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Hot Topics 2023-05-04

Exploring the Festive Flavors of Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia

Exploring the Festive Flavors of Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia

After a month of fasting, Muslims around the world finally get to enjoy a feast during Eid al-Fitr. As the country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia naturally celebrates this grand festival. So in this article, we will introduce the common dishes and desserts that Indonesian Muslims enjoy during Eid al-Fitr. Friends who want to learn about Indonesian culture, keep scrolling down!


Diverse and Practical: the Gift-Giving Culture

Eid al-Fitr, like Lunar New Year, is a festival for family reunions, so visiting long-lost relatives and giving gifts is a necessary etiquette.

One of the distinctive features of the Indonesian gift-giving culture is that gifts are impressively diverse, including many items that are not considered "gifts" in other cultures. In Indonesia, gift baskets are more common than gift boxes. You can put the things you want to give in the basket at once and adjust them according to the recipient's needs. Popular holiday gifts include candles, religious items, and perfume. Food, of course, is also a good choice.

附有伊斯蘭風格包裝的點心禮盒If you want to give sweet treats as gifts, dates and chocolates have always been a popular choice in most Muslim households. In Indonesia, you can also give traditional local sweets (which will be mentioned later). What;s more, Indonesians attach great importance to the practicality of gifts. In addition to sweets such as cookies and cakes, you can also give daily necessities such as cooking oil, flour, sauces, and rice, which is similar to Thailand's gift-giving culture!

各種食品類雜貨,包括豆類、米、蔬果、起司等等

Indonesian dishes to try during Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr is not only a time for family reunions but also a moment to indulge in delicious feasts. Just like how Christmas has roasted chicken and Dragon Boat Festival has rice dumplings, Indonesia's Eid al-Fitr also has certain dishes that are must-haves during gatherings. Here are some popular Eid al-Fitr dishes for you to try:

Ketupat

Ketupat (Indonesian rice dumplings) have always been an important staple food for Indonesians regardless of festivals. During holidays, Indonesian families would start wrapping Indonesian rice dumplings, which involves wrapping rice in palm leaves (or banana leaves) to create diamond-shaped dumplings that are steamed to produce sticky rice cakes. The rice cake itself doesn't have much flavor and therefore is suitable for pairing with various dishes, including various festive dishes during the Eid al-Fitr and the common street food satay. Due to their unique appearance, the leaves of ketupat are often used for decoration.

家人一起坐在地上包印尼粽

Opor Ayam

Opor Ayam (coconut milk chicken) is a dish from Central Javanese cuisine. As the name suggests, it is made by simmering chicken legs with spices such as galangal, lemongrass, and cinnamon in coconut milk. Basically, when it comes to the Eid al-Fitr, this dish is always mentioned.

印尼椰汁雞肉

Rendang

Both Indonesians and many food lovers from around the world are in love with rendang curry, even making it into CNN's "The World’s 50 Best Foods" list. Rendang is a famous Padang cuisine and is a type of dry curry. It mostly uses beef and is cooked slowly with coconut milk, roasted coconut, and multiple spices to create a soft and tender meat dish.

印尼牛肉仁當咖哩

Sambal Goreng Kentang Ati

Sambal goreng kentang ati (spicy chicken liver) is probably the most popular dish among spicy food cravers. The dish is made of  chili paste sautéed with herbs, diced chicken liver (or gizzard) and potatoes. Bitter beans are optional for enhancing the flavor.

印尼辣炒雞肝和馬鈴薯,前面擺有香草,後面擺有大蒜

Semur

Semur (Indonesian braised meat) is the localized version of Dutch stewed meat (Smoor). The meat is usually beef or chicken, and the main seasoning is sweet soy sauce, which not only creates a dark color but also achieves a balanced sweet and salty taste. The same cooking method can also be used to braise other ingredients, such as eggs, tofu, and tempeh.

印尼香燉牛肉

Semur

印尼香滷蛋和滷豆腐

Semur telur and semur tahu

Common Festive Desserts

How can we miss desserts during celebrations? Desserts are essential in feasts, gatherings, and gift-giving occasions. In addition to the sweet coconut date, which is a popular gift choice, Indonesia has many local desserts that are perfect for Ramadan, satisfying everyone's sweet tooth. The desserts introduced below are not only suitable for Ramadan, but also for Lunar New Year and Christmas!

The most popular local dessert is undoubtedly "Kue Nastar" (pineapple cake). Unlike Taiwanese pineapple cakes, Indonesian pineapple cakes are usually in the shape of egg tarts or rolled up, allowing the pineapple jam inside to be exposed.

The second most popular traditional pastry is "Kue Lapis" (layered cake), which seems simple but actually requires a complicated process that the cake can only be done layer by layer. Layered cake has always been famous for its various colors, but no matter how many patterns there are, the most classic is the simple yellow layer cake, which, when bitten into, gives the purest taste of egg and milk.

If you want to give cookies as gifts, Indonesia also has plenty of choices. "Kastengel" (cheese stick) is a common festive snack that is sprinkled with cheese powder on the dough before baking. Therefore, it is more characterized by its salty flavor than its sweetness.

印尼鳳梨酥和乳酪棒餅乾放在木托盤上

Like other Asian countries, egg rolls are a popular festive snack. However, Indonesian egg rolls (Kue Semprong) have two characteristics: first, in addition to the “default” cylindrical shape, they also have fan-shaped and rectangular folded egg rolls, with checkered or other patterns on the surface; second, the Indonesian egg roll dough is added with more coconut milk and cinnamon than regular egg rolls, so the taste alone can distinguish them.

印尼蛋捲

There are also "Lidah Kucing" (cat's tongue cookies), which are shaped like cat's tongues. From the appearance, it can be seen that this type of cookie is directly based on European finger biscuits. Another dessert influenced by Dutch cuisine is "Kue Putri Salju" (snow white cookies), a kind of cookie sprinkled with powdered sugar, making it look like it is covered in snow. Since the snow white cookies are mostly crescent-shaped, some people also call them crescent cookies.

印尼貓舌餅乾

Lidah kucing

白雪公主餅乾

Kue putri salju

Fame Spreads beyond Indonesia

The above-mentioned dishes and desserts are already very popular and well-received in Indonesia. They are also widely popular in neighboring countries, Malaysia and Singapore. When you are invited to visit a gathering for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr, be sure to pay attention to these delicious foods.

用陶瓷鍋盛裝的印尼美食


Barret
Barret
Editor, World Gourmet Platform

Embrace a slow-paced life in a fast-paced world. Experience the wonders of life during my lifetime.

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