Cuisine

East Timorese Dishes: Try the Food of Timor Leste

The Cuisine of East Timor

In East Timor, gastronomy is mostly influenced by Southeast Asian foods and the Portuguese typical dishes from its period under Portuguese influence.

Regional popular ingredients are pork, basil, vegetables, fish, rice, corn, tropical fruit, and root vegetables.

 

Popular Dishes

Usually, the fish is fried and prawns are considered a national delicacy. Below there are a couple of national dishes and some links to their recipes in case you want to give it a try yourself at home before you eat the real food of East Timor:

• Ai Manas: is the heartbeat of Timorese food. This spicy chilli is made throughout the country with regional varieties and differences according to taste that varies from household to household. Typically Green or red chillis make up the bulk of the paste, which is ground with garlic, lime/lemon rind, red onions, ginger, bilimbi, and many other local ingredients. A couple of teaspoons on your plate will be sure to fire up any meal.
• Batar Da’an: a mix of pumpkin, corn, and beans

Batar da'an

• Bibinka: grilled and layered coconut cake.
• Budu: sauce of tomato, mint, lime, and Spanish onion.
• Caril: mild chicken curry with potatoes and coconut paste.

    Caril

• Feijoada: a common dish of former Portuguese colonies, it is made with pork, cannellini beans, and chorizo.

  

  Feijoada

• Ikan Sabuko: a Spanish mackerel in tamarind marinade with basil and chilli.
  

Ikan saboko

ikan saboko

ikan saboko

• Katupa: rice on coconut milk.

Katupa

• Tapai: slightly alcoholic made with fermented rice 
• Tucker: marinated meat (typically deer or buffalo) slow-roasted in whole sections of large bamboo over coals.