Like most large countries, there is no one kind of Indonesian cuisine, but Indonesian food has some generalities that make its many kinds of Indonesian foods unique, whether the Indonesian food is a play off other countries’ foods or whether the dishes are native to various Indonesian regions. Some Indonesian dishes are influenced by Chinese cuisine (and vice versa), but others, such as the Padang food in Sumatra, show some Middle Eastern and Indian influence. Indonesian food is commonly eaten with a spoon in the right hand and a fork in the left, although in parts of the country, Indonesian food is just eaten with one’s hands, as utensils are not easily procured.

Like many Asian cultures, rice is the foundation of every meal. It can be eaten in a soup or with vegetables and meat. Rice can also be steamed in coconut fronds, which is called ketaput, or made into crackers, desserts, or even wines. Fried rice, called nasi goring, is one of the most popular Indonesian food dishes, although meat on a skewer served with peanut sauce (sate or satay), bean sprouts and vegetables with peanut sauce, and various kinds of seafood are also quite popular Indonesian foods. Indonesia has a gold mine of native tropical fruits that are enjoyed for their richness all over the world, including custard apples, guavas, rambutan, mangoes, starfruits, and papayas. In the Sumatra regions, they often provide curried meats and vegetables like gulai, which is an Indonesian curry with a characteristic yellow color from the spice turmeric and coconut milk. The Chinese influence on Indonesian food is seen in the prevalence of rice, noodles, and meatballs. Some Indonesian foods, however, are unique to the region, like tempe, which has become popular worldwide. Tempe comes from Java; its origin was a result of deforestation as protein became harder to come by, and the tempe provided an adequate alternative.

Vendors are a regular sight in Indonesia, and they often sell Chinese-inspired Indonesian foods like buns and noodles. Pork used to be sold, too, but with the rise of Islam in Indonesia, it is not used as often in traditional dishes.

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Here some spices among others that can be used for medicine:

- Clove, which is a native spice from Indonesia and used as ingredient in cuisine all over the world, has many beneficial usage especially for medication. According to FAO, Indonesia produced almost 80% of the world’s clove output in 2005 followed at a distance by Madagascar and Tanzania. In India, cloves are used in Ayurveda called Lavang, while in Chinese and western, they use it for an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies. Cloves are also used as a carminative, to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. It’s known as natural antihelmintic (drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) from the body, by either stunning or killing them). The cloves contain of an essential oil (aetheric oil), also a number of some good chemicals compound. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), clove is one of the most widely used botanical medications in the world. As in Indonesia, this spice has been used for medicine since long time ago. With right measure together with other herbs, cloves can heal toothache, heavy cough, fever because of Malaria, pain during the menstruation and also to solve bad breath problem.

- Ginger is widely used across the country either for cuisine or medication. There’s a special drink in Central Java called ‘Wedang Ronde’ which is made from ginger and peanuts and it’s good for healing a sore throat. Ginger is also good to increase the body stamina, to heal the colds, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness and fever.

- Galangal (Kaempferia galangal), just as ginger, it is also good to increase the body stamina, against bad breath, to heal stomach inflammation, nausea, vomiting and cold.

- Turmeric has lot of benefits for health. Besides widely used as a food coloring and is one of the principal ingredients in curry powder, it is also used for traditional medicines meant to maintain good health and beauty. Turmeric has long been used in medicine as an anti-inflammatory, to treat digestive disorders (stomach upset, gas, abdominal crams) and liver problems, preventing bacterial infection in wounds, and for treating skin diseases and wound healing. It is also good for treating irregular menstruation and leucorrhoea for women. Other benefits are for body heating and to make blood’s circulation run smoothly. There has been a substantial amount of research on turmeric’s anti-cancer potential. Evidence from laboratory and animal studies suggests that curcuma has potential in the treatment of various forms of cancer, including prostate, breast, skin, and colon. Human studies will be necessary before it is known to what extent these results may apply to people.

- Another Indonesian spice which is good for food ingredients as well as for health is lemongrass or Indonesian calls it ‘Sereh’ or ‘Serai’. Lemon grass is widely used as a herb in Asian cuisine. It has a citrus flavour and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh. It is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries. Research also shows that lemon grass oil has antifungal properties. Lemongrass has many good properties such as healing a headache, muscle and joint pain, nerve pain, rheumatism, sore throat, irritable bowel syndrome, Gastroenteritis, stomach pain, flatulence, diarrhea, stomach pain, irregular menstruation, bad breath, increases appetite, heals swollen gums, toothache. There is a traditional drink from west Java called ‘Bandrek’ which is made from lemongrass’s stick. It’s good to warm the body.

Despite all those spices above, there are still many herbs and spices in Indonesia which have great benefits for the persons health. As long as you use them with the right measurement/dosage.

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Tatie Sri Wulandari is an Indonesian living in Slovenia (Europe). She enjoys cooking Indonesian food so much that she created a website http://www.tasty-indonesian-food.com where she shares information on ingredients, spices, recipes and her own little secrets in making a tasty Indonesian meal.