but believe me, Indonesian foods are some of the best in the world. Our foods usually have spicy and savory taste. There is nothing can beat our sambal (chilly sauce). And we have many variant of it. Because of our vast archipelago, Indonesia has many different culinary tradition from Sabang to Marauke. I cannot describe the full list here, so I will pick 3 spicy Indonesian foods that I personally love and maybe you don't know.
1. Grilled Taliwang Chicken and Crush Fried Chicken.
For the first entry we have 2 contenders, grilled Taliwang chicken is from Lombok, and now very famous in Jakarta. Usually before grilling process the whole chicken was dip in special chilly sauce and also many secret spices. That will create very spicy and savory taste to the chicken. Taliwang chicken is served with rice and sambal (is a must).
Crush Fried Chicken or Ayam Geprek, is new variant of fried chicken. Usually the chicken is deep fried in oil but the difference is when it is served. The chicken is crushed using pestle and mortar while being mixed with sambal (again). After that it is usually served with rice and lalapan (slice of cucumber and fried cabbage)
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2. Rendang from Padang.
Rendang is one of the most famous Indonesian food in the world. Mainstream media always nominates rendang as one of the best food in the world. And actually it is quite fair. Rendang has really, and I mean really great taste. The spices and the tenderness of the beef meat will absolutely melt your body. If you find the great Padang restaurant, usually they already prepare the rendang from the night before. Because there are so many process when cooking rendang. It takes about 4-6 hours if you want to make really great rendang.
3. Smoked Pork (Daging Se'i) From Kupang
If you think Indonesia doesn't have any great smoked pork, you are dead wrong. Smoked pork from Kupang is usually called Se'i. Se'i is smoked using firewood and for increasing the taste and aroma, the meat usually wrapped in pandan or banana leaf. The smoking process will make sure the meat stay long and tender. For Muslim, you can also order beef se'i. Usually pork se'i is served with cassava leaf and rice.
If you have time to visit Indonesia, don't forget to try these 3 spicy and delicious foods. But, always asking the chef to tone the spice down if you can't handle it. Because usually the tourists (especially Westerners) cannot handle strong spices really well.
Happy Eat!