There is wizardry in cooking.
So I was told by mum as I poked around the kitchen as a young boy, amazed by the various transformations of just one dish before my eyes. That dish is the rendang, which hails from West Sumatra, that has today become part of the pan-Malay culinary repertoire.
Like most kids, my curiosity was piqued by that wizardry claim.Where exactly lay rendang’s magic ? Or what magical process actually took place?
Rendang is best described as what results when coconut milk-based meat curry loses its liquid content to become dry, coconut clotted cream and spice infused meat chunks. Yes, that’s a mouthful, in more ways than one!
At the heart of a rendang dish is the coconut – that quintessential ingredient of Malay cuisine. Although ubiquitous, only coconut from the last of the three phases of maturity is selected. After ripping off its outer fibrous husk and hacking away the inner hard shell, the white kernel is ready to be grated. Before the advent of grating machines, the process of rasping was done entirely by hand, to form fine shreds of coconut pulp whereupon the santan or coconut milk is extracted through manual squeezing. It is santan of this luscious quality – thicker, oilier and more lemak (creamy in taste) – that is needed for the rendang.
Meat chunks at the beginning of the rendang process – Photo credit: Soo Phye
When all the ingredients – shallots, ginger, galangal, turmeric, chillies, lemon grass, garlic – have been finely stone ground, the resultant rempah paste is then placed in a wok together with plentiful santan to form a light yellow broth scented with kaffir lime and turmeric leaves. Once the broth reached its boiling point, the meat is added in. Grandmothers will tell you that this timing of meat introduction into the broth is crucial. It creates a phenomenon they called terkejut, or a ‘shocker’, such that meat chunks upon prolonged cooking will be tender yet remain intact, and will not disintegrate. If the process stopped right when the meat is done, this spicy coconut milk dish would have been called a gulai, or curry, in Malay.
However, if the process continues until the coconut broth has partially evaporated, its viscosity becomes that of a sauce, the meat has begun to brown, the natural coconut oil has oozed out, and the overall color is golden brown, then you now have the kalio. By this time, the heavenly aroma of coconut milk boiled down permeates the entire kitchen. In Singapore, restaurants and food stalls would often serve kalio as rendang. To purists though, kalio can at best be regarded as ‘wet rendang’, for the glory of true rendang requires another stretch of time and effort, arguably the one requiring the most skill and patience.
To give a sense of this lack of cost effectiveness for food operators: With a slow fire and constant stirring, to achieve a five kilogram meat rendang typically takes about three hours of reduction time from the broth ( the time ingredients come together in a wok ) to become a kalio; followed by another two hours before it reaches the proper traditional ‘rendang’ stage.
Can food be any slower?
Beef rendang with petite potatoes
So here’s the magic: The cooking process switches from boiling the meat in its broth, the gulai, to frying as the liquid in the broth evaporates. Constant slow heat separates the natural oil in the coconut milk. By the time it gets to the kalio stage and with enough oil release, the dish now gets fried by its own sauce and eventually the meat gets engulfed by a deliriously rich dark brown paste.
This is now the rendang!
Indeed, the dish rendang got its name from this frying process: rendang being nothing other than the archaic Malay word for frying.
In villages where large amounts of meat is prepared in a kawah, a giant cast iron cauldron, rendang making is a communal affair where the final stage brings people together to monitor even heat distribution and diligently fry for hours with the aid of a wooden oar-like spatula, until almost all the moisture content disappears, allowing the meat to absorb the spices. Great care is taken to ensure the meat is not burned or broken. This tradition confirms rendang’s status in West Sumatran culture as an embodiment of the philosophy of mushawarah: deliberation and consensus with elders, as reflected in the coming together of the four main ingredients – meat, coconut milk, chili and spices – symbolizing the integrity of society.
Making Rendang is thus not just an art – it is also a philosophy!
Among Singapore Malays of old, other than the ‘original’ meat rendang, one could also find pigeon rendang, shellfish rendang, cattle liver rendang, eel rendang, banana blossom rendang and jackfruit rendang (popular for its meat-like ‘complete-with-strands’ resembles) – just to name a few. In some families, petite potatoes are added serving as the carbohydrate complement to a protein and lipid-centric dish. For an extra layer of flavour complexity, a few tablespoons of ground, toasted, grated coconut known as kerisik could be added. To purists, “true” rendang contains no ‘trade spices‘, but some newer versions add coriander, cumin and cinnamon to it.
Already forgotten is the Rendang Tumis, or Sauteed Rendang, mentioned in the Hikayat Hang Tuah ( one of the pinnacles of classic Malay literature ) written circa 1670. Rendang Hijau or green rendang, the pièce de résistance of the Riau-Singapore nobilities, however, can still be savored in the homes of some descendants, though such a treat is getting rarer.
In the days before refrigeration, the elaborate process described above enabled the preservation of large amounts of meat from the killing of an animal – both the antimicrobial properties of the rempah (spices) and the coconut oil from the santan act as natural and effective preservatives. Given the extent of the archipelago, rendang makes a perfect ‘on the road’ accompaniment for those who need to traverse great distances. When left at room temperature, a well done rendang can last for three to four weeks -making it a favourite among mothers as part of their care package for their children living abroad.
In the story of rendang, we see a celebration of food heritage and knowledge whose custodians are indigenous people, women and the elderly. This is slow food. Before there was Slow Food.
While rendang was once food for ceremonial occasions served to honored guests, it has now become daily fare. In 2011 a poll held by CNN International ranked rendang as Number 1 on its “World’s 50 Most Delicious Food” list. When locals were asked what pairings would best go with rendang, they replied : Ketupat, Lemang, Lontong and Lepat – all different forms of compacted rice cooked wrapped in various leaves.
Woven ketupat cases formed out of young coconut leaves
Now, don’t get me started — that’s another story, of a different kind of culinary wizardry…
Khir Johari is a researcher on Malay heritage and history. He is currently writing a book on the cultural anthropology of Malay food, binding together different strands of wizardry. He can be reached at khir19@gmail.com.
This article is published in the Magazine of the Friends of the Museum (FOM), PASSAGE September / October 2014 pp.4-5
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