page_title: Indonesian cuisine
section_title: Vegetarianism in Indonesia
hierarchical_section_title: Indonesian cuisine / Vegetables / Vegetarianism in Indonesia
caption_attribution_description: English: Sandwich made of tempe, eaten at the Juice ja Cafe in Ubud in Bali, Indonesia.
context_page_description: Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon indigenous culture with some foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia's cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes in modest local eateries to street-side snacks and top-dollar plates.
  Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. Sumatran cuisine, for example, often has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables such as gulai and curry, while Javanese cuisine is mostly indigenous, with some hint of Chinese influence. The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine.
context_section_description: Vegetarianism is well represented in Indonesia, as there is a wide selection of vegetarian dishes and meat substitutes that may be served. Dishes such as gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, tauge goreng, pecel, urap, rujak and asinan are vegetarian dishes. However, dishes that use peanut sauce, such as gado-gado, karedok or ketoprak, might contain small amounts of shrimp paste, called "terasi", for flavor. Shrimp paste is also often used to add flavour to spicy sambal chili paste served with lalap assorted fresh vegetables. Fermented soy products, such as tempeh, "tahu" (tofu) and oncom are prevalent as meat substitutes and as a source of vegetable protein. In contemporary fusion cuisine, tempeh is used to replace meat patties and served as tempeh burger.
  Most Indonesians do not practice strict vegetarianism and may consume vegetables or vegetarian dishes for their taste, preference, economic and health reasons. Nevertheless, there are small numbers of Indonesian Buddhists that practice vegetarianism for religious reasons.
caption: Tempeh burger, a fusion vegan dish.
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