National dish

What is the national dish of Indonesia?

Indonesia's official national dish is tumpeng: a cone of rice, often yellow with turmeric, set on a banana leaf and surrounded by side dishes such as vegetables, fried chicken and eggs. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy chose it in 2014. In 2018 the same ministry named five more national dishes: soto, satay, nasi goreng, rendang and gado-gado.

Updated 2026-10-123 min read

Why Indonesia has more than one national dish

Indonesia is the rare country with an official answer that changed. In 2013 the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy promoted 30 dishes as Indonesian culinary icons. In 2014 it picked one of them, tumpeng, as the official national dish, describing it as the dish that binds the diversity of Indonesia's culinary traditions.

A single dish was later judged too narrow for a country of so many regional cuisines. In 2018 the same ministry added five national dishes:

Soto: a spiced soup served from Sumatra to Papua in countless local versions.
Satay (sate): skewered meat grilled over charcoal, usually with peanut sauce.
Nasi goreng: fried rice darkened with sweet soy sauce.
Rendang: beef cooked down in coconut milk and spices until dry.
Gado-gado: blanched vegetables, tofu and egg under peanut sauce.

What is tumpeng?

Tumpeng comes from Javanese cooking. The rice is packed into a cone-shaped container of woven bamboo, turned out onto a round bamboo tray (tampah) lined with banana leaf, and ringed with side dishes. The rice can be plain, nasi uduk cooked in coconut milk, or yellow rice coloured with turmeric.

Typical sides include urap (vegetables with spiced grated coconut), fried chicken, semur beef in sweet soy sauce, small dried fish fried with peanuts, fried prawns, marbled boiled eggs, potato fritters and sambal goreng ati, liver in chilli sauce. Because the cone can be surrounded by dishes from anywhere in the archipelago, it suited the ministry's idea of a dish that brings regions together.

Where tumpeng comes from and when it is served

Tumpeng was traditionally made for the slametan, a Javanese communal feast. The cone of rice is read as a sacred mountain, and the meal as thanks for a harvest or another blessing.

Today most Indonesians serve it for any special occasion, from birthdays to neighbourhood gatherings and farewell parties, and it is often described as the Indonesian counterpart of a birthday cake. Indonesian restaurants in Singapore and the Netherlands serve it too.

Different occasions call for different cones:

Tumpeng putih: white rice, for sacred ceremonies.
Tumpeng nasi kuning: yellow rice, for births, weddings, Eid, Christmas and other happy events.
Tumpeng nasi uduk: coconut rice, for the Prophet's birthday.
Mini tumpeng: a single-portion cone, sold like a rice box.

The five dishes Indonesians actually eat every day

Tumpeng is a celebration dish. The five 2018 picks are the everyday ones, and three of them are in Copper.

Nasi goreng was the unofficial national dish long before any ministry list: after independence it was treated as the dish of every Indonesian household, and it was on the menu of the Indonesian pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Our version starts with rice cooked the day before, fried with a pounded paste of toasted terasi shrimp paste, shallot and chilli, then darkened with kecap manis and topped with a crisp fried egg.

Chicken satay is marinated overnight in a paste of shallot, garlic, candlenut, coriander and turmeric, grilled over charcoal 3 to 4 minutes a side and served on a sauce of peanuts fried and pounded by hand. Satay was already listed among Indonesia's national foods in 2011.

Rendang, from the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, takes 4 to 5 hours: beef simmers uncovered in coconut milk, passing through a saucy stage called gulai and a thicker one called kalio, until no liquid is left and the spice paste fries the meat dark. Indonesia gave rendang cultural heritage status in 2013.

Other dishes to know from Indonesia

Soto and gado-gado complete the official five. Soto is everywhere, from warung street stalls to hotel restaurants, and almost every region, ethnic group and even city has developed its own version, which is exactly why the ministry saw it as a natural national dish. It was showcased during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta under the theme "Unity in Diversoto". Gado-gado is one of several Indonesian vegetable dishes dressed with peanut sauce, alongside karedok, ketoprak and pecel; peanut sauce is one of the threads that runs through the whole cuisine, from these salads to satay.

Several of these dishes cross the Strait of Malacca: satay and rendang are also recognised as heritage food in Malaysia, where nasi lemak is the dish most often called national. For the wider picture, see our guide to Southeast Asian cooking, and find every recipe on our page about the food of Indonesia.

The recipes

Questions people ask

Is tumpeng or nasi goreng the national dish of Indonesia?

Tumpeng is the official national dish, chosen by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in 2014. Nasi goreng was widely treated as the national dish before that, and in 2018 it became one of five official national dishes.

What are the five national dishes of Indonesia?

Soto, satay, nasi goreng, rendang and gado-gado, named by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in 2018, in addition to tumpeng.

Is rendang from Indonesia or Malaysia?

Rendang is a Minangkabau dish from West Sumatra, also cooked by Malay communities. Malaysia recognised it as heritage food in 2009, and Indonesia named it a national dish in 2018. Our rendang recipe follows the Padang method.

What is served with tumpeng?

Side dishes vary, but often include urap vegetables with grated coconut, fried chicken, semur beef, marbled boiled eggs, fried prawns, potato fritters and sambal.

Why is tumpeng shaped like a cone?

The cone of rice represents a sacred mountain, a reference to old beliefs that place the ancestors and gods on mountains.

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