Which indonesian food do your kids like?

[Mina_H]

Hi everybody,
As a mother of 2 kids, I prefer dining in fastfoods with kids, because most of the indonesain foods are spicy. If you are an expat, which food do you order for your kids when enter an indonesian restaurant or ask your maid to cook for them? I will be glad to read your useful comments on this matter.
Thanks

[ScooterIndo]

My kids are Indonesian so they like all Indonesian food and your kids probably would to, but like you we tend to keep them away from anything spicey. Give them all the foods you like especially stuff like tempeh tahu and rice various egg dishes like telor dada and chicken will also be ok for treats give them Es cendol and i am sure you will be ok. If you are in doubt eating out simply ask "ini gak pedas kan ??" or "buat anak2 nih jangan pake sambal sama sekali"

[Puspawarna]

I just asked my son, and he reports liking:

Sate (without a spicy peanut sauce)
Nasi goreng
Tempe
Mie goreng
Krupuk
nasi kuning

None of the above are usually spicy (if you avoid any spicy accompaniments).

[ricky_id]

Of course you're entitled to your opinion, but I do believe that spicy food is better than (much of the) fastfood. Just avoid street vendors when you spot their suspect hygiene.

I would suggest gado-gado. It doesn't have to be spicy because it has its emphasis on peanut sauce (hope there's nobody in your family being nut allergic though!)

[deviray50]

We tend to avoid fastfood for our son (4.5yrs) except on rare occasions. He eats everything he is given from mildly spiced indonesian food to European/Irish food. All his meals are cooked from scratch. I appreciate that making meals from scratch is not for everyone but it works for us. I guess I was and still am a picky eater but we wanted Andrew to eat all foods. got to go...have to make myself a sandwich

Ray

[Puspawarna]

Just thought of a couple more favorites:

bubur ayam
black rice pudding

I agree that fast food is not a healthy choice, but a lot of the Indonesian foods that will appeal to a small child's palate are probably just about as bad: fried food, coconut oil, white rice ... Gado-gado or lalap is much better, although if your child will eat lalap they'll probably eat healthy western food like salad too.

[Mina_H]

Thanks for your suggestions.I am going to try all of them.

[ricky_id]

a lot of the Indonesian foods that will appeal to a small child's palate are probably just about as bad: fried food, coconut oil, white rice

Nasi putih??

[Puspawarna]

Nasi putih??

Yes - white rice = nasi putih.

If you are surprised that I'm listing white rice as an unhealthy food, you may want to educate yourself about what it means for a food to be "healthy." White rice is rather low in nutrients, it is a refined carbohydrate, and it has a high glycemic load. Just because it isn't loaded with fat doesn't mean it is automatically good for you! It is far better to eat red or black rice, both of which are nutritionally superior and are easily available in Jakarta, or choose other "good carbs" like whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruit.

[atlantis]

Yes - white rice = nasi putih.

If you are surprised that I'm listing white rice as an unhealthy food, you may want to educate yourself about what it means for a food to be "healthy." White rice is rather low in nutrients, it is a refined carbohydrate, and it has a high glycemic load. Just because it isn't loaded with fat doesn't mean it is automatically good for you! It is far better to eat red or black rice, both of which are nutritionally superior and are easily available in Jakarta, or choose other "good carbs" like whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruit.

Very interesting.
I realize that I have no knowledge of what is healthy or unhealthy... Time to google a bit.