FOOD STUFF
Call it a curry or call it a stew, this deliciously complex dish in the repertoire of Indonesia’s Padang cuisine may take a long time to prepare, but one taste is enough to win you over.
Rendang— a deliciously complex dish in the repertoire of Indonesia’s Padang cuisine—may take a long time to prepare, but one taste is enough to win you over.
On my first trip to Indonesia 14 years ago, I was traveling to Danau Maninjau, a crater lake in the province of West Sumatra, when my bus pulled into a truck stop edged by grungy eateries. I chose one at random and walked inside. Between the shop window and a lace curtain were shelves lined with plates of cooked meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and curries, none of which looked particularly appealing. But I was starving and, truth be told, it smelled pretty good.
I had no idea what the lady at the counter said to me but I nodded my head. She heaped a bunch of rice on a plate, pulled back the curtain, and turned to face me: my cue to order. I pointed at the safest-looking items—some fried chicken, tofu, a few satay sticks, long beans—while steering clear of the curries that had probably been sitting there all day.
But the lady didn’t care for my foreign sensitivities. Before handing me the plate, she ladled a dollop of meaty brown curry right on top of the rice, infusing the grains with thick dark gravy that looked like used motor oil. I shot her a crooked smile, took the plate, and walked to my table.
After eating the chicken, I nibbled cautiously at some of the now wet copper-colored rice. In a fraction of a second my gustatory cortex—the brain structure responsible for the perception of taste—went into overload with sensory information about the intense multilayered flavors running riot in my mouth. Soon I was practically shoveling it down, high on a rush of hitherto unknown flavors and aromas contained within this thoroughly unpleasantlooking yet extraordinary dish. It was spicy