Indonesian - Week 2 - Ayo Makan (Let`s eat!)

Researcher: Shannon Johnston

In Indonesia, cuisine is a window into the archipelago`s history. Both ingredients and preparations reflect the various tastes of the Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch who have lived there.

Rice forms a major part of the Indonesian diet, a fact that`s reflected by their language. Bahasa Indonesia has three words for rice: padi (in rice field), beras (hulled/ uncooked) and nasi (when cooked). Nasi goreng is fried rice, possibly most well known Indonesian food - and word - in the world!

While it`s possible to eat at a variety of Western-style takeaway restaurants in Indonesia, it`s surely much more fun to try the food at Indonesian take-aways, like food wrapped in banana leaves or plastic parcels (bungkusan), brought from roadside stalls. You can also buy food and drinks from food carts called kaki lima, for example, bakso (noodle dish with meat/fish balls), bubur ayam (savoury rice porridge with chicken), sate, cendol (a kind of drink with coconut milk, syrup and jelly-like pieces).

There are five official religions in Indonesia - Islam, Hinduism (Bali), Buddhism, Protestantism and Catholicism. A number of the different religions have different eating requirements, for example, Muslims do not eat pork or anything cooked in pork fat, but in the mainly Hindu Bali, suckling pig (babi guling) is a must at every important feast.

However, most tourist Australians visit Bali, and many with business interests spend time in Java, so let`s look at another area of Indonesia with famous cuisine - Padang is the capital of west Sumatra and home of the Minangkabau people. Padang, also called Minang, food is very `spicy` hot, often cooked with coconut milk. (Indonesian actually has two words for hot: panas for temperature and pedas for hot spicy food).

Padang restaurants are found all over Indonesia. A meal at a Padang restaurant is a fun cultural experience for Westerners: once you sit down at a restaurant table, all manner of dishes are brought to the table (about 20 small dishes, as well as rice). You pick and choose what you`d like to eat (many Westerners have made the mistake of trying to eat everything, to be polite!), and you eat with your fingers. Bananas can be eaten after the meal, and then whatever you eat is counted up afterwards.

Ordering food

Mau makan apa?

What do you want to eat?

Minta nasi goreng.

I`d like fried rice (literally: request fried rice)

Minta roti.

I`d like bread (could be bread rolls with coconut/sugar, chocolate or banana filling)

Minta gado-gado.

I`d like gado-gado (a dish originating from Java): lightly steamed vegetable salad with peanut sauce, sometimes slices of egg

Minta rendang.

I`d like rengang (a dish originating from West Sumatra): a kind of dry-ish beef curry

Minta es krim!

I`d like ice cream!

Ordering drinks

Mau minum apa?

What would you like to drink?

Minta air.

I`d like (some) water (literally: request water)

Minta teh.

I`d like tea

Minta es cendol.

I`d like a kind of drink

Minta jus nenas.

I`d like pineapple juice (fresh)

I`d like kopi susu

I`d like white coffee

Offering something

Mau makan roti?

Do you want some bread?

Mau.

Yes please. (literally: want!)

Terima kasih. (while shake head /hand)

No thanks. (literally: thanks!)

Ayo makan!

Let`s eat!

(It`s the cultural norm in Indonesia that if you`re eating and a visitor comes, you `invite` them to join you - "come on, let`s eat". You don`t actually sit down and eat!)

Meals

Sarapan/makan pagi

Breakfast

Makan siang

Lunch

Makan malam

Dinner

Numbers

Berapa harganya?

How much does it cost?

Numbers

1 – satu
2 - dua
3 – tiga
4 – empat
5 – lima
6 – enam
7 – tujuh
8 – delapan
9 – sembilan
10 – sepuluh

-belas
teens: including sebelas (11), dua belas (12)

-puluh

tens: sepuluh (10), dua puluh (20), tiga puluh lima (35)

-ratus

hundreds: seratus (100), lima ratus (500)

-ribu
thousands: seribu (1000), tiga ribu (3000)

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