Category: Food

Satay and sambal: 12 foods every Indonesian visitor needs to try

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(CNN) — As the world’s largest archipelagic nation, Indonesia is filled with different cultures and influences spread out over 1,904,569 square kilometers (735,358 square miles).

This makes it a huge challenge to try to summarize the flavors of the country in just a few paragraphs.

“Indonesian food culture is based on regional cooking among 17,500 islands, 38 provinces and 700 dialects,” says Indonesian cookbook author William Wongso.

“Flavors of Indonesia are very diverse. From Aceh (the westernmost province of Indonesia) to West Sumatra (also a western province), it’s only about a 1.5-hour flight, yet their food and taste profiles are totally different.”

The 75-year-old author of “Flavors of Indonesia: William Wongso’s Culinary Wonders.” says that even though he’s been traveling and eating around Indonesia for decades, he still hasn’t tasted every local dish.

For example, chefs in the Moluccas on the eastern side of Indonesia, once nicknamed the “Spice Islands,” prefer using fresh spices like cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Aceh, on the other hand, frequently incorporates dried spices thanks to the influence of India, Arabia and China.

Padang (or Minangkabau) cuisine in West Sumatra uses lots of coconut cream, chiles, shallots and some curry spices, as well as ginger and galangal with aromatic herbs such as turmeric leaves, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass.

Javanese are experts in using the three colored spice pastes — red (made of chiles, shallots and garlic), white (candle nuts, shallots and garlic) and yellow (candlenuts, shallots, garlic and turmeric).

“The taste profile of Central Java is sweeter than Eastern Java,” added Wongso.

Ready to enjoy the overwhelming diversity of Indonesian cuisine? Here are a few dishes that offer a sample of the many delicious flavors on offer.

Rendang beef

Beef rendang is unbelievably tender. The beef is coated with dry curry that has been stewed for hours.

Beef rendang is unbelievably tender. The beef is coated with dry curry that has been stewed for hours.

asab974/Adobe Stock

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that beef rendang is one of the world’s most flavorful foods.

A dry curry dish linked to the Minangkabau ethnic group, which is indigenous to West Sumatra, rendang is a great way to preserve meat — essential for the Minangkabau people during their travels.

There is no one recipe for rendang. “In West Sumatra, there are about 900 districts and each has their own style of rendang,” says Wongso.

But one of the most common meats that appear in rendang is beef. It’s stewed in coconut milk and spices including lemongrass, galangal, garlic, turmeric, ginger and chiles for hours until the meat is unbelievably tender and the curry mixture is reduced to a relatively dry coating around the meat.

Tempeh

A rising star in plant-based diets around the world, tempeh has in fact been a constant in Javanese culture for more than four centuries.

The low-fat, high-protein meat substitute is made of soybeans fermented in banana leaves — and sometimes, other leaves — for two to three days before it turns into a white, moldy and chunky block.

Its flavor is often described as nutty and mushroom-y with a slight sweet soy scent.

It can be cooked the same way as any meat — baked, fried, grilled or boiled into different dishes. In Indonesia, it’s often deep-fried and served as a tasty snack.

Satay

A staple at Southeast Asian restaurants around the world, satay — or satay in the local tongue — is said to have originated in Java.

The preparation of these skewers varies from region to region, often featuring different meats or vegetables, spices, sauces and marinades.

One of the most loved versions in Indonesia is chicken satay served with a sweet peanut sauce that has just a hint of spice.

Fried rice

Fried rice: So much more than just fried rice.

Fried rice: So much more than just fried rice.

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If there’s one staple that represents Indonesia’s multi-faceted culture, it’s fried rice — literally translated as fried rice.

Each household has a different recipe made with various ingredients and sides, but the use of terasi (shrimp paste) and kecap manis (a sweet and thick Indonesian soy sauce) unite most — if not all — versions.

These condiments create Indonesian fried rice’s unique taste.

Topped with a perfect sunny-side-up egg and a side of crunchy shrimp crackers (or kerupuk), nasi goreng is a versatile meal eaten throughout the day.

A dish influenced by Chinese cooking, fried rice is as popular in Singapore and Malaysia as it is in Indonesia.

Shrimp crisp

While prawn crackers are commonly found in several countries’ diets — especially in Indonesia and Malaysia — it was thanks to Indonesia that the snack was introduced to the Dutch and then brought

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Eating off certain colored plates improves the taste of food for picky eaters

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Researchers at the University of Portsmouth have found picky eaters perceive food eaten out of red bowls to be saltier and less desirable than the same food served in white bowls. The findings add to understandings of how taste perception can be influenced by plates and cutlery.

We all may know someone we consider to be a picky eater, prone to disliking some common ingredients and causing social havoc when ordering at restaurants. But for some people picky eating can actually become a serious disorder, and clinical definitions of picky eating behaviors often include people who only consume around 20 different kinds of foods.

“Having restricted diets can lead to nutritional deficiencies as well as health problems such as heart disease, poor bone health and dental issues,” explained Lorenzo Stafford, one of the authors on the latest study. “There is also a social cost because normally enjoyable moments between family members can easily turn into stressful, anxious, and conflict-causing situations when picky eaters feel ashamed or pressured to eat food.”

A 2018 study estimated nearly one in five American adults could be clinically categorized as picky eaters. So exploring ways to help these people better engage with more types of food could result in valuable health outcomes.

The new research homed in on the effect of plate color on food desirability for picky eaters. The experiment was based on a foundational study from 2011 which looked at the way different colored food bowls affected a person’s perception of taste.

Using a design similar to the 2011 research, the new experiments had participants rate the sweetness, saltiness and overall desirability of a snack food eaten from different-colored bowls. In this example the snack was salt and vinegar potato crisps consumed from either a red, blue or white bowl. Around 50 participants were recruited, classified as either picky or non-picky eaters based on a standard questionnaire.

The results revealed picky eaters perceived the snack to be saltier when it was eaten from a red or blue bowl compared to the white bowl. And overall, picky eaters found the snack generally less desirable when eaten from a red bowl.

Interestingly, the study found the effects of bowl color on food taste and desirability were only apparent in the picky eater group. The non-picky eaters were relatively uninfluenced by bowl color.

This finding suggests the influence of plate colors on food taste may be most relevant for picky eaters. This result does track with other studies suggesting the influence of plate shape and color on food is, “anything but straightforward.”

A 2013 study that looked at black or white and square or round plates found white round plates tended to enhance “basic judgments” around food, such as sweetness or taste intensity. However, more complex judgments, such as perceptions of quality or liking, could be enhanced by black square plates.

According to Stafford, the findings from this latest study could be useful in helping picky eaters learn to accept a wider variety of foods.

“This knowledge could be useful for those trying to expand their repertoire of foods,” said Stafford. “For example, if you wanted to encourage a picky eater to try more vegetables that are known to be viewed as bitter, you could try to serve them on a plate or bowl that is known to increase sweetness.”

The new study was published in the journal Food Quality and Preference.

Source: University of Portsmouth

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What If Donated Food Was Delightful?

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This is one of a pair of stories exploring efforts to make donated food healthier, more delicious and more dignified. You can read the other story here.

Dion Dawson’s day starts around 8 am at the corner of 59th Street and Racine Avenue in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Most days, his six-year-old son Bryson accompanies him, eager to help stock the community fridge labeled with “FREE FOOD” in sky blue letters. Usually, the area’s residents have already gathered around the fridge, which has been spray-painted with happy cows, bright red apples, yellow corn and potatoes, as Dawson puts in oranges, lettuce and strawberries. He hands out bananas and grapes, too.

“Always grapes,” he emphasized. “When I grew up food insecure, I never got to eat fresh grapes, ever. So I make sure we always have fresh grapes. That may not be cost effective, but it makes a difference.”

Dawson sets up the Chicago nonprofit Dion’s Chicago Dream and the community fridge in 2020. He added a free weekly produce home delivery service in 2021. Both address the lack of access to fresh fruit and vegetables endemic to food deserts — areas that lack supermarkets and are typically low-income. They are also inspired by Dawson’s past food insecurity as well as his negative experiences with donation boxes from food banks.

“More than 500,000 Chicago residents live in a food desert,” Dawson says, citing American Community Survey data. “More than half of our residents will be food insecure in our community within this year.”

Englewood community fridge
Neighbors can pick up free produce from the Englewood community fridge anytime. Credit: Amber Marie Green Photography

The Englewood fridge is accessible all day, unmanned, for anyone to take as much fresh produce as they like. “The opportunity to consume fresh fruits and vegetables is not something that I am used to,” said one resident, Terence. “I feel sometimes that I don’t deserve it because no one has cared to offer it to us consistently.”

Dawson spent six years in the Navy and experienced 14 years of homelessness before and after his service. “I grew up with three brothers and a single mom who struggled with addiction,” he says via Zoom from his mother’s house in Englewood. His mother recently survived kidney cancer, and he made her the executive assistant of his nonprofit. “We often went hungry or lived three days on potato chips,” Dawson remembers.

What stuck with him most, though, wasn’t just the hunger but the dehumanization he felt at the food banks. “I’ll never forget that horrible soaking wet day when my family had to wait outside for hours as the rain poured down on us, only to be rewarded with expiring fruits, unlabeled canned goods and a box of raisins.” Maybe worse than the food was the shame he associated with the experience. “Nobody looks you in the eye. Nobody connects with you. You are given a box of discarded food, most of it food you wouldn’t normally eat, and it is such a humiliating experience.”

This is the reason he decided to do everything differently with Dion’s Chicago Dreams. “We focus on the recipient instead of the donor’s experience. We connect with people.”

His project was launched as a spontaneous idea when a friend challenged him in 2020 with: “What are you going to do for Juneteenth?” Dawson responded on a whim, “I’m going to feed 100 families.” He raised $2,500 on GoFundMe, bought 100 pounds of food and fed 96 families. “After that, I said, let’s go for it, and I started Dion’s Chicago Dream.” He taught himself how to set up a nonprofit, and in September 2020, he began stocking the community fridge in Englewood, working out of his car.

“Since its inception, Project Dream Fridge has provided more than 36,000 pounds of fresh food and water,” Dawson says, at a weekly cost of $550. Through the weekly home deliveries, he and his seven employees now deliver to 375 homes per week, feeding 2,000 people in 23 neighborhoods with 15,000 pounds of fresh produce per month. “We move more produce than Walmart,” he quips, at a cost of about $1,000 per family per year. “We have that tangible impact.”

Supported by donations from locals like rapper G Herbo and organizations such as the Obama Foundation, what he delivers is exclusively fresh produce. Bananas, cucumbers, spinach, mango, whatever is in season and available from its wholesale supplier, JAB Produce. “The food is wow!” 65-year-old Alice Lesure says while she is preparing collard greens and cabbage from the most recent delivery for lunch. She has known Dion Dawson for “20-plus years” because her son went to school with Dawson, and she reached out to the nonprofit through her son. “I’m on disability. I eat healthier now and don’t have to worry about buying fresh

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