15 Typical Dishes from Central Sulawesi, Want to Try?

Central Sulawesi, with its capital Palu, has a plethora of traditional foods that are just as delicious as those from other regions. The flavors are known to be dominated by spicy and sour tastes, which can whet anyone's appetite.

If you walk around there, enjoy some of the following traditional foods from Central Sulawesi while admiring its natural panorama.

1. Milu Siram

Milu siram, also commonly known as binte biluhuta, may still sound unfamiliar to people outside of Sulawesi or those who have never visited here.

However, this traditional dish made from young corn is very popular in its home region. Even tourists who visit here are very impressed with the taste of milu siram.

This corn soup is usually served with additions such as shrimp or fish that have been processed beforehand.

In addition, milu siram is generally served in several flavor variations that can be adjusted to the visitors' tastes, such as salty, sweet, to spicy. So everyone can enjoy this unique culinary dish.

2. Uta Dada

If you order the uta dada menu in Central Sulawesi, you can generally choose whether to use skipjack tuna or free-range chicken.

However, not all places provide both variants together. Nevertheless, both have the exact same spices and are served with a slightly spicy coconut milk broth.

Uta dada itself means coconut milk broth, so it's no wonder that this coconut milk is indeed its main ingredient. What makes uta dada popular is its distinctive aroma.

Because this dish has undergone a smoking process beforehand, before it is ready to be served. One serving is guaranteed to feel insufficient, due to how delicious this uta dada is.

3. Uta Kelo

From its name, you might think that this traditional dish from Central Sulawesi is somewhat similar to uta dada.

That thought is not wrong, because uta kelo or moringa leaf vegetable also uses coconut milk as one of its ingredients.

For its filling, you will find moringa leaves, pieces of fish, and kepok bananas.

This culinary dish is indeed unique, as there are not many food menus that utilize moringa leaves as their main ingredient.

The taste itself is very savory due to the coconut milk, and there is also a combination of spicy flavors that are not too overwhelming. This is due to the mixture of bird's eye chili that is also processed together with various other ingredients.

4. Kaledo

Kaledo is short for cow's foot from Donggala, although currently some sellers also use regular cow's feet.

Both are equally delicious, as they are cooked by boiling for a long time, resulting in meat that has a very tender and soft texture that melts in the mouth.

This foot soup has very large bone sizes, and the meat is thick and abundant. Moreover, inside the bones, you will find very delicious marrow.

For the broth, it is made from pure soup stock without added coconut milk, making it taste very fresh. It is perfect to be enjoyed warm during the rainy season.

5. Kapurung

The next traditional food from Central Sulawesi is kapurung. This dish is a boiled vegetable.

With the main ingredient being chopped banana heart, then added with several other vegetables such as ferns, long beans, water spinach, and spinach.

You can choose 3 flavor variants of kapurung, which can be fish, chicken, or shrimp.

6. Palumara

This dish comes from the capital of Central Sulawesi, Palu, so its main ingredient uses fish typical of the local area.

Palumara has a spicy and sour taste, where the spiciness serves as the background for its name. Because people who consume it appear to be angry due to their flushed faces from the spiciness.

7. Onyop

This dish can be said to be a traditional papeda from Central Sulawesi, as it is served in the form of sago porridge.

Usually, this sago porridge will be added with fish and sour broth, made from starfruit and lemon juice.

What distinguishes it from papeda is that onyop is only served as a side dish, not a staple food.

8. Sambal Ikan Roa

Sambal ikan roa is one of the traditional foods from Central Sulawesi that you must not miss.

The delicious taste of processed roa fish mixed with chili and several complementary spices is highly sought after by tourists and is even made as souvenirs to take home.

9. Labia Dange

Labia dange, or also known as sagu dange, is a snack made from sago.

This sago preparation is then cooked using a clay stove pan, giving it a very distinctive taste.

Usually, locals consume labia dange with processed brown sugar or fish.

10. Nasi Jagung

Nasi jagung is a traditional dish from the Kaili tribe, used as a substitute for rice during times of famine.

Thus, it is very suitable to be enjoyed with the side dishes mentioned earlier, for example, moringa leaf vegetable is the most compatible combination.

11. Lalampa

At first glance, you might think that this traditional dish from Central Sulawesi is lemper. Its shape is indeed very similar, but lalampa is slimmer and elongated.

Lalampa is made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, and several spices with skipjack tuna as its filling.

12. Tinutuan

Hearing the name tinutuan may still sound strange, how about bubur manado? You are probably more familiar with that name.

Tinutuan is another name for bubur manado, which is not much different from regular porridge.

However, this porridge has a greater variety of vegetables and is so abundant, making it much healthier.

13. Kue Paranggi

Shifting from heavy meals, it's time to include snacks in the list of traditional culinary delights that you must try when in Central Sulawesi.

Kue paranggi is one of the most popular snacks here, where the cake, commonly referred to as brown sugar cake, has a sweet and moist taste and resembles apem cake.

14. Kue Buroncong

In addition to kue paranggi, kue buroncong is also a very popular snack. This snack comes from the Bugis tribe and is widely consumed by the people of Palu.

The ingredients used to make kue buroncong include coconut milk, grated young coconut,

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