Photo credit: dinaskebudayaan.jakarta.go.id
Rangi cake or also called sago rangi cake is one of the legendary Betawi traditional cakes. This cake is made from a mixture of starch and grated coconut which is baked in a special mold on a small stove and covered so that it cooks quickly. Not many people know that Rangi cake is an abbreviation for digarang wangi . Digarang means the cake dough is cooked without oil on a wood-burning stove. While wangi means fragrant
This cake is made from a mixture of grated dried coconut with palm sago. What you have to pay attention to is that the starch must be palm sago, so that the cake is chewy and delicious to eat. So to make it you just mix all the ingredients for the dough, such as sago flour, coarsely grated coconut, water, salt, stir well until the dough is crumbly. Once mixed well, put the mixture into the heated Rangi cake mold. Cook for approximately 15 minutes using low heat until cooked evenly. There is no need to turn the cake upside down because later the cake will cook perfectly by itself. To give it a sweet taste, the top is smeared with brown sugar which has been thickened with starch.
A portion of Rangi cake is usually sold in a row size. The cake mold is thin, but wavy at the bottom. This Rangi cake is most delicious when eaten warm. When the texture of the cake is still crispy, soft and the brown sugar is still melted well. The outside of this cake tends to be rough because of the grated young coconut in the dough. When it's cold, the cake will be a little tough and the sugar will also become stickier. A cup of hot black coffee or tea will further complement the sweet taste of this sago rangi.
Like traditional snacks in general, sago rangi is also sold using mobile carts. Even though it is small, the equipment in the cart is quite complete, from the stove to the cake mold and storage.