The backbone of all Indonesian cooking, spices are ground and chopped together, then fried to form a paste, which is either used as the flavour base for curries, or rubbed over ingredients prior to frying or grilling. Chillies always feature, along with terasi (also known as belacan), a fermented shrimp paste. Meals are often served with sambal, a blisteringly hot blend of chillies and spices.

Light meals and snacks include various rice dishes such as nasi goreng , a plate of fried rice with shreds of meat and vegetables and topped with a fried egg, and nasi campur , boiled rice served with a small range of side dishes. Noodle equivalents are also commonly available, as are gado-gado , steamed vegetables dressed in a peanut sauce, and sate , small kebabs of meat or fish, barbecued over a fire and again served with spicy peanut sauce. Indonesian bread ( roti) is made from sweetened dough, and usually accompanies a morning cup of coffee.

Sumatran Padang restaurants are found right across Indonesia, the typically fiery food pre-cooked - not the healthiest way to eat - and displayed cold on platters piled up in a pyramid shape inside a glass-fronted cabinet. There are no menus; you either select your composite meal by pointing, or wait for the staff to bring you a selection and pay just for what you consume. You may encounter boiled kangkung (water spinach); tempe; egg, vegetable, meat or seafood curry; fried whole fish; potato cakes; and fried cow's lung.