Introducing Akarasa, a Series About Food, Culture, and Everything In Between

It's no secret that, here in Indonesia, we're all pretty serious about our food. But have you ever thought about the stories behind some of our most-iconic dishes? All of us here at VICE's Indonesia office think about it A LOT. That's because food is more than just something you eat. It's a delicious, complicated, and wholly engrossing representation of our story as a nation. It's people. It's history. It's everything that makes us who we are.

In Akarasa, our first ever food show, our host Ade Putri traces the roots of Indonesian cuisine, discovering surprising and enlightening things about some pretty important dishes. In the first episode, which we've included below, Ade explores how Indonesia's history of Chinese immigration influenced local tastes with an entire episode devoted to mie, or noodles.

Then, in our second episode, she heads to Medan's Kampung Madras to meet the city's local Tamil Indonesian community and then flies all the way to India to figure out how parotta, a savory, buttery bread, made its way to Indonesia, where it became roti canai.

Watch the first episode below and, when you're done, be sure to check out some of the other stuff we've made with GO-JEK, including our series about sports (Underdogs), innovators (Upstarts), and music (MTB). Enjoy.