Ingredients
Rice
- 800 glong-grain rice, plain steamed
- or nasi kuning, yellow coconut rice
Meat dishes
- rendang
- satay ayam with peanut sauce
- babi ketjap or ayam kecap
- semur daging
Vegetable dishes
- gado-gado
- sayur lodeh
- tumis kangkung
- acar kuning, yellow pickle
Egg and tofu
- telur balado
- tahu goreng
- tempe orek
Sambals and sides
- sambal oelek
- sambal badjak
- seroendeng, toasted coconut
- atjar
- kroepoek
- pisang goreng
- fried shallots
To serve
- many small bowls
- a long table
Directions
- Cook the long-braised dishes the day before: rendang, semur, sayur lodeh and any beef.
- Make the sambals and the pickles a day ahead too, because they need time to settle.
- Fry the krupuk and the pisang goreng at the very last moment, because they soften within minutes.
- Marinate the satay overnight and grill it just before serving.
- Serve everything in small separate bowls rather than on one plate.
- Serve the rice first and in quantity, because it is the centre of the meal rather than an accompaniment.
- Put the sambals in tiny dishes and warn people, because Indonesian sambal is considerably hotter than most guests expect. Almost none of these dishes needs to be served scalding, which is what makes the format possible at all.
Technique
- Bami goreng and nasi goreng are often included, though both are themselves whole meals.
- The Dutch-Indonesian restaurants of Amsterdam and The Hague are where the format is best preserved.
- It is a great deal of work and is genuinely a project rather than a dinner.
Substitutions
- A smaller selection of six or eight dishes, which is far more manageable.
- Ready-made sambals and krupuk, which almost everyone uses.
Variations
- A smaller kleine rijsttafel of six or eight dishes.
- Nasi Padang, the Indonesian format it borrows from.
- Built around a single region’s cooking rather than the whole archipelago.
History
Devised by Dutch colonists in the East Indies to display the archipelago’s cooking at one table; it returned home with repatriates after 1949.
Frequently asked questions
What is Rijsttafel?
Rijsttafel is a main from Netherlands: rice with dozens of small Indonesian dishes served together. Devised by Dutch colonists in the East Indies to display the archipelago’s cooking at one table; it returned home with repatriates after 1949.
How long does Rijsttafel take to make?
Rijsttafel takes 3 hr, spread over two days of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Rijsttafel?
Yes, within limits. A smaller selection of six or eight dishes, which is far more manageable. Ready-made sambals and krupuk, which almost everyone uses.
What is the most important thing to get right in Rijsttafel?
Serve everything in small separate bowls rather than on one plate.
