The building blocks
Indonesian dish names are usually an ingredient plus a cooking method, which means you can decode a menu you have never seen.
nasi ‘rice’
mie ‘noodles’
ayam ‘chicken’
ikan ‘fish’
sapi ‘beef’
udang ‘prawn’
telur ‘egg’
tahu ‘tofu’
tempe ‘tempeh’
The methods
goreng ‘fried’
bakar ‘grilled over fire’
rebus ‘boiled’
kukus ‘steamed’
panggang ‘roasted’
Put them together and the menu reads itself:
nasi goreng ‘fried rice’
mie goreng ‘fried noodles’
ayam bakar ‘grilled chicken’
ikan bakar ‘grilled fish’
telur rebus ‘boiled egg’
The dishes worth knowing by name
sate skewers with peanut sauce
gado-gado vegetables with peanut sauce
rendang slow-cooked beef from West Sumatra
soto a soup, and every region has its own
bakso meatball soup
nasi campur rice with a bit of everything
babi guling suckling pig, and a Bali speciality
Note gado-gado and bakso both contain peanuts, which matters if you took the allergy phrase from A1 seriously.
Sambal
Sambal is chilli paste and there are dozens of regional kinds. It arrives on the side, and the amount you add is entirely your decision.
Sambalnya pisah, ya. ‘Sambal on the side, please.’
That sentence gives you control that tidak pedas does not, because the dish itself is often cooked mild and the heat is added at the table.
Nasi padang
Food from a rumah makan Padang arrives as a dozen small plates covering the table. You pay only for what you touch. Everything untouched goes back.
This surprises people, who either eat nothing out of caution or everything out of politeness. Neither is necessary.
What you’ll actually hear
What the book says: Saya ingin memesan nasi goreng tanpa cabai.
What you’ll hear: Nasgor satu, nggak pedes ya.
Nasgor is nasi goreng contracted, and Indonesians shorten dish names constantly.