Our third and final visit to Indonesia will be to Sumatra, via Minang Restautant (http://subs.fasfind.com/reviews/m/78.cfm). Sumatra is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia.
Beef is the most used material in the cuisine of Sumatra. Food is hot hot and there is ample use of coconut oil in making curries. Padang food is very spicy and the most famous Samatran cuisine.
The cuisine of the Minangkabau people is commonly called Padang cuisine, due to it being the capital and largest city of the region. Padang restaurants are common throughout the country and are famous for their spicy food and their unique way of serving it. Padang food is served in small portions of various dishes, in a way similar to tapas or mezedes, but constituting, with rice, a complete meal. In a Padang-style restaurant, the table will quickly be set with dozens of small dishes filled with highly-flavored foods such as curried fish, fried tempeh, stewed greens, chili eggplant, curried beef liver, fried chicken, and of course, sambals, the spicy sauces ubiquitous at Indonesian tables.
The best known Padang dish is rendang, a spicy meat stew. Soto Padang (crispy beef in spicy soup) is local residents' breakfast favorite, meanwhile Sate (beef satay in curry sauce served with ketupat) is a treat in the evening.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padang,_Indonesia#Cuisine, and http://www.travelershub.com/destination_guide/south_east_asia/sumatra.html
1 comment:
You should also find a few fish meals on your table. There's also a beef jerky type thing which si nice, more sweet than spicy. And there is likely to be a few different types of chicken. Rendang is my favourite, though.
Still dare you to eat with your hands.
A few interesting tidbits- the owner of Minang is actually a Thai woman. And most of the staff will be Indonesian, but most are not Minang. They'll be students at various Melbourne unis.
If you wish to sprinkle a few Indo words about, Kasih is thanks/ you're welcome. Or at leats it is the abbreviated, more common version of Terima Kasih. And the greeting in the evening is (Selamat) Malam.
Sekamat Makan. (Enjoy your meal)
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