Dendeng refers to thinly sliced dried

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 popula ...

. It is preserved through a mixture of sugar and spices and dried via a frying process. It is similar to

jerky Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derive ...

. The creation of dendeng is commonly credited to the

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people ( min, Urang Minang; Indonesian or Malay: ''Orang Minangkabau'' or ''Minangkabo''; Jawi: منڠكبو), also known as Minang, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesi ...

, and their earliest dendeng was made from beef, dried so it would be preserved for days and could be taken along with them when they traveled. The

Padang cuisine Padang food or Minang food is the cuisine of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is among the most popular cuisines in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is known across Indonesia as ''Masakan Padang'' (Padang cuisine, in English usu ...

version—probably the most popular ''dendeng'' dish in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

—is called ''dendeng balado'' or ''dendeng batokok'', and is a speciality from

Padang, West Sumatra Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...

, made from

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

which is thinly cut then dried and fried before adding

chilli Chili or chilli may refer to: Food * Chili pepper, the spicy fruit of plants in the genus ''Capsicum''; sometimes spelled "chilli" in the UK and "chile" in the southwestern US * Chili powder, the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties ...

es and other ingredients.

Variations

The most common version of ''dendeng'' found in Indonesia is ''dendeng sapi'' (beef ''dendeng''), and it usually has a sweetness from the inclusion of caramelized coconut sugar. However, versions made from other exotic meats are also available, especially in Eastern Indonesia. ''Dendeng rusa'' (deer ''dendeng'') can be found in the

Nusa Tenggara The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...

islands and Papua.

Indonesian Chinese Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

favor the similar dried pork dish known as ''

bakkwa Bakkwa, also known as rougan, is a Chinese salty-sweet dried meat product similar to jerky. Bakkwa is made with a meat preservation and preparation technique originating from China. The general method of production has remained virtually unc ...

''.

References

Dendeng Balado
Beef dishes Padang cuisine Indonesian beef dishes {{Indonesia-stub

Variations

See also

References