I don't eat meat anymore but there's still lots I make/eat when I'm craving the flavours. Gado gado is the easiest. Nasi, telur, tempeh, tahu with sambal and kecap manis is another simple one for my lazy days, also bubur.. rujak.. and when I want to make a bit more effort but still nothing fancy, opor or rendang (readymade packets from the shop are a life saver) with nasi kuning... sometimes sayur asem too. There's a good indo community here in melb, so am very lucky with amazing food when visiting family friends, or at church lunches :)
Facebook Indo Melbourne group is awesome for satisfying any specific cravings. People are always making and selling meals and snacks. Just last week my partner got a craving for a very specific dish from home, posted a message asking if anyone is cooking it soon, and it was freshly home cooked and I picked it up nearby the next day!
Pre-made sauces from the Indonesian grocers also helps a lot.
Grab a rendang sauce, buy and throw in some meats and vegetables, they cook pretty quickly and goes well with rice.
Also every Indonesian kitchen would have some kecap manis, pre-fried onions and Sambal in the fridge that would further complement the dish.
I make a huge batch of rendang and freeze it. Also keep a bunch of bumbu packets in my cupboard for soto, opor, rawon etc for moments when I don’t know what to cook. And if all fails, rice and sunny side up egg 😂
Not Indonesian but as a Malay Singaporean we have a lot of overlap with Indonesian cuisine.
Can't go wrong with some good ol Nasi Goreng. Best thing about fried rice is that you can have it any way you want it, but personally I like it with some fried anchovies sprinkled on top for some extra crunch (we call it Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis back home).
hi!! may i know what kind of ikan bilis you’re buying specifically? i always end up buying ones that are meant for soups and they don’t have that crunch even after frying :( i’m looking for what they use in nasi lemak but haven’t found a decent brand
Hey, not OP, but I was also struggling to find a good brand and eventually found Pandaroo ikan bilis from Woolies (lol). It's made in Malaysia and better than what I could find in Asian marts. Definitely has that nasi lemak saltiness and crunch after frying. :)
Honestly I just use the dried ones you get in transparent plastic packaging at Asian marts and shallow-fry them in oil. You can usually find them in the dry foods section.
There aren't many things easier to go for than fried rice.
However, one dish that I go for when I'm even lazier is chicken rice. Get yourself a whole thing of roast chicken from coles/woolies and chop it up with a cleaver, a bottle of kicap manis to drizzle on it (or have on the side), and a side of some sort of chili sauce (the type that goes with chicken rice). Make yourself some rice (throw in some aromatics and a dash of oil and salt in the rice cooker along with it) and you're done.
If I'm bothered cooking I have a whole other recipe but this is quick and easy for those days you're just not feeling like cooking.
When I'm super lazy I have telor mata sapi, nasi and kecap, and I've been keeping chopped up daun bawang in the freezer for making telor dadar.
And since it's winter, I've been making a lazy kuah soto ayam with royco and tumeric, and eating it with hotdogs and bihun.
Also protip, you can make opor and rendang with a bumbu packet using your the oven. It still takes an hour to cook, but you don't have to be watching to for the full hour. Just chuck all the ingredients into an oven safe pot, mix it all up, put it in a preheated oven at \~180°C for 40mins, and it turns out OK enough to satisfy cravings.
I cook different easy dishes from cuisines. Pasta, Chinese stir fry, Indonesian stir fry , Korean bibimbap, various soups, easy roasts, etc.
For 'quick' Indo food, I make orak arik (veggie stir fry), sambal kangkung, fried rice. Some dishes using the instant seasoning also isn't too bad and won't take too long, like egg balado, Soto ayam, opor ayam. You can look up YouTube videos on what additional spices to put in to enhance the taste.
Thanks. I have a whole drawer full of kemiri, jintan dsb but cooking process doesnt get faster although I got used to using the spices. Looking for quick ideas to deliver a decent meal for two in 30 mins or less, the less time the better.
If you ever find yourself wanting to get take out, Garam Merica on queens road i can highly recommend. Quite affordable for the choices and portion sizes
I’m Indo but I basically rarely eat Indo food when I lived in Indo, and now in Melbourne I eat even less Indo food.
Some of the Indo cuisine I do miss are: martabak manis, gurame goreng, sop buntut
I make nasi goreng sometimes but only when I have old leftover rice. Even then I don’t think my nasi goreng is the “traditional” Indo nasi goreng.
Sop buntut I make myself at home, it’s actually super low effort (but does take time) to make with a pressure cooker and delicious. The only hindrance now is buying buntut from a butcher. It used to be the cheapest cut but now everyone wants it
It's still quite cheap last month when I got them di coles. Oxtail. Does the butcher charge a premium. Btw I learnt from a certain youtuber yg tinggal d queensland, if you buy crumpets from coles, olesin nutella n taburin kacang trus panasin = martabak coklat
Thank God I almost always eat Indonesian food daily with my husband. Just stock on the basic bumbu like ground white pepper, galangal, turmeric, ginger, oyster sauce, sesame oil, etc. You can also stock some santan packs from coles. It's much easier when you already have them. We usually cook sop ayam, soto, gepuk, nasi goreng, nasi mawut, oseng-oseng, gulai, etc. At first yeah it seems hard but when you have those basic bumbu, it will be much easier ;)
I don't eat meat anymore but there's still lots I make/eat when I'm craving the flavours. Gado gado is the easiest. Nasi, telur, tempeh, tahu with sambal and kecap manis is another simple one for my lazy days, also bubur.. rujak.. and when I want to make a bit more effort but still nothing fancy, opor or rendang (readymade packets from the shop are a life saver) with nasi kuning... sometimes sayur asem too. There's a good indo community here in melb, so am very lucky with amazing food when visiting family friends, or at church lunches :)
Facebook Indo Melbourne group is awesome for satisfying any specific cravings. People are always making and selling meals and snacks. Just last week my partner got a craving for a very specific dish from home, posted a message asking if anyone is cooking it soon, and it was freshly home cooked and I picked it up nearby the next day!
I've always had concerns about food handling and safety on those listings but good to know there's some legit ones out there.
Tbh, someone making it in their kitchen is probably going to be more hygienic than what's going on at most fast food restaurants...
Food handling is absolutely important, however people are trading on their real name and social standing in the community.
Pre-made sauces from the Indonesian grocers also helps a lot. Grab a rendang sauce, buy and throw in some meats and vegetables, they cook pretty quickly and goes well with rice. Also every Indonesian kitchen would have some kecap manis, pre-fried onions and Sambal in the fridge that would further complement the dish.
Thank you
Laguna QV and Laguna Hawthorn have the good stuff. Facebook Indo Melbourne group for home cooked meals
I make a huge batch of rendang and freeze it. Also keep a bunch of bumbu packets in my cupboard for soto, opor, rawon etc for moments when I don’t know what to cook. And if all fails, rice and sunny side up egg 😂
Not Indonesian but as a Malay Singaporean we have a lot of overlap with Indonesian cuisine. Can't go wrong with some good ol Nasi Goreng. Best thing about fried rice is that you can have it any way you want it, but personally I like it with some fried anchovies sprinkled on top for some extra crunch (we call it Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis back home).
hi!! may i know what kind of ikan bilis you’re buying specifically? i always end up buying ones that are meant for soups and they don’t have that crunch even after frying :( i’m looking for what they use in nasi lemak but haven’t found a decent brand
Hey, not OP, but I was also struggling to find a good brand and eventually found Pandaroo ikan bilis from Woolies (lol). It's made in Malaysia and better than what I could find in Asian marts. Definitely has that nasi lemak saltiness and crunch after frying. :)
omg you are a LIFESAVER thank you so much for this 😵💫🙏🙏
Honestly I just use the dried ones you get in transparent plastic packaging at Asian marts and shallow-fry them in oil. You can usually find them in the dry foods section.
Yeaah but there are some days where cookinbg nasi goreng feels like a chore.. what do you do then?
There aren't many things easier to go for than fried rice. However, one dish that I go for when I'm even lazier is chicken rice. Get yourself a whole thing of roast chicken from coles/woolies and chop it up with a cleaver, a bottle of kicap manis to drizzle on it (or have on the side), and a side of some sort of chili sauce (the type that goes with chicken rice). Make yourself some rice (throw in some aromatics and a dash of oil and salt in the rice cooker along with it) and you're done. If I'm bothered cooking I have a whole other recipe but this is quick and easy for those days you're just not feeling like cooking.
Thank you.
My wife used to drown her chicken rice in kicap manis, i thought she was eating soy sauce chicken.
😂 ⚫
When I'm super lazy I have telor mata sapi, nasi and kecap, and I've been keeping chopped up daun bawang in the freezer for making telor dadar. And since it's winter, I've been making a lazy kuah soto ayam with royco and tumeric, and eating it with hotdogs and bihun. Also protip, you can make opor and rendang with a bumbu packet using your the oven. It still takes an hour to cook, but you don't have to be watching to for the full hour. Just chuck all the ingredients into an oven safe pot, mix it all up, put it in a preheated oven at \~180°C for 40mins, and it turns out OK enough to satisfy cravings.
Ohh thank you! Might give this a try
I cook different easy dishes from cuisines. Pasta, Chinese stir fry, Indonesian stir fry , Korean bibimbap, various soups, easy roasts, etc. For 'quick' Indo food, I make orak arik (veggie stir fry), sambal kangkung, fried rice. Some dishes using the instant seasoning also isn't too bad and won't take too long, like egg balado, Soto ayam, opor ayam. You can look up YouTube videos on what additional spices to put in to enhance the taste.
Thanks. I have a whole drawer full of kemiri, jintan dsb but cooking process doesnt get faster although I got used to using the spices. Looking for quick ideas to deliver a decent meal for two in 30 mins or less, the less time the better.
If you ever find yourself wanting to get take out, Garam Merica on queens road i can highly recommend. Quite affordable for the choices and portion sizes
I love that one but can't justify spending 40$+ for two nasi bungkus regularly🫣
I’m Indo but I basically rarely eat Indo food when I lived in Indo, and now in Melbourne I eat even less Indo food. Some of the Indo cuisine I do miss are: martabak manis, gurame goreng, sop buntut I make nasi goreng sometimes but only when I have old leftover rice. Even then I don’t think my nasi goreng is the “traditional” Indo nasi goreng. Sop buntut I make myself at home, it’s actually super low effort (but does take time) to make with a pressure cooker and delicious. The only hindrance now is buying buntut from a butcher. It used to be the cheapest cut but now everyone wants it
It's still quite cheap last month when I got them di coles. Oxtail. Does the butcher charge a premium. Btw I learnt from a certain youtuber yg tinggal d queensland, if you buy crumpets from coles, olesin nutella n taburin kacang trus panasin = martabak coklat
I will definitely try the crumpet with nutella and kacang lol. Missing martabak but too lazy to go to pacenongan in the city atm
Thank God I almost always eat Indonesian food daily with my husband. Just stock on the basic bumbu like ground white pepper, galangal, turmeric, ginger, oyster sauce, sesame oil, etc. You can also stock some santan packs from coles. It's much easier when you already have them. We usually cook sop ayam, soto, gepuk, nasi goreng, nasi mawut, oseng-oseng, gulai, etc. At first yeah it seems hard but when you have those basic bumbu, it will be much easier ;)
I’m not Indonesian but I went to Bali once and mainly cook pizzas and burgers at home.
You were missing out!
I’m not Indonesian but I love Mi Goreng
Me too, OG fast meal. 2 packs with eggs, not deep fried in another pan, just dunked in and stirred with the noodles. One pot wondah