Learn Indonesia before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Indonesian. Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Use your right hand to eat, pass food and hand over money; the left hand is traditionally used for washing and is considered unclean.
• Most meals are eaten with a spoon in the right hand and a fork in the left, used to push food onto the spoon. Knives are not normally used at the table.
• When eating with your hand, as many people do in Padang restaurants and at home, use only your right hand; a bowl of water with lime is provided for washing your fingers.
• Take food from the shared dishes with the serving spoon, not your own hand or spoon.
• Many Indonesians are Muslim and do not eat pork or drink alcohol. During the fasting month of Ramadan, try not to eat or drink in front of people who are fasting during the day.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Nasi goreng: Fried rice, the everyday dish of Indonesia. Cooked rice (often from the day before) is stir-fried with shallots, garlic, chilli and kecap manis, a thick, sweet soy sauce, and topped with a fried egg, crispy fried shallots, cucumber and prawn crackers. People eat it for breakfast, lunch or a late supper from a street cart.
• Rendang: Beef slowly cooked for hours in coconut milk with ginger, galangal, lemongrass, turmeric and chilli, until the liquid has gone and the dark, spicy paste clings to the meat. Traditional rendang is almost dry, which helped it keep for a long time; it is served at weddings, festivals and Eid.
• Satay (sate): Small pieces of marinated chicken, goat or beef threaded on bamboo skewers and grilled over charcoal, usually served with a peanut sauce, rice cakes and sliced shallots. Satay sellers fan the glowing coals on their street carts in the evening. Sate Madura, from the island of Madura, is one of the best known styles.
• Gado-gado: A warm salad of lightly boiled vegetables such as long beans, cabbage, bean sprouts and spinach, with potato, hard-boiled egg, fried tofu, tempeh and rice cake, all covered with a rich peanut sauce and topped with crispy crackers.
• Soto ayam: A fragrant yellow chicken soup coloured with turmeric and flavoured with lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves, served with shredded chicken, rice noodles, bean sprouts, boiled egg and fried shallots. Almost every region has its own soto, some clear, some with coconut milk.
• Tempeh (tempe): A firm cake of whole soybeans, fermented with a mould that binds them together. It has a nutty, earthy taste and is sliced and fried, simmered in sweet soy sauce or added to curries. Tempeh is an everyday source of protein across Java and a favourite of vegetarians around the world.
• Sambal: A chilli sauce or paste, usually ground by hand in a stone mortar with shallots, garlic, salt and often lime juice or tomato. Sambal terasi adds fried shrimp paste. There is a small dish of sambal on almost every Indonesian table, and people add as much as they like.
• Nasi Padang: Rice served with a choice of rich, spicy Minangkabau dishes such as rendang, curried chicken, fish and cassava leaves. In Padang restaurants the dishes are stacked high in the front window.

Cities to see

• Medan: The gateway to Lake Toba, Its mix of peoples and food, Its history as a plantation city.
• Bukittinggi: The Jam Gadang clock tower, Minangkabau food and culture, Cool mountain air.
• Palembang: The Musi River, The history of Srivijaya, The Ampera Bridge across the Musi.
• Jakarta (capital): The National Monument (Monas), The Istiqlal Mosque, The old Dutch town of Kota Tua.
• Bandung: The 1955 Asian-African Conference, Art deco buildings, Tea plantations and volcanoes nearby.
• Yogyakarta: The Sultan's Palace (Kraton), Borobudur and Prambanan nearby, Batik and gudeg.

Landmarks and the city map are on the Indonesia trip