Indonesian cuisine is one of the richest culinary traditions in the world, and full of strong taste. The richness of its cuisine is a reflection of the diversity of culture and traditions of the archipelago, which consists of about 6,000 uninhabited islands, and occupies an important role in Indonesian national culture in general. Almost all Indonesian cuisine is rich in spices derived from spices such as pecan, chilli, temu kunci, galangal, ginger, kencur, turmeric, coconut and palm sugar, followed by the use of cooking techniques according to the ingredients, and custom-traditions that also have influence through trade originating from India, China, the Middle East and Europe.
There is essentially no single form of "Indonesian cuisine", but rather, the diversity of regional cuisine influenced locally by Indonesian culture as well as foreign influences. For example, rice that is processed into white rice, ketupat or lontong (steamed rice) as staple food for the majority of the population of Indonesia, but for the eastern sago is more commonly consumed, corn, cassava, and sweet potato. The general form of serving most of Indonesian food consists of staple foods with side dishes such as meat, fish or vegetables on the side of the plate.
Throughout its history, Indonesia has been involved in world trade thanks to its location, and its natural resources. Cooking techniques, and indigenous Indonesian food grown, and then influenced by the culinary arts of India, Middle East, China, and finally Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese traders brought various foodstuffs from the Americas long before the Dutch had mastered Indonesia. The famous Maluku Island as the "Spice Islands", also donate indigenous Indonesian herbs to the culinary arts of the world. The culinary arts of eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cooking arts.
Sumatran cuisine, for example, often displays Middle Eastern, and Indian influences, such as the use of curry spices in meat dishes, and vegetables, while Javanese cuisine evolves from native archipelago cooking techniques. Cultural elements of Chinese cuisine can be observed in some Indonesian dishes. Cuisine such as noodles, meatballs, and spring rolls have been absorbed in Indonesian art food.
Several types of indigenous Indonesian dishes are also now found in several countries in Asia. Popular Indonesian dishes such as satay, rendang and sambal are also popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Soybean-based foods such as variations of tofu and tempeh are also very popular. Tempe is considered to be a genuine invention of Java, a local adaptation of soybean fermentation. Other types of soybean fermented foods are oncom, similar to tempe but using different types of mushrooms, oncom is very popular in West Java.
Indonesian food is generally eaten using a combination of cutlery on the right hand, and a fork on the left hand, however in many places (such as West Java and West Sumatra) it is also common to be found feeding directly with bare hands.
In certain restaurants or households commonly use hands to eat, such as nautical culinary restaurants, traditional restaurants of Sunda and Padang, or pecel pecel cat shop and fried chicken typical of East Java. Places like this usually also serve kobokan, a bowl of tap water with lime slices to give a fresh aroma. This bowl of water is not to be drunk; only used to wash hands before, and after eating with the bare hands.
Using chopsticks to eat commonly found in restaurants that serve Chinese cuisine that has been adapted into Indonesian cuisine such as noodles or chicken noodles with dumplings, fried noodles, and kwetiau goreng (fried noodles, similar to char kway teow)
