5 Minahasan Foods You Need To Try In Manado, Indonesia

5 Minahasan Foods You Need To Try In Manado, Indonesia
Tejo
Tejo 
Updated
| 3 min read

Indonesia is a country with thousands of tribes spread throughout the archipelago and certainly each of them has a different way to prepare food. When you you go to an Indonesian restaurant somewhere in your country, you will normally find Satay, Soto, Gado Gado, Gudeg, and so much more. These are mostly Javanese cuisines that have long become the mainstream foods of Indonesia. However, Indonesian food isn’t only Javanese, and people cook differently in other areas of the country. When you go to Manado in the northern tip of Sulawesi Island, you will be able to eat distinctive types of ‘Minahasan’ food (Minahasa is a major ethnic group in North Sulawesi) in every corner of the city and, you will find that Minahasan dishes are not only unique, but they are also ‘delicioso’!

1. Rica Rica, one of the spiciest foods on the planet

5 minahasan foods you need to try in manado, indonesia | rica rica, one of the spiciest foods on the planet

‘Rica Rica’ means spicy in the local language, and this is truly one of the spiciest foods on the planet. It’s either chicken, pork, or seafood cooked with sweet chilli paste, where the basic ingredients are shallot and ‘cabe rawit’, a type of chilli that is smaller than your little finger, but with a very strong spiciness that will burn your mouth in less than a second when eaten alone! Believe me, Indonesians are among the world’s top chili eaters, so if you buy rica rica from one of the Manado’s hawker stalls, there is nothing that can be done to make it milder, because together with other dishes, it’s always served like a buffet where foods have been pre-cooked before being displayed on the booth. Unless you get used to eating spicy foods or dare to try it, go to a restaurant named ‘Warong Rica Rica’, located in Bahu Mall, as your food will be cooked after you order, where you can tell the cook how spicy you would like your rica rica to be.

2. Crispy Manado congee

5 minahasan foods you need to try in manado, indonesia | crispy manado congee

Have you eaten congee? It’s a popular type of food in many Asian countries, where rice is boiled instead of by the conventional way of steaming, making the rice softer than steamed rice, and sticky. There are different ways to prepare congee, but ‘bubur Manado’ (also known as ‘tinutuan’) is a crispier and healthier type of congee. The rice, together with pumpkin, yam, and corn is boiled before adding in some spinach and kale (a native veggie of Southeast Asia, similar to spinach, but crispier) are thrown into it, making it crispier than any congee you may have eaten so far. Do you want to know where to buy this delectable dish in Manado? Also known as the congee street, ‘Wakeke Street’ is the place to go as there are many people who sell congee in the area. Go to ‘Cafe Dego Dego’, as not only can you enjoy the crispy congee, but you will also get the chance to listen to ‘kulintang’, Manado’s traditional musical instrument made of several differently-tuned wooden gongs. Besides Indonesian songs, you will also listen to Western oldies like ‘I don’t wanna talk about it’, accompanied by this musical instrument.

3. Tasty ‘woku’

5 minahasan foods you need to try in manado, indonesia | tasty ‘woku’

Woku is a type of Indonesian curry that is very rich with seasoning herbs. Can you tell me how the taste can be described when a snapper is cooked with a seasonings consisting of turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, tomatoes, shallot, garlic, chili, candlenut, basil, lemon leaves, pepper, salt, MSG, and sugar? It’s fragrant, spicy, sweet, and savory! Also, the fish is deep fried prior to the seasonings, so you can also add crunchiness into the taste list. If you’re curious about where to eat woku in Manado, you can find woku in either the Boulevard or Wakeke areas, but for a woku meal by the sea, go to City Extra Restaurant at Malalayang Beach.

4. Es Manado, the soursop cocktail

5 minahasan foods you need to try in manado, indonesia | es manado, the soursop cocktail

This is actually soursop juice made into an iced cocktail with coconut flesh and assorted fruits like strawberry, avocado, or jackfruit thrown into it. Instead of water, the soursop is blended with coconut water, making it taste fresher than any regular soursop juice. Go to ‘Kios Es Tjie Mei’ (Iced ‘Tjie Mei’ Kiosk, located on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman) for that type of cocktail with some condensed chocolate milk added into the beverage.

5. ‘Gorohu’, the spicy fried banana

‘gorohu’, the spicy fried banana

‘Pisang goreng’, or fried banana, is a popular snack for Indonesians. It’s a deep-fried, breaded banana, and available everywhere in the country. This type of snack is usually always liked by people of all ages, however, in Manado people eat it differently. They dip the banana into garfish chili sauce (sambal ikan roa), the type of chili sauce that always accompanies the meals in Manado. I highly recommend to order this when in ‘Kios Es Tjie Mei’.

Also popular in other areas

Nowadays, Manado cuisine is becoming popular in many other parts throughout the archipelago due to its flavorful taste, therefore you can easily find a Manado restaurant in many Indonesian big cities. So if you are in Jakarta for instance, you don’t have to fly to Manado for the cuisine (unless you have other purposes such as diving in Bunaken). You can simply ask the locals where it is located, then ask your taxi driver to drive you there. Bon appetit!

Disclosure: Trip101 selects the listings in our articles independently. Some of the listings in this article contain affiliate links.

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A versatile individual, Tejos nutures a passion for travel, writing, translation, and teaching. With expertise in crafting articles spanning diverse subjects, he specializes in travel, business,...Read more

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