I have finally had an introduction to a traditional Indonesian meal. Arnanto Januri, a friend I made through Kevin Martinez, my language partner last semester, offered to make dinner during finals week. Arnanto is an international student who graduated and currently works in town. Arnanto offered to cook a meal that has many of the dishes of a traditional dinner as well as talk with me exclusively in Indonesian. I had a much easier time talking with Arnanto as he mixes in English with Indonesian in his speech. He told me that many students in Indonesia learn English and some are far more inclined to speak in Indonesian slang with some English. I was very impressed with the food. The meal contained a sample of several dishes prepared similarly to how his mother prepares dishes when he is home. I was surprised my how much flavor and seasoning was used in the food. I was also surprised by how many different variations Arnanto described due to the difference in tastes just between islands in Indonesia. Each region has their own spices and cooking methods. Arnanto tried to include some of his favorite food from a few different regions of Indonesia. First, Arnanto brought two medium sized bowls of nasi (rice). He then brought over several smaller dishes that are called lauk-pauk. These side dishes included sayur-mayur (vegetables) and daging (meat). The vegetables included bawang (onion), bayam (spinach), buncis (green beans), and kentang (potatoes). The meat included babi (pork), ayam (chicken), daging sapi (beef), and ikan (fish). I found all the food delicious and greatly enjoyed my conversation with Arnanto about Indonesia. I also learned you say "makanan enak" to describe food as tasty.
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