The Staple Food of Many Indonesian

Rice is the staple food of many Indonesian. We eat rice as the main dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For many Indonesian, if they haven't rice yet, they don't feel like they have eaten. There is a joke that says, even if you have eaten a loaf of bread, you are still hungry. It's gotta be rice! Other Indonesians are fine with bread or noodles.

Indonesians eat rice a lot. Our breakfast is usually fried rice (nasi goreng), ketupat (rice steamed in woven packets of coconut fronds) with tahu (tofu) and sauce or yellow rice (nasi kuning) with some of side dishes. You can buy this food in every corner of the city, at the market, or by street side vendors, very early in the morning. Don't go later than 8 o'clock in the morning, most of them are sold out. Especially if they're good. For Lunch, you'll see people with a plate full with rice and a piece of chicken, or fish, or eggs and "sambal" (chillie sauce). Indonesians like to eat hot (as in spicy) food. I mean really really really HOT. I would say it is hotter than Mexican food.

Each area in Indonesia has its own traditional food and custom. Here is a list of some of them.

* Sundanese ("orang Sunda") in West Java likes to eat fresh vegetables and sambal. Sundanese like to drink tea without sugar. So don't be surprised when they offer you tea but not sweat. Ask for sugar.
* Javanese likes to eat sweet. Tea will be sweet.
* Padang (West Sumatra) likes to eat hot/spicy food. They are famous for their spicy food and fast delivery. The waiter can bring dozens of plates with various dishes with his two hands (like juggling) in one trip. You'll eat whatever you like and at the end of meal the waiter will calculate the price. You'll find "Rumah Makan Padang" (Padang restaurant) everywhere in Indonesia.