Compared to other Southeast Asian cuisines , Indonesian meals lack variety. Coconut milk and aromatic spices at first add intriguing tastes to the meats, vegetables and fruits, but after a while everything starts to taste the same - spiced, fried and served with rice. Be particularly careful about food hygiene in rural Indonesia, avoiding poorly cooked fish, pork or beef, which can give you flukes or worms.

Rice ( nasi) is the favoured staple across much of the country, an essential, three-times-a-day fuel. Noodles are also widely popular. The seafood is often superb, and chicken, goat and beef are the main meats in this predominantly Muslim country. Vegetarians can eat well in Indonesia, though restaurant selections can be limited to cap cay - fried mixed vegetables. There's also plenty of tofu and the popular tempe, a fermented soya-bean cake.

Indonesian food
The backbone of all Indonesian cooking, spices are ground and chopped together, then fried to form a paste, which is either used as the flavour base for curries, or rubbed over ingredients prior to frying or grilling. Chillies ...
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Where to eat
The cheapest places to eat in Indonesia are at the mobile stalls ( kaki lima, or "five legs"), which ply their wares around the streets and bus stations during the day, and congregate at night markets after dark. You...
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Drinks
Most water that comes out of taps in Indonesia has had very little treatment, and can contain a whole range of bacteria and viruses . Drink only bottled, boiled or sterilized water. Boiled water ( air putih) can be...
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Food and drink glossary
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