What spices are used in Indonesian cooking?

Question

What spices are used in Indonesian cooking?

Answer 1

pink ginger, yellow ginger, onion, garlic, lemon grass, lemon leaves, buah keras which is called country walnut/candle nut i think that's about it...

Answer 2

Many and varied. I especially loved the fiery Sambal and Arakaritas!

Indonesian cuisine is known for its deliberate combination of contrasting flavors (spicy, sour, sweet, hot) and textures (wet, coarse, spongy, hard). Indonesians have developed original gastronomic themes with lemongrass and laos, cardamom and chilies, tamarind and turmeric. In complex Javanese dishes, vinegar and tamarind are added to palm sugar to produce a sweet-sour spiciness.

Surprisingly, you seldom come across our 'normal' spices—nutmeg, pepper, mace, and cloves—that gave the "Spice Islands" their name. Yet some areas of Indonesia lack spices and food tends to be bland and unappetizing.

Answer 3

The below excerpt is taken from: http://www.garudarestaurant.co.uk/food.h...

Other sources to consider are listed in the sources links below.

Spices, sauces and flavourings

Asam (Tamarind)

In Indonesian, asam is the name given to tamarind as well as the taste: sour. This is the pulp surrounding the pod found on the tamarind tree. It is usually sold in dried form and is mixed with water when used in curries and fish dishes.

Cengkeh (Cloves)

These are the buds of the clove tree. Once only grown in the Maluku islands, cloves were the catalyst for an intense trade war between the Dutch, English and Portuguese. You won't taste cloves much in Indonesian cooking but you will smell them burning everywhere as they're the prime ingredient in kretek (clove cigarettes).

Daun Jeruk Perut (Kaffir Lime Leaves)

These aromatic, tart-tasting leaves are used much the same way as bay leaves are – namely, added into a stock or curry then taken out before serving.

Duan Salam (Salam Leaves)

These leaves are also called 'Indonesian laurel leaves' or 'Indonesian bay leaves'. But neither name does the leaf justice. It is an aromatic ingredient added to savoury dishes.

Gula (Sugar)

The main sweetener in Indonesian cooking is gula merah (palm sugar), which is made by extracting and boiling sap from the jaka (palm tree). Unlike granulated cane sugar, palm sugar is sold as a solid block. When it comes to using the sugar, it is chipped off or even grated into the mix. (It is also what makes teh manis (sweet tea) so sweet.)

Kemiri (Candlenut)

The fleshy interior of these nuts is used to add a nutty flavour and creamy texture to dishes.

Laos & Kencur (Galangal)

Laos has the same shape and function as ginger, but is bright orange and has a more bitter taste. Also popular is kencur which has more of a kick than laos.

Minyak (Oil)

The most widely used oil is minyak kelapa (cocounut oil) as it burns at a high temperature, making it perfect for deep frying. Other types of oil include minyak kacang (peanut oil) and minyak jagung (corn oil). But coconut oil, also called minyak sawit, is the number one oil used for all types of cooking.

Pala (Nutmeg)

It's ironic that the ingredient all of Europe scrambled for in the 16th-17th centuries isn’t used very extensively in the Indonesian kitchen. The fruit of the nutmeg is made into a preserve called manisan pala and both the seed and the nutmeg's shell are dried and sold whole or as powder.

Duan Pendan (Screwpine)

This plant, named for its twisted stems, is used in traditional cooking from India to Australia. Screwpine is used in sweet dishes for its delicate fragrance and green colouring.

Terasi, Belacan (Shrimp Paste)

You'll know when you come across shrimp paste because it has a very fishy, pungent aroma. This paste is made from small shrimp that are rinsed in sea water, dried, salted, dried again then pummelled to a paste. It is left to dry for about two weeks before being shaped into blocks. As you would expect, the paste adds a fishy, salty flavour to dishes.

Chilli

Known as cabe when fresh off the bush and sambal when mashed into a paste, chillies are what make Indonesians tick and they'll add them to almost anything. If you ever fall victim to a deceptively hot chilli, don't try to extinguish the fire with water as it will only make it worse. Instead, eat some plain rice.

Sambal (Chilli sauce)

The Mexicans have salsa, the Indians chutney, but in Indonesia, the essential condiment is sambal (chilli sauce). A table set without sambal isn't set properly. Sambals come in many varieties but the base for any sambal will be chillies, garlic, shallots and salt. Here are some of the most popular varieties:

Sambal Badjak: Chilli sauce made with shallots, sugar, tamarind, galangal and shrimp paste. Fried to a caramel consistency. (Mild by Indonesian standards.)

Sambal Jeruk: Chilli sauce made with lime juice, lime peel, salt and vinegar.

Sambal Terasi: Chilli sauce made with lime and roasted shrimp paste.

Ulek: Chilli sauce made with vinegar and lots of chillies. Very spicy!

Pecel: This sauce is similar to sambal but the spice is lessened with the addition of peanuts and tomato.

Saus Kacang (Peanut Sauce)

This is one of Indonesia's most famous culinary exports, the reason being that peanut sauce is so versatile. It can be used as a condiment, as a dip or as the flavour for a main meal. It is most famous for its appearance in gado gado.

Kecap (Soy Sauce)

Every restaurant in the country provides their diners with a bottle of soy sauce (made from soybeans fermented in brine). Most provide two – kecap asin (salty soy sauce), which is the same as soy sauce found throughout the world, and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) which is thicker and sweeter.

Good Luck!

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