The Wacky Way We Indonesians Name Our Food

All for shits and giggles.

Sep 16, 2024

this is what comes to our mind when we name our food btw

Halo and Happy Monday! It's a public holiday in Indonesia today, so I hope you enjoyed your long weekend and got the rest you deserve! After three serious posts in my earlier segment of Food News from Indonesia, I decided it was time for something fun and wacky. Today's newsletter will give you a glimpse into how we Indonesians name our food. I didn’t realize how unique our naming style was until I had to explain it to a non-Indonesian. Some names are straightforward, but others have layers of context that took me a while to explain. It's funny, and I'm all for it. Enjoy the read! 🍹

Last week was quite a busy one. I was invited to a three-day Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to brainstorm, ideate, and sharpen multiple strategies to improve the Indonesian diet, particularly to combat veggie deficiency. Big stuff.

I felt very confident going in since it’s a cause I also fight for – I even wrote about it once here. And after days of discussion with other food experts – from entrepreneurs, marketers, and chefs, to content creators – I am even more convinced now that this is something we need to care about. It was such a wholesome experience to share views and exchange insights with the other experts, but for today, I won’t go into all the details of the FGD here.

FGD participants and facilitators! (Jakarta, 2024)

Instead, I’d like to share one interesting takeaway that casually came up during the FGD.

This particular discussion happened when we were trying to understand the best way to communicate a new diet program to Indonesians. We played around the idea of creating a slogan, and while we knew it had to be catchy, we struggled to choose between going for, one, something more scientific and health-related or, two, something fun and creative.

The thing is, they both serve different purposes. The fun slogan can capture people’s attention easily, and the more scientific one will let people understand what’s in it for them. It wasn’t until a comment was made by one of the participants that we decided to prioritise creativity first. This is because:

Indonesian are wack ass when it comes to naming food.

Of course, they didn’t say that. They said that Indonesians are not too rigid when naming food, suggesting that there is plenty of room for expression that may result in a high acceptance of playful names. But trust me, when you look into some of the food names here in Indonesia, they are indeed wack ass. It’s as if they’re naming it just for shits and giggles. And I’m here for it.

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Let’s start with the basic ones. Just like the rest of the world, there are a few common ways we use to name certain things.

1. Highlight the Ingredients

This method is the most straightforward one as it describes what’s inside the food in front of us. Take the example of Mie Kangkung (lit. noodle + kangkung / water spinach), Nasi Daun Jeruk (lit. rice + lime leaves), or Sapi Lada Hitam (lit. beef + black pepper). It’s the most truthful way to name your food. It sets the expectation. But it’s also the most basic one.

2. Origin / Specific Location

In a huge country like Indonesia, many similar dishes can coexist, and the subtle differences between them can be blurry to the untrained eyes. Take Soto Lamongan and Soto Kudus, for example. Both are called soto, and both are clear soups with similar spices like garlic and shallots. However, only Soto Kudus contained cumin and topped with fried garlic. Identifying one as from Kudus and the other from Lamongan is a no-brainer way to tell them apart.

3. Cooking Method

Another method that gives a clear and instant idea of the dish. For example, Nasi Goreng (lit. fried rice) immediately tells you that the rice is stir-fried, Tahu Isi (lit. stuffed tofu) suggests that the tofu contains fillings, and Ayam Geprek (lit. smashed chicken) explains why your chicken looks like it’s had a rough day at work (it was pounded with a mortar and pestle).

4. How To Eat

While I’m a firm believer that there are no strict rules on how to eat something, I also think that a little guideline can go a long way. Naming a food based on how to eat it makes the experience so much more intuitive. For example, you wouldn’t have to guess how to eat those frozen blocks of colourful ice in plastic bags when the name clearly tells you it’s Es Kenyot (lit. suck the ice). And if you’re still confused about how to eat those conjoining breads called Roti Sobek (e.g. tear the bread), I don’t know what to tell you.

5. Specific Person

We love giving credit where it’s due, especially to those who invented a dish or made it popular. This can be seen not only with well-known names like Ayam Goreng Suharti (lit. Suharti’s Fried Chicken) and Bihun Bebek Asie (lit. Asie’s Duck Rice Noodle) but also in a more contemporary example – like the rise of a new type of Seblak (lit. boiled crackers) called Seblak Rafael, made famous by, you guessed it, a guy named Rafael.

6. How It Tastes

What do you think a Nasi Gurih (lit. savoury rice) would taste like? Savoury? How about Kayu Manis (lit. sweet wood, cinnamon)? Sweet? And Ikan Asam Manis (lit. sweet and sour fish)? Sweet and sour? This method is pretty much self-explanatory.

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Now that we’ve covered the basic ways Indonesians name their food, let’s dive into the more quirky, and sometimes downright wack-ass, naming practices.

1. Wack Comparison

Indonesians love to stretch and overextend the hell out of everything, including food description. Kue Bantal (lit. Pillow Cake) is a good place to start, as the fried bread’s shape resembles a fluffy pillow. Then we have Putri Salju (lit. Snow White), which is still somewhat understandable as the way the butter cookie is generously coated in powdered sugar, gives a snowy appearance. But once you get to Telur Mata Sapi (lit. cow’s eye egg, basically a fried sunny side up), you can’t help but wonder, how did someone, decide that a cow’s eye was the perfect comparison?

2. Silly Associations

It’s just funny how a food name can be shaped by its associations, including the typical consumers.

In Solo, a street food called Sate Kere (e.g. poor man’s satay) stands out due to its simplicity and affordability. Instead of the usual meat, Sate Kere is made from Tempe Gembus (a type of fermented soybean) and sometimes beef offal like intestines. The use of alternative ingredients made its price accessible to poor people in the past, but today, Sate Kere is enjoyed by many.

Another interesting example is in Aceh, where a place called RM Aditya Jaya serve a dish named Ayam Pramugari (lit. Flight Attendant Chicken), a marinated fried chicken served with fried curry leaves and white rice. Many people think the name comes from the chicken’s long and skinny legs, reminding them of a flight attendant’s. It’s a pretty objectifying comparison if you ask me. So I’d rather believe the name simply came from the fact that many flight attendants dined there, considering that it’s located just under one kilometre from Aceh’s Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport.

3. Abbreviations

Indonesians love their abbreviations. We have so much going on in our lives that there is simply no time to say whole sentences. And I totally get it. Saying Jeruk Nipis Peres (lit. freshly squeezed lime) is such a hassle, especially when you can cut it down to just Jeniper, saving you a second and three syllables. Other abbreviations are so rooted, that many Indonesians might not even realise that they’re shortened versions. Like how Batagor (lit. fried meatball and tofu) is a combo of bakso (meatball), tahu (tofu), and goreng (fried); or how Es Doger stands for es (ice) dorong (push) gerobak (cart) (lit. ice, sold from a pushed-around cart).

4. Honestly, Whatever

This one takes the cake. Forget everything you know about Indonesians being poetic or clever with words – these food names are just plain wild, with no rules in sight. Here are a few of my favourites:

Nasi Kucing: In many parts of Solo and Yogyakarta, many street food vendors sell a dish known as Nasi Kucing (lit. cat rice). No, it doesn’t contain any cats and I can assure you that no cats were harmed. And no, it is definitely not a cat’s food. Nasi Kucing is essentially white rice, served with small toppings like chicken or tempe, all wrapped in banana leaves. The portions are so tiny, that it almost feels like a joke, which is why people say it’s just enough to feed a cat. Nasi Kucing is sold at around Rp2,000, and once you unwrap it, you will see that it is actually a joke – inside are just three to five spoonfuls of rice, a few slivers of shredded chicken, and a small dollop of sambal. Since one portion won’t fill you up, it is common for people to get four to five portions of Nasi Kucing to make it a full meal.

Ayam Kodok: I don’t know where to start, because the first time I heard about this dish, I was just as confused as you’re about to be. Ayam Kodok literally translates to Frog Chicken. Yes, we do eat frogs in Indonesia, but this dish, in fact, is just a chicken. A quick Google search tells me that it’s a variation of the European Ballotine Chicken. The chicken is deboned and then stuffed with spiced ground chicken meat, herbs, and veggies. After being roasted, the chicken spreads out and flattened, and some say it ends up looking like a frog. To me, it just looks like a normal roasted chicken, so I’m not sure how people get frogs. But aside from the goofy ahh name, a lot of people including my family like to enjoy Ayam Kodok every time Christmas is around the corner.

Bakso Astaghfirullah: Bakso is meatball. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me try explaining the many layers of the word Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah is an Arabic phrase, and in a literal sense, it means to seek forgiveness from Allah (God). But here in Indonesia, we often use it when something shocks or surprises us, especially when it’s completely out of the ordinary. This goes for moments like when you’re eating Bakso Astaghfirullah. The first Astaghfirullah is for when it arrives at your table — the bakso is so huge, it barely fits in the bowl. The second one? That’s when you cut it open and find even more little bakso inside!

Bakso Astaghfirullah (Source: Sindopos & IDN Times)

Indonesians have a fascinating way of naming food. Part of it comes from our rich vocabulary, be it for nature, culture, and all the small things we encounter in our daily lives. Furthermore, our love for poetry and oral traditions also drives us to use metaphor and symbolism to convey complex ideas and emotions.

But let’s be real — sometimes, it’s also just because we are pressed, and humour is an integral part for us to cope. You see, when your government fails you, humour becomes a survival tool, and giving food silly names is one of the ways.

And honestly, I am here to embrace it. Language evolves, and we should be too. Do you know any silly food names in your culture? Comment down below!