Coconut Allergen Guide

West Sumatra's most famous beef dish, named more than once to CNN's list of the world's best foods. The beef simmers in coconut milk with galangal, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, ginger and chilies for hours, until the liquid cooks down and the meat turns dark, tender and caramelized. A proper batch takes four hours or more and ends up dry, while the wetter, earlier stage is called kalio. It's a Minangkabau specialty served at ceremonies, celebrations and Hari Raya, and you'll find it across the country, though the best comes from Padang restaurants. The spice blend is what defines it, and because the dish keeps for days without refrigeration, it began as a way to preserve meat for travel.

A traditional soup that changes shape from island to island, built on an aromatic broth with meat or chicken, vegetables and rice or noodles. The most common is Soto Ayam, with chicken in a turmeric broth, vermicelli, egg and potato. Other versions include Soto Betawi from Jakarta, made with coconut milk and beef or offal; Soto Banjar from South Kalimantan, using chicken; and the beef-based Soto Madura. It's garnished with fried shallots, lime, sambal and kerupuk, and people eat it at any hour, breakfast included. The turmeric and ginger give it a reputation as a restorative, and recipes tend to stay in the family across generations.

A fragrant coconut rice from Jakarta's native Betawi community, mostly eaten at breakfast. The rice is cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, lemongrass, cloves and cassia bark, which leaves it fluffy, aromatic and a little creamy. It's served with a spread of sides: fried chicken, fried tempeh, telur balado (eggs in chili), empal (sweet fried beef), kerupuk and sambal, enough to make a full meal. Street vendors hand it over wrapped in banana leaf or paper for the morning rush. It resembles Malaysia's nasi lemak but has its own Indonesian preparation, and for many Jakartans it's pure comfort food.

A Balinese satay where minced meat or fish is molded around the skewer rather than threaded on it. Minced mackerel or tuna, chicken, pork or turtle is mixed with grated coconut, coconut milk, lime leaves, shallots, garlic and spices, then pressed around thick skewers, often lemongrass stalks that lend their own scent, and grilled over coconut-husk charcoal. The result is sticky and aromatic, served with sambal matah, the Balinese raw shallot sambal. It's both a ceremonial dish and a tourist favorite, and you'll come across it at temples, warungs and beachside restaurants all over the island.