13 must-have ingredients from Indonesian cuisine

Whether you want to make the most tender rendang that you slow-cook for hours, or the tastiest peanut sauce for your saté. If you want to cook Indonesian or "Indisch" (Indo-Dutch), you need to make sure your pantry is on point. Ingredients such as trassi, pandan, or ketjap give Indonesian dishes their characteristic flavor. Indonesian food is the food as it is made in Indonesia. Indisch food is the food that people who came from Indonesia to the Netherlands make here, and is therefore more of a fusion of Indonesian and Dutch/European. There are differences between the two, but in terms of basic ingredients, they are quite similar.

Ketjap

The Indonesian version of soy sauce is ketjap. There are different types, and the most well-known is ketjap manis, which means sweet soy sauce. Ketjap manis has a syrupy texture. Ketjap asin is thinner and saltier, similar to Chinese light soy sauce or Japanese soy sauce. Ketjap medja falls between the two in flavor and is also syrupy in texture.

Trassi

A little goes a long way when it comes to trassi. Trassi is a shrimp paste made by fermenting shrimp. This gives the paste a very strong and funky flavor, but especially aroma. Do not let that smell scare you—a small amount in your dish instantly gives it an Indonesian flavor. Trassi is sold in blocks, from which you cut off a small piece with a knife. 

Coconut

From santen to coconut milk to grated coconut, Indonesian cuisine is unimaginable without the lightly sweet flavor of coconut. The nut often appears in savory dishes. Grated coconut is often toasted before being added to a dish, while ingredients are gently simmered in coconut milk. Coconut cream is also called santen; this is highly concentrated coconut milk sold in blocks. Read more here about cooking with different types of coconut.

Pandan rice

The base of almost every meal is rice. In both Indonesian and Indisch cuisine, this is usually pandan rice, which is also sold as jasmine rice. Pandan rice is fragrant and falls somewhere between Japanese short-grain rice and Indian basmati rice in terms of stickiness. It is therefore the perfect all-round rice for everyday meals. Read more here about the different types of rice.

Pandan 

The name of pandan rice has nothing to do with the pandan plant, although that plant does play a major role in Indonesian cuisine. The green plant is wonderfully aromatic and grassy and finds its way into many Indonesian dishes, both savory and sweet. The leaves are simmered with rice or sugar to release their fragrance. The neon-green pandan paste is widely used in desserts such as the popular pandan sponge cake.

Tempeh & tahoe

Vegetarians can have a field day in Indonesia, as a lot is cooked with tempeh and tahoe. Both products are made from soybeans. Tahoe is the Indonesian name for tofu, which is made from soy milk. Tempeh is made from whole soybeans that are fermented. You can still see the beans in tempeh. Perhaps the most popular dish is sambal goreng tempeh, but the possibilities are endless.

Palm sugar

As in many other Asian cuisines, the perfect balance between sweet and sour is extremely important. Palm sugar, also called gula djawa, is often used as a sweetener. Palm sugar is extracted from sap that comes from palm trees and is darker and more caramel-like in flavor than regular granulated sugar. It is sold in discs, from which you cut off a piece, or as syrup that you can simply spoon into your dishes. Read all about cooking with palm sugar here.

Tamarind

For sourness, tamarind is often added—the pulp of the tamarind plant. You can buy this in blocks, where you still need to soak the pulp loose from the seeds. You can also buy tamarind paste, which you can spoon directly from the jar into the pan.

Fresh products

As in many other Asian cuisines, ginger is widely used in Indonesia. Only in Indonesia they call it djahé. Laos (galangal) looks a bit like ginger, but is slightly stronger and more citrusy in flavor. You can find it in the refrigerated section. If you do not use it all at once, you can freeze it well (first cut it into slices that you can then take out of the freezer one portion at a time). Turmeric root is also widely used; just be careful not to get your hands, clothes, and cutting board stained yellow. Lime leaves and lemongrass are used to give dishes a lime-like, fresh aroma and flavor. Both freeze well; we even sell them in the freezer section.

Spices

Many different spices are used in Indonesian cuisine. Do not be intimidated—just buy what you need per recipe and slowly expand your pantry over time. Kemiri nuts are used to give dishes a nutty flavor. They are often ground or grated and then added to dishes. You do need to toast the nuts first, as they are apparently toxic otherwise. Other dried spices that are widely used are cumin powder, coriander powder, cinnamon, turmeric powder, and galangal powder.

Sambal

Not all Indonesian dishes are spicy, but if you like heat, you can always add a spoonful of sambal to your plate. Sambal oelek is the simplest variety with only chilies and salt. But there are countless other types, including sambal badjak (fried sambal) or sambal manis (sweet sambal). 

Fried shallots

Delicious to eat straight from the jar as if they were chips, or to give your dish more crunch. Crispy fried shallots are the cherry on top of every meal, especially your Indisch or Indonesian ones. Wonderful with gado gado, on soto ayam, or with saté.