What should you eat when you’re in Indonesia? Indonesia is so large and the kitchen is different from island to island, village to village! But what is delicious, what should you look for when traveling Indonesia? Check out some of our favourite Indonesian dishes, foods, drinks and flavours!

Bakso 

Bakso can be found everywhere; it is one of the most popular street foods in Indonesia! Bakso is a meatball made from beef paste. The balls are most often used in typical bakso soup, often served with noodles, cabbage and fried wontons. Other uses of bakso can be in fried rice or noodles or grilled on a skewer. A bowl of bakso soup can be as cheap at Rp5,000 ($0.30)!

Soup with bakso meatballs, noodles and fried onions on top.

Tinu Tuan

 Tinu Tuan is Manado porridge and a specialty in the area, a must try when visiting Two Fish Divers in Lembeh or Bunaken. Tinu Tuan is popular for breakfast. It is made from a pulp of rice, pumpkin, sweet potato and/or cassava, mixed with tofu, egg, water spinach, onions and chilli. And we’ll tell you a secret: put in extra basil, that makes it extra delicious!

Lalapan

Lalapan (lalap) is a dish that originates from west Java in Indonesia. Lalap is a raw vegetable salad (cabbage, cucumber, green beans, tomatoes etc.) served with a chilli sauce. The salad is often served with a main dish such as fried or grilled chicken, duck, fish, tofu or vegetables and rice. You’ll find it often on the side of the street, but also in many Indonesian restaurants. It’s easy, cheap and good food! You’ll like it!

Rujak

Rujak is a mix of sliced fruits and vegetables with a sweet, hot and spicy dressing. The most popular variant in Bali is rujak buah, which contains amongst others water apple, pineapple, young mango and cucumber. The dressing is always a bit different depending on who makes it, but some of the ingredients are: water, palm sugar, ground sautéed peanuts, shrimp paste, bird’s eye chilli, and red chilli pepper.

Mix of sliced fruits and vegetables with a sweet, hot and spicy dressing on the side

Spekulas

Spekulas is a popular Christmas biscuit and is mainly found in the Manado area. The biscuit originates from the Netherlands and is made with a mixture of Indonesian spices to get it’s typical aromatic flavour. Typical spices are cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, and recipes may vary from family to family. As a Dutchy living in Indonesia I am very happy to find Spekulas (dutch: Speculaas) here, it’s very good and reminds me of Christmas back home!

Ayam bakar taliwang

In Lombok they love their spicy food, like this spicy grilled chicken, ayam bakar taliwang. The chicken grilling process is different than you normally see. The chicken is roasted till halfway done, and then processed with a pestle to tender the meat. After tendering the meat the chicken is fried for a short while and then covered in a spicy chilli sauce. The chicken is finished by grilling or frying, depending on your preference. The dish is very hot!! But also very good, so enjoy!!!

Spicy chicken ayam bakar taliwang with side dishes

We usually know all the good places to get foods around the area so we’d be happy to help you to our favourite restaurant, or to show you our favourite dishes in the Two Fish Divers resorts!

Enjoy your food and see you soon!