final assignment for ALJ 216

saya lagi gak ada ide buat posting. alhasil, sambil ngerjain tugas alc 102, saya posting feature article ttg Indonesian Cuisine. lumayan lahh nisa nge back up assignment kedua yg telattt banget gara2 kedodolan diri sendiri...

IndoLicious-taste of Indonesian Cuisine

June is coming now and the smell of sensational holiday is ready to accost us. We have to prepare everything to enjoy our vacation in a maximum level. Indonesia is one of the best destinations for holiday. It is the nearest country from Australia. It only takes 5 hours by plane and then we could feel the taste of Asia in Indonesia. If you are afraid about the food in Indonesia, you have to try and explore the various kind of Indonesian culinary first. Fortunately, you will easily find many types of Indonesian restaurants in Melbourne.


The black spicy taste of beef that they called as beef rendang, originally from Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia could be one of the best choices. Are you a vegetarian? It is not a big problem. You can try the Indonesian salad which is called as Gado-Gado. Linsiana Samawi, owner of Pendowo Limo catering said that Indonesia has various treasure of traditional foods. “It’s easy for me to keep my customers because I always provide different type of Indonesian foods and I still explore more, So, they will not get bore with my dishes”.

With area of approximately 1,890,754 km2 and has population around 218,868791 peoples, Indonesia is rich of food varieties and spices. Almost every part of this country has its own specialty. For example, Sumatra is well known for its extra spicy food. Java, which can be divided into East, Central, and West, tends to offer sweet, spicy, and salty food in those areas respectively.

The massive sum of Indonesian who studied in Melbourne have cause a greater crowd for restaurants that serve Indonesian Menu. When you walk in Swanston Street, do not forget to try Indonesian Dim Sum, called Siomay in Nelayan Restaurant. Basic ingredient for Siomay is Spanish mackerel. People in Indonesia usually called it as ikan tenggiri. They put plain flour and Spanish mackerel together. After they mix all the ingredients, they steam it for 30 minutes. You can taste this delicious food only for $A 8. They serve Siomay with peanut sauces, chili sauces, and sweet soy sauces. It makes the unique taste of Spanish mackerel stronger and delicious than before. Linda Liem, owner of Nelayan Restaurant said that we can modify the basic ingredient of siomay as much as we want. “Usually, we made Siomay from ikan tenggiri, but sometimes we also made Siomay from chicken, prawn, or pork because it’s quite hard for us finding ikan tenggiri in Melbourne,” Said Mrs.Liem. The difference of Indonesian culinary with the other food is they always use dry spices. These dry spices only available in Indonesia. It makes the taste of every food become unique, special, and different with other countries. If siomay is not enough, then you should try to order Lontong Cap Gomeh. Indonesian people frequently consume this food at special occasion like celebrating Chinese New Year. However, as the time goes by, Lontong Cap Gomeh transformed into a common food. We could enjoy Lontong Cap Gomeh anytime we want, we don’t need celebrating something to enjoy this delicious food. Lontong Cap Gomeh is made from special steam rice called lontong. They serve it with pumpkins, eggs, and special soy powder. For the last touch, they give coconut milk as the dressing.


In Indonesia, chicken also becomes a favorite ingredient. Special fried chicken called Ayam Penyet will be a good choice to accompany you on lunch or dinner, alone or with friends. It is not hard to enjoy the delicious taste of ayam penyet in Melbourne. In Berkeley Street Carlton, you have to stop at Garage Café. One portion of Ayam Penyet only for $A 9, 50 will fulfill your thirst of traditional food from Indonesia. A lot of Indonesian student come to eat this food. Ayam Penyet is a fried chicken served with traditional chili sauces and warm rice. One thing that makes this food difference is they batter the chicken with the traditional sauces. The taste of dry herbs is really strong. If you like spicy food, you will get addicted with Ayam Penyet. Special chili sauces in Ayam Penyet were made from fresh chili, salt, tomato, and black shrimp paste. Usually, they call chili sauces as Sambal Terasi because they label black shrimp paste as terasi and use it as a vital part of the ingredient.

Most of Indonesian dishes use chili sauces to make their food more delicious. They think that eating food without chili sauces is not complete. That is why in Indonesian cultures, chili sauce is the most important part for their culinary history. You will surprise even when you come to international restaurants such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken because they provide chili sauces and tomato sauces for free. Their customers could get as much as they want without any extra charge. Dahana Asmara, International students from Indonesia who currently study at Melbourne University major in Cookery said that Indonesian people very love something spicy. “We always like something sweet, salty, and spicy but most of us really loves spicy foods, either it is from chili or from pepper,” Said Dahana. “Indonesian people tend to be more innovative, sometimes they modify chili sauces into other sauces like chili sauces with garlic and onion and it is really delicious, I always miss that special sauces, it is highly recommended,” He added.

Tired with chicken and meat? If you need something healthy, Gado-Gado could be the best choices for lunch. It is Indonesian traditional salad contain with spread bean, spinach, white tofu, soy tempe, chickpea, and mix of vegetables. They mix all of these ingredients with peanut sauces, sweet soy sauces, and again do not forget to add extra chili sauces in this menu. In Kemangi Restaurant at Glenferrie, you only have to spend $A 7, 50 for one plate of delicious Gado – Gado. Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia is the home of Gado – Gado. When spending your holiday in Jakarta, you have to spend some time for trying Gado – Gado Boplo. “Gado – Gado Boplo is the best restaurant specialist in Gado – Gado, it is a very famous restaurant in Indonesia and you can feel the unique taste of traditional salad from Indonesia,” Said Dahana. “They use garlic and onion specially made from Indonesia for the peanut sauces and it makes the taste of Gado – Gado in Indonesia and Melbourne different,” He highlighted.

Discover culinary in Indonesia is not something easy to do. However, enjoying culinary trip for holiday in Indonesia will be a good idea. You will get different experience and learn something new about Indonesian culinary. The best thing from Indonesia is all food sold in each city are cheap but it tastes good. So, you do not have to worry will spend too much money for this overseas culinary holiday trip. One thing that we should remember is we have to accustom our tongue with dry herbs, something spicy, and salty because it is the characters of Indonesian food.

Indonesia will be the host of Indonesian Traditional Food Festival in Jakarta. If you spend your holiday on June, Remember to come to this festival if you want to enjoy the unique and special taste of traditional food from Asia. This festival will save your time and energy because you don’t have to go around all of big cities in Indonesia to eat traditional Indonesian food. Staff from Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne, Mr. Bemby Sulistyo says, “This upcoming event will be the heaven of traditional food from Indonesia, the customers can taste and learn how to make it at the same time, you will gain more knowledge about Indonesian culinary and feel the historical atmosphere of Indonesian food”.

Before spending your holiday in Indonesia, here is a list of Indonesian Restaurants in Melbourne that can help you easier to adjust the taste of Indonesia.

• Garage Café – 221 Berkeley Street, Carlton, Victoria
• Blok M Express – 380 Lt. Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
• Kemangi Indonesian Restaurant – 830 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3122
• Bamboe Café & Restaurant – 643 Warrigal Road, Chadstone, Victoria
• Garamerica – 230 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne, Victoria
• Es Teler 77 – 319 Swanston Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
• Nelayan Indonesian Cuisine – 315 Swanston Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
• Indosari – 1165 Glenhuntly Road, VIC 3163


Having a great time and trying all of special food in other country is a great idea but we also have to consider our health. We have to keep and maintain our body during holiday. Do not eat too much meat with cholesterol and something extra spicy. It will give bad effect to your body. So, for the last words are stays health, enjoy your vacation, and keep explore food in all over the world!