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Indonesian cuisine is spice-based. Whenever we taste a dish, our reactions are usually responses to the seasoning. Rather than say that the dish was made using good meat, we tend to say it was well-seasoned. To get the authentic taste of Indonesian food, it is better to learn more about the spices first.

I like to divide the spices into four categories: dry spices such as pepper, cumin, or coriander; fresh spices such as chilli or galangal; aromatic spices like kaffir lime leaf, turmeric leaf, bay leaf, or pandanus leaf; and acids like tamarind or asam gelugur. The dominant uses of dry spices are apparent in Sumatran food, especially northern Sumatra. All the green cardamom used extensively in Northern Sumatra, and most distinctively in Aceh, came from India.