EXPLORE Cook like a local Indonesia Try spiced fish parcels, ndonesia is a land of spice and rice. Part of Southeast Asia’s Malay green coconut pancakes and Archipelago, and the largest island beef rendang in this diverse country in the world, Indonesia’s 17,000 islands are home to bamboo Southeast Asian island nation groves, tropical rainforests, smoking Words ELEANOR FORD Ivolcanoes, lush rice paddies and silver- sand beaches. Travellers have been lured here since 2,000BC when traders began journeying from port to port between the Far East and the Middle East exchanging goods from the Spice Islands, in what is now Indonesia (the only place in the world where cloves and nutmeg grew), along the way. For a land that is so intrinsically linked to the spice trade, it is curious that Indonesian food is characterised not by its most famous exports but by its freshness. Rather than relying on dried spices, fresh ingredients are pounded to spice pastes known as bumbu to unlock their exotic, vibrant flavours. Ginger, galangal, red chillies, coconut, tamarind, treacly palm sugar, shrimp paste, lemongrass, smoky fermented soy sauce, turmeric root, peanuts, garlic – these are the Indonesian culinary backbone, imbuing the country’s dishes with heat, complexity, richness and a savoury piquancy. From the roadside warungs (food stalls) of Java to the no-order Padang joints of Sumatra and the beach restaurants of Lombok, there is real diversity within the country’s culinary landscape. In the tangled jungles of Borneo, young vegetables are cooked inside a bamboo stem over an open fire. In Bali, a Hindu island in an Islamic land, spice-stained suckling pig is cooked on hot stones. And while pisang goreng – fried bananas cooked in crisp rice-flour batter and served hot from street stalls – are ubiquitous throughout the country, even these have their regional twists, from plantain versions to those with flavoured batters, fritter-like shapes or sprinkled with condensed milk, cinnamon or even cheese. »

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Fiery Sulawesi pork ribs of the best 3 HOURS + MARINATING | SERVES 4 | EASY | GF If you like your food fiery, Manado in North Sulawesi is the place for you. Here fragrant spices and a heavy use of chilli typify the things to eat food for heat that shouts at you rather than whispers. As many Minahasan people are Christian (alongside a common persuasion towards blood magic), halal dietary CHICKEN SATE WITH PEANUT SAUCE restrictions have not shaped the cuisine. This means bush meats from rats, bats, Indonesia’s famous peanut sauce is wild boar and python fill the butchers’ unrivalled – made sweet, salty and full markets. A little less exotic, these succulent of umami by the addition of kecap manis barbecued pork ribs make a particularly (sweet soy sauce). Try it in gado-gado good carrier for the big flavours. salads or smoky grilled chicken sate. baby back ribs 2 racks BUMBU SPICE PASTE red Asian shallots or round shallots 5 small, roughly chopped garlic 5 cloves, roughly chopped red chillies 3-4 large, deseeded and roughly chopped ginger 5cm piece, peeled dark palm sugar (gula jawa) or soft dark brown sugar 2 tbsp DABU-DABU DIPPING SAUCE tomatoes 3, finely diced MARTABAK red chillies 2 large, deseeded and finely sliced These crisp, stuffed, pastry envelopes red bird’s-eye chilli 1, finely sliced (optional) are thought to have originated in the red Asian shallots or round shallots Indian community of Yemen and spread 2 small, finely chopped through trading routes to Indonesia. 1, juiced GREEN COCONUT PANCAKES lime Fillings can be spiced meat or herbed dark palm sugar (gula jawa) or soft dark eggs. Eat with a chilli sambal (sauce). Delicately scented pandan leaves stain these pancakes a pale jade green. brown sugar 2 tsp They are then wrapped around a filling of grated coconut and sticky palm sugar. The perfect sweet treat, usually found in morning markets. • Tip all of the bumbu ingredients into a food processor with some seasoning and blend to a paste. Add a little water, if needed, to help it come together. Smear half the bumbu onto the ribs and lay them STEAMED FISH BEEF in a shallow oven dish or roasting tray. PARCELS RENDANG Cover tightly with foil and leave to marinate Open a banana leaf The meat in this iconic dish in the fridge for a few hours. parcel to uncover a fillet gets a dark caremelised • Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 3. of fish steamed inside. crust and tender centre Roast the ribs under the foil for 2 hours start to char and caramelise, then smear TRUST You will be hit by the from an unusual cooking 30 minutes, basting once or twice during over the remaining bumbu. Continue grilling Food and travel O fragrance of chilli, ginger, method, like a casserole cooking. The fat should have melted leaving until the sauce is dry and fragrant. Eat with writer Eleanor Ford galangal, lemongrass made in reverse. It starts the meat very tender. your fingers, dipping into the dabu-dabu as spent much of her and lemon basil. braising in spiced coconut • Meanwhile make the dipping sauce by you go. childhood in Indonesia, milk, which slowly reduces combining all the ingredients with 1 tsp of and returned as an adult to leaving the beef to sizzle salt and taste for heat, sweetness and tang. PER SERVING 426 KCALS | FAT 23.7G research her latest book, Fire Islands: and brown in the coconut • Heat a barbecue, grill or griddle pan to SATURATES 9.1G | CARBS 17.3G | SUGARS 16.5G Recipes from Indonesia (£25, Murdoch

oil left behind. ISTOCK/MREZAFAISA OMER RANA, BAMBU INDAH, ELEANOR FORD, SANDER WEHKAMP, PHOTOGRAPHS: KRISTIN PERERS, DIKASEVA, high. Grill the ribs on both sides until they FIBRE 2.2G | PROTEIN 34.7G | SALT 1.7G Books). Follow her @eleanorfordfood.

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