Indonesian Cuisine - Rendang
Rendang
Rendang
or randang is spicy beef by using mixture of various spices. The food using
coconut milk needs repeated cooking process. It takes hours to cook it until
the spice gets fry and turns thick black. In 2011, rendang ranked 1st in the
World's 50 Most Delicious Foods by CNN International.
Rendang
has a respected position and particular philosophy for Minang people, native
West Sumatra. It means musyawarah
and mufakat or negotiation and mutually agreed settlements starting from four
main commodities which represent the unity of Minang people. The four main
commodities are dagiang or beef which symbolizes "Niniak Mamak" or
leaders of customary tribe, karambia or coconut which symbolizes "Cadiak
Pandai" or intellectuals, lado or chili which represents "Alim
Ulama" or ulema who is firm in teaching Islamic law and the last
ingredient is spice which symbolizes the entire Minangkabau people.
In
Minangkabau tradition, rendang is a must food served in special events like
various Minangkabau
traditional ceremonies, kenduri (thanksgiving) tradition or honored guest
welcoming. Rendang itself derives from the word ''merandang'' which means
cooking coconut milk until it gets dried slowly. According to historian from Andalas
University, Prof. Dr.
Gusti Asnan, rendang has become food widely spread since Minang
people started wandering and sailing to Malaka for trade in early
16th century. Rendang is also mentioned in classical Malay
literature like Hikayat Amir Hamzah.
It
proves that rendang has been known in Malay cooking art since mid 16th
century. According to Gusti, traditional people used to preserve food by using
smoking and drying methods which take a long time. Furthermore, Gusti
interpreted that the history of rendang was also related to the coming of
Indian and Arabian people to the west coast of Sumatera. It is said that in the
13th and 14th century, Minang area had been inhabited by
Indians. He confirmed that spice was first introduced by Indians.
Gusti
also assumed that curry introduced by Indians in the 15th century
was the origin of rending. According to him, it makes sense that curry became
popular food during the trade. Title heiress of Pagaruyung Kingdom, Puti Reno
Raudah Thaib agreed with Gusti that rendang was possibly the follow-up process
of curry. Rendang is getting popular and spreads widely beyond its origin due
to wandering culture of Minangkabau tribe. Many Minang people who wander for
work or trade opens Padang
restaurants all over the country, in the neighboring countries and even in
Europe and America. It is these restaurants that widely introduce rendang and
other Minangkabau foods. If you haven’t tasted the delicious rendang, just come
to West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The flavors of Beef
Rendang unfold in layers, like a stick of Willy Wonka’s three-course-dinner
chewing gum. First there’s the zingy flavors of lemongrass and ginger, then
comes the savory beef along with a torrent of chili, finally, as you continue
to chew you start tasting the creamy coconut milk towards the back of your
tongue.
Throughout the
Rendang lesson, Judy hammered home two things: 1) Rendang is not rendang if it
has a sauce 2) Rendang always tastes better the next day.
That’s because Beef
Rendang was originally created as a method of preserving meat. Before
refrigeration was available, when wealthy Minangkabau farmers dispatched a cow
for a special occasion it was often turned into Rendang. With its blistering
spiciness (capsaicin is an antimicrobial), low moisture content and high fat
content, Rendang provided a way to make the kill last for weeks in the
sweltering Indonesian heat.
First a spice paste
is fried to bring out the flavors, then the meat is braised with the spice
paste and coconut milk, then after nearly all the liquid has evaporated, the
remaining sauce is caramelized by frying it in the oil that the meat released
during braising. This creates an extremely flavorful coating on the outside of
the beef, which eventually absorbs back into the meat, making Rendang improve
in flavor over time.
For those of us who
aren’t lucky enough to be able to head down to a local shop and pick up fresh
coconut milk (or lack the patience to grate the coconut and extract it
ourselves), I’ve found a good alternative that beats the canned stuff. It’s a
coconut powder created by spray drying fresh coconut milk, a process that
rapidly removes the liquid preserving the flavor profile of fresh coconut milk.
It’s sold in 50 gram packets by a company called Kara and makes about 1 cup of
coconut milk per pack.
Types
In
Minangkabau culinary tradition, there are three recognised stages in cooking
meat in spicy coconut milk. The dish which results is categorised according to
the liquid content of the cooked coconut milk, which ranges from the most wet
and soupy to the most dry: Gulai —
Kalio — Rendang. The ingredients of gulai, kalio and rendang
are almost identical with the exceptions that gulai usually has less red
chilli pepper and more turmeric, while rendang has richer spices.
If
pieces of meat are cooked in spicy coconut milk and the process stopped right
when the meat is done and the coconut milk has reached its boiling point, the
dish is called gulai. If the process continues until the coconut milk is
partly evaporated and the meat has started to brown, the dish is called kalio.
For a traditional dry rendang, the process continues hours beyond this, until
the liquid has all but completely evaporated and the colour turns to a dark
brown, almost black colour. Thus not only liquid content but also colour
indicate which type of rendang is involved: gulai is light yellow, kalio
is brown and rendang is very dark brown. Today, one mostly finds only two
simpler categories of rendang: either dry or wet.
Dried rendang
According
to Minangkabau tradition, their true rendang is the dry one. Rendang is diligently
stirred, attended and cooked for hours until the coconut milk evaporated and
the meat absorbed the spices. It is still served for special ceremonial
occasions or to honour guests. If cooked properly, dried rendang can last for
three to four weeks stored in room temperature and still good to consume. It
can even last months stored in a refrigerator, and up to six months if frozen.
Wet rendang or kalio
Wet
rendang, more accurately identified as kalio, is a type of rendang that
is cooked for a shorter period of time and much of the coconut milk liquid has
not evaporated. If stored at room temperature, kalio lasts less than a
week. Kalio usually has a light golden brown colour, paler than dry rendang.
Outside
of its native land in Minangkabau, rendang is also known in neighbouring
countries such as Malaysia, Singapore
and the Philippines. Most Malaysian rendang is more like kalio, lighter
in colour and taste when compared with its Minangkabau counterpart. Malaysian
rendang has several variants, such as the Kelantanese rendang and the Negri
Sembilan rendang. Malaysian styles of rendang are typically cooked for shorter
periods and use kerisik
(toasted grated coconut) to thicken the spice, instead of stirring over a low
heat for many hours to evaporate the coconut milk as Indonesian rendang
requires. Nonetheless, in Malaysia the rendang Tok variant, found in the
state of Perak, is a dry one.
Other
ethnic groups in Indonesia also have adopted a version of rendang into their
daily diet. For example in Java, the rendang - aside from the Padang variety
sold in Padang restaurants - tend to be wet, slightly sweeter and less spicy to
accommodate Javanese tastes. Through colonial ties the Dutch are also familiar
with rendang and often serve the wet kalio version in the Netherlands — usually as
part of a rijsttafel.
Reference
:
https://norecipes.com/beef-rendang-recipe
https://norecipes.com/beef-rendang-recipe
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