VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

When visiting Indonesia, you will find a food called ‘Bakso’ (meatball) in various places in Indonesia. This meat ball-shaped dish is very popular. Bakso is usually served hot with clear beef broth mixed with noodles, vermicelli, bean sprouts, tofu, sometimes eggs and then sprinkled with fried shallots and celery. In Muara Enim, South Sumatra, you will find food similar to bakso there. At first glance, it looks like a meatball with curry sauce, but it's not. Its name is Sengkuang.

Sengkuang is made of beef or buffalo meat which is shaped like a meatball. If the meatball has a mixture of flour and meat, Sengkuang filling is pure meat. Another difference is that if meatball has a clear soup, Sengkuang has a long-soaked coconut milk soup. When you sip Sengkuang, you can feel the aroma of coriander. The meatballs taste so good too. Sengkuang is usually served in the tunggu tubang traditional event (inheritance distribution), ngunduh mantu (welcoming an in-law) or welcoming honored guests. As a complement, this dish is usually served with unji/kecombrang (torch ginger) chili sauce, rusit (a dish made from fermented grouse), bekasam (a dish made from fermented fish), and hehancang (eggplant). As for fresh vegetables, there are petai (stinky bean), jengkol (dogfruit) or vegetable stew.

Besides beef or buffalo meat as main ingredients, Sengkuang is made of coriander leaves, coriander seeds, lemon grass, turmeric, and salt. All these spices are ground. Then, the meat is soaked with a handful of rice in the water for 20 minutes to soften it. Then, the rice is pounded until smooth and used as a thickener instead of coconut milk. After all the spices are smooth, then they are stir-fried, and the water is added along with the mashed rice. Meanwhile, the meatball dough is made of lean beef or buffalo meat, garlic and coriander. When the gravy boils, add the meat balls until cooked and ready to serve.