Translations:Indonesian cuisine/99/en

The cuisine of east coast of Sumatra is referring to the culinary tradition of ethnic Malays of Indonesian Sumatran provinces facing Malacca strait; which includes Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi provinces and coastal North Sumatra in Melayu Deli areas in and around Medan. Because of close ethnic kinship and proximity to Malaysian Malays, many dishes are shared between the two countries. For example nasi lemak, the national dish of Malaysia, and also nasi ulam are considered native dishes in Riau and Jambi. Malay cuisine also shares many similarities with neighboring Minangkabau cuisine of West Sumatra, South Sumatra, and also Aceh; such as sharing gulai, asam pedas, pindang, kari, lemang and rendang. This is due to the fact that the Minangkabau are culturally closely related to the Malays. Tempoyak fermented durian sauce and sambal belacan are the familiar condiments in both Sumatra and Malay Peninsula. Variants of peranakan cuisine such as laksa spicy noodle and otak-otak are also can be found in Riau Islands and Medan. Seafood dishes are popular in archipelagic Riau Islands province, while fresh water fishes from Sumatran rivers, such as patin, catfish, carp and gourami are popular in Riau and Jambi. Gulai ikan patin is a signature dish of Pekanbaru, while gulai ketam (crab gulai) and nasi goreng teri Medan (Medan anchovy fried rice) are the signature dishes of Medan.