section_path: Culture/Cuisine
section_name: Cuisine
paragraph_text: Cuisine
  
  Indonesian cuisine has many regional cuisines, often based upon indigenous culture and foreign influences such as Chinese, African, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. Rice is the leading staple food and is served with side dishes of meat and vegetables. Spices (notably chilli), coconut milk, fish, and chicken are fundamental ingredients.
  
  Some popular dishes, such as nasi goreng, gado-gado, mie ayam, bakso, sate, and soto, are ubiquitous and considered national dishes. The Ministry of Tourism, however, chose tumpeng as the official national dish in 2014, describing it as binding the diversity of various culinary traditions. Other popular dishes include rendang, one of the many Minangkabau cuisines, along with dendeng and gulai. Another fermented food is oncom, which is similar in some ways to tempeh but uses a variety of bases (not only soy), created by different fungi, and is prevalent in West Java.