Are you “Saya Tidak Makan Daging”? That means are you a vegetarian in Bahasa Indonesia. Well, if you are you need to know certain Bahasa Indonesia words and also the dishes that you can eat as Indonesia is a country that fiercely loves its meat. Be it fishes, white meat or red meat, the people of Indonesia likes it in all their meals. At first, this might seem like a big problem for vegetarians traveling to Indonesia, but once you understand the system, you will also find out that they have some of the best vegetarian foods too. It is better if you as a vegetarian can consume eggs (Telor) and peanuts (kachang). If you have an allergy to nuts and are a true vegetarian, then your options will be limited.
Below are the list of vegetarian (sometimes with eggs) dishes that I have been sampling in Indonesia over the past 2 weeks in this country. Since I am a strict egg-atarian, I have had to dig deep.
1) Gado Gado: This is my absolute favorite: This assorted vegetables with rice dumplings and one egg in a peanut sauce is the best lunch I have had in Indonesia. The rice crackers and a cold iced tea (Es Teh Manis) go perfectly with it.
2) Lotek: This dish is pretty similar to Gado Gado, but is pure vegetarian and comes with more greens, tofu and no eggs. Again, this is created in a peanut and chilli paste.
3) Cap Cai (pronounced Chap Chai): This is an assorted set of vegetables and mushrooms with or without eggs in either a fried form (goreng) or as a broth (kuah). This is best had with plain rice (nasi).
4) Nasi Goreng: This is your stereotypical fried rice with vegetables. If nothing works for you, this should definitely come in handy.
5) Nasi Gudeg Telor: One needs to acquire a taste for this traditional food from Yogyakarta, Java. It is rice and jackfruit served with egg curry. Cooked jackfruit always has an indifferent taste, but I like it.
6) Nasi Rica Rica (pronounced as Nasi Richa Richa): This is rice served with eggs in a spicy onion and tomato sauce.
7) Nasi with Sayuran and Sambal: If you wish to create your own food, then ask for Nasi (rice), Sayuran (vegetables) and Sambal (spicy onion and tomato paste). This will ensure that you have no need to consume any animal products.
8) Martabak Telor: This is a thick egg pancake that is perfect as a evening snack or on a rainy day.
9) Martabak Manis: This is a sweet egg pancake served with lots of sugar and sometimes chocolate or other flavors.
I hope if you are a vegetarian who is interested in traveling to Indonesia, this list gives you a fresh breath of life.
Travel blog of an Indian traveler living his dream of experiencing the world and inspiring others to live their travel dream. Focus areas are travel and visa tips, destination guides, experiential travel stories and traveling as a vegetarian.
I will bookmark this post :). Will be very useful when I travel to Indonesia in future :)
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising that Indonesia has so many things common with India, yet finding a strict veggie food is difficult. Are there any options of food without egg and peanuts??
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely find stuff like veg fried rice and mix vegetables, but the options will be less.
ReplyDeleteI am happy you find it useful.
ReplyDelete'Saya tidak makan daging' translates as 'I don't eat meat.' There's not actually a word for vegetarian in Indonesian, which is why most people just say vegetarian ;-)
ReplyDeleteI know that. But it is also loosely used for being a vegetarian is what my local friends also tell me. I use that line and say sayuran, telor, tahu and thempe work for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't eat much meat when I'm in Jakarta either, but I do eat fish.
ReplyDeleteThat said, having a fresh juice on the corner (tanpa es dan gula="without ice and sugar") is a real treat given the tropical mood of the capital.
Yep, Sundanese restaurants might be useful to vegetarians, since they have a bunch of vegetable options. Also, it's a bit dicey because of the stock/wok not being cleaned in between uses, but Chinese restaurants might also help out.
martabak telor usually contains ground meat. indonesia has a lot of vegetarian dishes, though mostly found in restaurants & not street stalls. there's lontong sayur (rice cake, veggies, coconut milk broth), corn fritters, sayur asem (tamarind based soup), pepes jamur (steamed straw mushroom with spices)
ReplyDeleteRight! Martabak telor can or cannot contain minced meat, but you can tell them i advance just to be sure. Lontong Sayur is really nice. Thank you for sharing these names. I remember tasting all of these in Indonesia.
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