Introduction to Indonesian Padang cuisine

John Smith
3 min readAug 11, 2022

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When introducing the “food” of Indonesia, the tourism program will certainly introduce Padang cuisine. Its taste is curry, pepper and coconut milk, which is the strong taste. When the chef opens the restaurant, he cooks a large pot of each dish, and then sells it one by one. After the guests sit down, the waiter will serve all the dishes. Usually, there are two meat dishes on the plate, and one green dish is calculated, so it feels very rich when eating, The dishes are stacked on the table, and it feels like they are almost full.

You can take whatever you eat, just like a European buffet, but you don’t have to come and go to get the dishes. It’s very enjoyable; At the checkout, the waiter will count how much you have eaten and then calculate the price, and then pay the bill and leave. After the guests leave, the waiter takes the dishes back to the kitchen, fills up the eaten meat and vegetables, and waits for the next table of guests.

There are knives and forks on the table of Padang restaurant. The waiter will also send you a bowl of water after the guests sit down. It is for you to wash your hands. Indonesian people eat with their hands. I think it is very difficult to wash their hands with that bowl of water; Just imagine, if we use chopsticks or knives and forks to flip the dishes for inspection, if we are not satisfied, we just put them back. This is normal! So it’s normal for Indonesian people to take dishes by hand and put them back after inspection!!!

As for the cook’s cooking, the Padang restaurant usually opens at noon, so the cook starts cooking from 10:00 in the morning. Each dish is cooked in a large pot to meet the demand of lunch. However, when the business is bad or the dish is sold slowly, it will continue to be sold during the dinner time. There will be no heating in the middle, because the dish is too hot to be grasped by hand. How can the guests eat. I remember that once we were too busy. We had dinner at nearly 9:00 in the evening. Because the workers wanted to eat Padang food, we agreed to comfort their hard work knowing that it was inappropriate. Then we chose a restaurant with a large appearance and clean windows.

After serving the food, I always smelled a bad smell. I did not know which dishes were coming from. There were three layers of dishes stacked in front of me. The workers had a good time eating, but I guessed very well…. finally, I realized that, The food cooked with coconut milk and the temperature in Indonesia create this bad smell. masakan padang terdekat. Although the food cooked with curry, pepper or fried does not smell bad smell, it has been read by countless people since the early days. The bacteria content must be higher than that of your toilet.

To be honest, Padang food is delicious, inexpensive, and can best present the flavor and characteristics of Indonesian food. You must try it before your trip to Indonesia is worthwhile. Don’t forget to taste it because of the above information. If the method is correct, you don’t have to worry. So I’ll announce my personal Padang food skills:
1. Choose Badong restaurant with good reputation or good business.
2. I’ll eat before 12:00 noon.
3. Don’t eat Padang food for dinner.
Have a nice meal.

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