Indonesian Culinary Highlights From Indonesian Festival

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Indonesian Festival 2016 was held in Sydney’s Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour. The opening ceremony started with batik carnival. Visitors to Indonesia are no strangers to this popular traditional clothing. Batik is made from cloth drawn of patterns using hot wax and canting, called batik tulis, or using a stamp, called batik cap. To see how these two types of batik are made, click here.

The festival this year is held for two days to introduce 20,000 visitors to the marvel of Indonesian food and cultures. Different types of food from the vast archipelago of Indonesian can be found. Some of the highlights include:

Main Meal

Mie Kocok

A specialty of Bandung, West Java. It is a noodle soup dish with bakso (beef meatballs), fried tofu, and fried wonton, usually served with a dash of chilli sauce.

Soto

Indonesian traditional broth

Nasi Kuning

Coconut & turmeric rice, served with fried chicken, spicy potato cubes, and peanuts & anchovies

Tongseng

Meat curry stew from Surakarta, Central Java

Martabak Telur

Indonesian style roti filled with egg or egg & ground meat

Sate lontong

Grilled chicken skewers served with peanut sauce and rice cubes

Savoury Snacks

Combro – cassava dumpling filled with spicy vegetarian mince

Tahu isi – stuffed beancurd

Arem-arem – glutinous rice filled with minced beef and vegetables, wrapped inside a banana leaf

Batagor – half fish dumpling half fried tofu, served with peanut sauce

Risoles – rissole

Kroket – croquette

Pempek – fish cake of various types, a popular dish from Palembang, South Sumatra

Sweets & Desserts

Es markisa – cold beverage made from marquisa nectar

Es cendol – green jelly served with shaved ice, coconut milk, and palm sugar

Es campur – shaved ice sweetened with syrup and condensed milk, served with red beans, grass jelly, corn, jackfruit, and coconut meats

Martabak manis – sweet crumpet with choice of fillings: peanuts, chocolate, or cheese

Other than the culinary delights above, the festival is filled with showcase of nusantara dances. One of the dances featured during the festival is tari Saman from Aceh. It is recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. To watch tari Saman, click here. The festival also featured tari Legong from Bali and tari kipas from South Sulawesi (see pictures below).