Views #855 | Intermediate 5

Indonesian Food

Ivan talks about three foods that are really popular in Indonesian cuisine.
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Todd: Ivan, we are talking about your country, Indonesia. Can you recommend three Indonesian foods for people that visit your country?

Ivan: Ooh, that can be a difficult question because we have lots of variety of foods and it depends on your taste. I mean, if you like sweet foods we have a specialty for that and if you like spicy food also there’s a specialty for that, salty, anything, anything you want. But usually people go for… OK, first is Nasi Goreng. Nasi Goreng is a fried rice and I think it’s quite popular anywhere else in the world if it goes for… if you want to promote Indonesian food. Yeah…

Todd: It’s called Nasi Goreng?

Ivan: Nasi Goreng, yeah. Nasi is rice, goreng is fry.

Todd: Oh, really?

Ivan: So it’s fried rice.

Todd: Nasi Goreng.

Ivan: And then next one is Mi Goreng. Mi goreng is noodles. It’s fried noodles, Mi and goreng. Mi is noodles and goreng is fry, yeah.

Todd: OK, so Mi Goreng and Nasi Goreng.

Ivan: Yeah, and last one is maybe Satay.

Todd: Oh, I think we call it Satay.

Ivan: Yeah, Satay, yeah.

Todd: But you say it differently.

Ivan: Yeah, Satay.

Todd: You say it Satay also?

Ivan: Yeah, Satay.

Todd: OK, and that’s mainly chicken on a stick right?

Ivan: Chicken, you can go for chicken, you can go for meat, you can go for mutton, anything, liver, anything. And we usually have some kind of special sauce, or ketchup or whatever, like mixed with some weird stuff but… basically it’s ketchup, chili, and salt and some ginger or whatever. Sometimes it’s garlic and you just dip it inside and you eat it and it’s really nice.

Todd: Oh that sounds really good.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

it depends on your taste

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We have a variety and it depends on your taste.

Here, the type of Indonesian food you might like is affected by the kind of foods, flavors and spices you enjoy from your country. We can use this phrase to talk about almost any topic.  Notice the following:

  1. You might like Mexican food, but it depends on your taste.
  2. Whether you enjoy the show will depend on your taste in music.

specialty

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If you like sweet foods we have a specialty for that.

We use the word 'specialty' to talk about a kind of food that a chef, restaurant, or in this case a country is famous for.  Notice the following:

  1. Our specialty is seafood.
  2. Desserts are his specialty.

go for

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You can go for chicken.

Here, the phrase 'go for' simply means 'choose'.  Notice the following:

  1. I'll go for the steak.
  2. What did you go for?

weird stuff

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It's mixed with some weird stuff.

'Weird stuff' describes things that are unusual and difficult to understand or explain.  Notice the following:

  1. I ate all kinds of weird stuff at the market.
  2. A lot of weird stuff happened in that movie.

basically

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Basically it's ketchup, chili, salt and ginger.

We use the word basically to give a simple explanation about something.  Notice the following:

  1. The movie is basically about the guy who created Facebook.
  2. Football's basically two teams running back and forth for hours. So boring!

sounds really good

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That sounds really good.

We use the phrase that sounds really good to respond to a suggestion that we like.  Notice the following:

  1. Hey, that sounds really good!
  2. Dinner and a movie? That sounds really good.

Vocabulary Quiz

your taste • specialty • go for
weird stuff • basically • sounds
  1. I think you should the teriyaki pizza.
  2. It is just tomatoes, onions and spices.
  3. Their is barbecued ribs.
  4. What do you think good for dinner tonight?
  5. I really like it, but some people don't.  It depends on .
  6. She was to scared to try some of the that they sell at the markets.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

 

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