The thought of following a recipe to a T while cooking and baking might scare off newbie cooks. Even seasoned home chefs can find it daunting to attempt a new complicated dish, or run out of ideas from time to time.
So we found 10 Indonesian YouTube cooking channels that have clear instructions on how to make a diverse range of dishes, to give you inspiration and help you upgrade your cooking skills.
Mie goreng Jawa recipe
Image adapted from: Rasamasa
It’s easy for newbie cooks to get stressed out trying to prepare a dish from scratch. Rasamasa helps make it less nerve-racking by providing step-by-step instructions on how to cook Indonesian dishes ranging from mie goreng Jawa to dendeng balado.
In addition to recipe videos, this YouTube cooking channel also has clips that give you useful food prep tips and tricks such as how to properly cut chicken into 12 pieces and how to get rid of chili seeds.
A new recipe is added every Thursday, so you can try to whip up a different dish every week. Rasamasa also has a website that has more recipes and tips, and even an online store that sells a host of items from food and drinks to kitchenware.
Sambal tempe recipe
Image adapted from: Masak.TV
Spiceheads will be happy to find the many sambal recipes – from sambal ubi to sambal cakalang – available on Masak.TV, which has many beginner-friendly guides too. You can also learn how to make bakso (meatballs) from scratch and whip up desserts such as klepon.
In addition to food recipes, Masak.TV also shares recipes for thirst-quenching beverages – from something as simple as iced lemon tea that uses fresh lemons instead of syrup to durian coffee.
New drink recipes are uploaded on Mondays, food on Wednesdays, and snacks on Fridays. Go to their website to read their blog, which categories food and beverage recipes separately for easy viewing, or follow them on Instagram for simplified video recipes.
Red velvet martabak manis recipe
Image adapted from: Dapur Dina
Dapur Dina’s YouTube cooking channel has a host of recipes, ranging from main dishes to snacks to desserts, that will remind you of your childhood.
There’s sop merah, a simple soup that some parents make to get their children to willingly eat vegetables. You can also learn how to modernize martabak, which is a classic sweet snack, by watching the red velvet video.
If you tend to spend a lot of time on Instagram, follow Dapur Dina’s page for selected recipes.
Image adapted from: Devina Hermawan
Fans of unique fusion food will love this YouTube cooking channel by Devina Hermawan, author of the Indonesian Fusion Foods recipe book. Unique spins are put on everyday dishes such as adding breadcrumbs for a unique crunch to tempe for tempe katsu and adding a fresh fragrance to fried chicken for pandan chicken wings.
Devina also shares some interesting cooking and baking tricks such as preparing chicken rice with a rice cooker and even recreating the texture of Starbucks brownies.
All videos come with English subtitles, so non-Indonesian speakers can also follow along. Harmawan also has an Instagram page as well as a “culinary community” page where home chefs share photos of their renditions of Devina’s recipes using the #ResepDevinaHermawan hashtag.
Image adapted from: Rasa Sayange TV
Rasa Sayange TV is a YouTube cooking channel hosted by celebrity chef, Rudy Choirudin, where you’ll find recipes for meat-based, seafood, and vegetable dishes, and many more wholesome favorites from around Indonesia.
Some classic recipes include opor ayam kelapa muda (chicken with coconut), gulai kepala ikan (fish head curry), and lodeh pucuk daun singkong (cassava shoots with coconut milk soup). But the recipes are never boring to recreate because Chef Rudi also teaches you how to modify them by using instant ingredients – great tips for busy home chefs.
You can follow Rasa Sayange TV’s Facebook page for frequent updates on recipes, as well as Chef Rudi’s culinary adventures such as the time he visited a canteen in East Java, as well as various quick on ingredients such as bay leaves (daun salam).
Image adapted from: Enny Tangerang
Cooking a delicious meal doesn’t mean you need to use expensive ingredients, and Enny Tangerang is a YouTube cooking channel that proves just that.
Host Enny teaches you to make sayur cakwe, crispy crepes, and even boba using common ingredients – such as flour and gula Jawa – you probably already have in your fridge or pantry.
Her spontaneous sense of humor, which is sometimes reflected in her video titles such as “Buat kue jadul yang enak tapi lupa namanya” (Make yummy old-school snacks but I forgot what they’re called), also makes her YouTube content relatable.
Image adapted from: Resep Dapur Mantul
Mixing and matching recipes to get dishes that complement each other can be challenging for rookie cooks who are just getting used to dealing with new ingredients and cooking methods. This is why Resep Dapur Mantul is a great resource for beginners, as it offers videos that have up to three recipes per episode to make it easier for those who need to plan a full-course meal for the family.
There’s this video, “Siap-Siap Nambah Nasi” (Get ready to add rice), that teaches you how to make a set lunch or dinner consisting of grilled chicken, sambal, and stir-fried vegetables. If you want a balance of seafood and vegetables, you can check the “3 Menu Simpel Enak & Bergizi” (3 simple, delicious, and nutritious meals) video out – it teaches you how to cook mackerel, stir-fry vegetables and quail eggs, and red beans.
The channel also has videos on how to bake budget-friendly cookies and sponge cakes too.
Lemon sauce chicken wings recipe
Image adapted from: Endeus.TV
Endeus TV doesn’t only feature recipes, but they also have food and beverage-tasting videos that focus on trendy items such as spicy meals or local coffee, and a “Chef of the Month” series where they invite professional chefs to share useful cooking and baking tips too.
Besides learning how to make popular snacks such as tahu kriuk (crispy tofu) or pudding for dessert, you can also learn about different types of soto.
Check out Endeus TV’s website for a more comprehensive menu of recipes, or follow their Facebook and Instagram pages to keep yourself posted on the latest uploads.
Ube ice cream recipe
Image adapted from: Pufflova
Whether you’re a new or seasoned baker, you’ll want to follow Pufflova as this channel has plenty of videos with step-by-step instructions on how to make beautiful-looking sweet treats.
You won’t have to worry about running out of inspiration either, as its cool recipes for desserts such as ube ice cream and Pufflova’s version of the famous Tokyo snack, Tokyo Banana, will surely impress your friends and family.
Pufflova is also active on Instagram, where she posts beautiful photos of the desserts she makes in her videos.
Image credit: Sobat Dapur
If you’ve ever wondered what makes your go-to siomay so good, Sobat Dapur might have the answer. This channel is dedicated to deciphering popular meals and snacks into recipes that home chefs and those eager to start their own small business can replicate at home.
It also has insightful videos that delve into what “anak kost” or young people living in kost (boarding houses) love to eat, and those that teach you how to recreate sate telur, or make fishless otak-otak – reminiscent of school snacks – with a budget as low as Rp. 5,000 (~USD0.35).
Those who prefer written recipes instead of step-by-step videos can visit Sobat Dapur’s blog for more recipes and tips. There are also bite-sized tips on its Instagram page.
Many people have picked up cooking and baking, as they stay home for longer periods of time during this global pandemic. With easy-to-follow videos from these Indonesian YouTube cooking channels, you can now upgrade your skills without getting too stressed out about complicated recipes or ingredients, as many of them show that you can recreate delicious dishes with ingredients that are easy to find or are already available in your kitchen.
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Cover image adapted from: Rasamasa and Endeus TV
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