INDONESIA WEST SUMATERA -CUISINE

CULINARY OF WEST SUMATERA

RENDANG

Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia and is now commonly served across the country. One of the characteristic food s of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guest. Rendang is also commonly served among Malay community in Malaysia and also popular in Singapore ,,Brunei, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand. Rendang is traditionally prepared by the Indonesian and Malaysian community during festive occasions such as traditional ceremonies, wedding feast  and Hari Raya ( Eid Fitri). Culinary experts often describe rending as “ West Sumatera caramelized beef curry”.

NASI KAPAU

Nasi Kapau is a Minang steamed rice topped with various choice of dishes originated from Nagari Kapau,Bukit Tinggi, a tourism and culinary hotspot town in West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is often describes as Minang version of nasi ramas or nasi campur (mixed rice).

A Nasi Kapau foodstall usually consists of stages and rows of large bowls, plated or saucepans filled with various dishes. In Nasi Kapau food stalls after the customer is seated , he or she is asked which dished they desire. The waiter then prepared steaming hot rice on plate with cubadak (unripe jackfruit gulai) and boiled cassava leaf and sambal aside. 

The chosen dished will be out directly –using long serving spoon – upon the steamed rice or in separate small plates. Nasi Kapau eating establishments usually insist on using high quality fragrant rice. High quality Kapau rice directly brought from Bukit Tinggi and Agam Regency.

DAUN UBI TUMBUK

Daun ubi tumbuk ( daun-leaves, ubi-cassava , tumbuk-pounded) is vegetable in Padang food made from pureed cassava leaves. The cassava leaves are traditionally pounded with a wooden mortar and pestle, although finely chopping or pureeing them using a blender is an alternative.

The leaves are cooked in a fried spice paste consisting at a minimum of chilis and shallots , but usually some or all of ginger ,galangal, candlenut , garlic ,lemongrass and other spices , along with coconut milk and ikan teri (ikan –fish). Daun Ubi Tumbuk is frequently cooked with cempokak, a small bitter aubergine. For Western cooks, Kale is a possible substitute for cassava leaves.

TEHTALUA

The Talua or Teh Telor is a tea beverage from West Sumatra.The tea is unique because of the use of egg yolk in its preparation. Chicken or duck egg can be chosen for the tea. Other ingredients , in addition to tea and egg yolk, are sugar and calamondin.

A traditional method of preparing this drink is: stir the egg yolk and 2 spoons of sugar in a glass, until a batter has developed. Pour 1 spoon of boiling water onto the tea powder. Pour the tea into the batter and stir. Add calamondin according to taste.

DADIAH

Dadih (Indonesian : Dadih), a traditional fermented milk of West Sumatra ,Indonesia, is made by pouring fresh raw unheated buffalo milk into a bamboo tube capped with a banana leaf and allowing it to ferment spontaneously at room temperature for  days.

The milk is fermented by indigenous lactic bacteria of the buffalo mil. Its natural fermentation provides different strains of indigenous lactic bacteria involved in each fermentation. The  natural indigenous lactic acid bacteria involved in each fermentation .The natural indigenous lactic acid bacteria observed in dadih could be derived from the bamboo tubes, buffalo milk or banana leaves involved in milk fermentation.

Dadih is usually eaten for breakfast, mixed together with ampiang (traditional glutinous rice krispies) and palm sugar. Dadih can also be eaten with hot rice and sambal.

Some studies on probiotic of indigenous strains isolated from dadih fermented milk demonstrated to exhibit antimutagenic ,acid and bile tolerance as well as antipathogenic properties .Natural wild strains isolated from dadih show inhibitory ,competitive  and displacing properties against pathogens and they are promising candidates for future probiotics. Viable cells of Lactobacillus plantarum strains from dadih as well as active metabolism play important roles in removing microcystin-LR,cyanobacterial toxin and natural wild strain of Lactobacillus plantarum from dadih has the highest removal abilities as compared to the other commercial probiotic strains. This  finding offers new and economical tools for decontaminating microcystin containing water

SATE PADANG

Sate Padang is a specialty satay from Padang, West Sumatera,Indonesia,made from beef cut into small dices with spicy sauce on top of it. Its main characteristic is  a yellow sauce made from rice flour mixed with spicy offal broth, turmeric ,ginger, garlic ,coriander galangal root , cumin , curry powder and salt.In Medan, a lot of Sate Padang use not only beef but also chicken and lamb.

There are 3 types of Sate Padang , which are Sate Padang ,Sate Padang Panjang, Sate Pariaman.The 3 types are differentiated by the colour of their sauce. Sate Padang Panjang usually has yellow coloured sauce while Sate Pariaman has red coloured sauce. Bearing the sauces are different, the taste of both Sate are different. While Sate Padang has a variety of flavor blend from the 2 types of Sate above.

Fresh meat are boiled twice in a big drum filled with water to make the meat soft and juicy. Then , the meat is sliced into parts and spices are sprinkled on the meat. The boiled water will be used as a soup broth to make the sauce. Then the broth, mixed with 19 kinds of spices which have been smoothed and stirred with various kinds of chili.All seasoning are then put together and cooked for 15 minutes .Grill the sate when ready to eat, using charcoal from coconut shell.

GULAI AYAM

Gulai Ayam ( Minangkabau and Indonesia for “ Gulai Chicken” ) is a traditional Indonesian dish of chicken cooked in curry like spicy , rich and succulent yellow wish sauce called gulai. It is originally from West Sumatra.It can be classified as an Indonesian curry.Together with gulai kambing ( (giat or mutton gulai) ,it was the most common and popular variant of gulai.

LEMANG

Lemang is a traditional Indonesian Food and made of glurinous rice , coconut milk and salt and cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick line with banana leaves in order to prevent the rice from sticking to the bamboo. Lemang is usually eaten with meat dishes such as chicken curry.

The tube contains glutinous rice, salt and coconut milk is placed slightly slanted on a small fire with the opening facing upwards. The bamboo tube should be turned regularly in order to cook evenly. It takes about 4-5 hours to cook lemang. Lemang is popular in Indonesia, Minangkbau and Iban communities of Borneo and Minahasans that usually prepared by using the tapai method .Lemang can now be found throughout Indonesia due to spread of Minangkabau people throughout the country.

Lemang is ubiquitous in Indonesia and commonly eaten to mark the end of daily fasting during the annual Muslim Indonesian of Eid –ul-Fitr and Eid –Ul-adha.