Indonesian Cuisine

Indonesian cuisine reflects the diversity of people inhabiting about 6,000 islands that make up the Indonesian state. Maybe there is actually no one singular "Indonesian cuisine", but rather, the diversity of regional cuisine that is influenced locally by Indonesian culture and foreign influence.

Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in world trade due to location and its natural resources. Cooking techniques and ingredients native to Indonesia to grow food and then influenced by the culinary arts of India, the Middle East, China and finally Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese traders brought a variety of foodstuffs from the Americas long before the Dutch managed to master the Indonesian. The island of Maluku is renowned as the "Spice Islands", also donated the herb plants native to Indonesia to the culinary arts world. Culinary arts eastern Indonesian region similar to the Polynesian and Melanesian art of cooking.

Cuisine Sumatra, for example, often showing the influence of the Middle East and India, such as the use of curry in the dish of meat and vegetables, while the Javanese cuisine evolved from the original cooking techniques archipelago. Elements of Chinese food culture can be observed in several Indonesian cuisine. Dishes such as noodles, meatballs, and spring rolls has been absorbed in the art of Indonesian cuisine.

Several types of native Indonesian cuisine is also now can be found in several Asian countries. Popular Indonesian dishes such as satay, rendang, and the sauce is also popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Material from soy-based foods like tofu and tempeh variations, is also very popular. Tempe is considered as an original invention of Java, local adaptation of fermented soybeans. Other types of fermented soy foods are oncom, similar to tempe but using different types of mushrooms, oncom very popular in West Java.

Indonesian food is generally eaten with a spoon combination cutlery on his right hand and fork on the left hand, though in many places (such as West Java and West Sumatra) are also commonly found to eat directly with bare hands. In the restaurant or certain common household use hands to eat, such as seafood restaurants, traditional restaurants and Padang Sundanese, or tent stalls Pecel Catfish and Chicken Fried typical of East Java. Places like this are usually also present the finger bowl, a bowl of tap water with lemon slices to give a fresh scent. A bowl of water should not be drunk; only used for washing hands before eating and after using their bare hands. Using chopsticks to eat commonly found in restaurants serving Chinese cuisine which has been adapted into Indonesian cuisine like bakmie or noodles with chicken dumplings, fried noodles, and Shahe fried (fried flat noodles, char kway Teow similar).