Composition and cooking method
What happens to the meat during the slow cooking process?
Rendang
The cooking technique flourished because of its role in preserving meat in a tropical climate. Rendang is rich in spices. Along with the main meat ingredient, rendang uses coconut milk (Minangkabau: "karambia") and a paste of mixed ground spices, which includes ginger, galangal, turmeric leaves, lemon grass, garlic, shallot, chillies and other spices. This spice mixture is called "pemasak" in Minangkabau. The spices, garlic, shallot, ginger and galangal used in rendang have antimicrobial properties and serve as natural organic preservatives. If cooked properly, dry rendang can last for as long as four weeks. Traditional Padang rendang takes hours to cook. Cooking rendang involves pounding and grinding ingredients as well as slow cooking, and so is time-consuming and requires patience. The meat pieces are slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices until almost all the liquid is gone, allowing the meat to absorb the condiments. The cooking process changes from boiling to frying as the liquid evaporates. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender. To cook the meat until tender, with almost all liquids evaporated, requires great care, if the meat is not to burn or be spoiled. Because of its generous use of numerous spices, rendang is known for having a complex and unique taste. Rendang is often served with steamed rice, "ketupat" (a compressed rice cake), or "lemang" (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes), accompanied with vegetable side dishes such as boiled cassava leaf, "cubadak" (young jackfruit gulai), cabbage gulai, and "lado" (red or green chilli pepper sambal).