Types of Rendang

In Minangkabau culinary tradition, there are stages on cooking meat in spicy coconut milk. Its category is according to the liquid content in cooked coconut milk, ranges from the soupy most wet to the most dry: Gulai — Kalio — Rendang.^[15] The ingredients of gulai, kalio and rendang is almost identical with the exceptions that gulai usually uses less red chilli pepper and more turmeric, while rendang uses richer spices. If pieces of meat cooked in spicy coconut milk and stop the process right when the meat is done and the coconut milk has reached its boiling point, you have gulai. If the process continues well until the coconut milk is partly evaporated with brownish colored meats, then you have kalio. When the process continued hours more until the liquid completely evaporated and the color turns to dark brown almost black in color, then you have rendang. According to this notions, the real rendang is those with less liquid contents. The colors also indicate the differences; gulai have light yellow color, kalio is brown, and rendang is dark brown. However today, there are two kinds of rendangs commonly found: dried and we.

According to Minangkabau tradition, the true rendang is the dry one. Rendang was diligently stirred, attended and cooked for hours until the coconut milk evaporates and the meats absorbs the spices perfectly. It is served for special ceremonial occasions or to honour guests. The dried rendang is dark brown and almost black in color. If cooked properly, dried rendang can last for three to four weeks stored in room temperature and still good to consume.^[4] It can even last months stored in refrigerator, and up to six months if frozen.^[16] Among cuisine experts, it is widely believe that the authentic Minang rendang (Padang rendang) is the most delicious version, it has rich, succulent and unparalleled taste — quite different than rendang from other Malay realm.^[14]

Wet rendang, or more accurately identified as kalio, is a type of rendang that cooked in shorter period, where the coconut milk has not completely evaporated. If stored in room temperature, kalio would last less than a week.^[3] Kalio usually has light golden brown color, and paler than dark colored dry rendang.

Outside of its native land in Minangkabau, rendang is also known in neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysian rendang is more like kalio, with lighter color and blander taste compared to its Minang counterpart. Malaysian rendang has several variants, such as Kelantan rendang and Negeri Sembilan rendang that tastes quite different than rendang in Indonesia. Malaysian rendangs cooked in shorter periods, and uses kerisik (toasted grated coconut paste) to thicken the spice,^[4] instead of hours of painstakingly stirring and evaporating coconut milk as its Indonesian counterpart. Nonetheless, in Malaysia, the Rendang Tok version of the state of Perak can be considered a dry rendang. Other ethnic groups in Indonesia also have adopted rendang into their daily diet, which is quite different to authentic Minang rendang. In Java for example, other than Padang rendang sold in Padang restaurants, in their home Javanese cooked wet rendang in slightly sweeter and less spicy to accommodate the Javanese taste. Through historical ties in colonialism, the Dutch also familiar with rendang and often served in the Netherlands — also the wet kalio version — usually served as part of Rijsttafel.

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally beef liver, chicken, mutton, water buffalo, duck, or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava). Chicken or duck rendang also contains tamarind and is usually not cooked for as long as beef rendang.^[17] Rendang variatons among other:^[14]

1. Rendang daging: meat rendang, the most common rendang is made from meat of various cattle product; beef, water buffalo, goat, mutton or lamb
2. Rendang ayam: chicken rendang
3. Rendang itiak or Rendang bebek: duck rendang
4. Rendang hati: cattle liver rendang
5. Rendang talua or Rendang telur: eggs rendang, specialty of Payakumbuh
6. Rendang paru: cattle lung rendang, specialty of Payakumbuh