Tongseng facts for kids
Tongseng is a combination of satay, meat skewers, and gulai (Indonesian curry).
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| Course | main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Boyolali and Solo in Central Java, and East Java |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Meat (mutton or beef) and vegetables cooked in curry-like soup with sweet soy sauce |
| Variations | Gulai |
Tongseng is a yummy Indonesian stew. It's made with meat like goat, lamb, or beef. This dish comes with vegetables and a special curry-like soup. A key ingredient is kecap manis, which is a sweet soy sauce. You can find Tongseng all over Central Java in Indonesia. It's especially popular in cities like Surakarta and Yogyakarta. People think Tongseng first came from a place called Klego in Boyolali, Central Java.
Contents
How to Make Tongseng
The name tongseng comes from a Javanese word, osengan. This word means "stir-frying." It describes how the dish is cooked. The name also sounds like the "seng" noise. This is the sound a metal spoon makes when it rubs against a metal wok while cooking.
What's in Tongseng?
The soup starts with a mix of spices. These include garlic, shallot, black pepper, ginger, coriander, and galangal. Other ingredients are daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves) and lemongrass. These spices are cooked in palm oil until they smell wonderful.
Cooking the Meat
Next, small pieces of meat are added to the spices. This meat is often uncooked goat meat, like what's used for sate kambing (goat satay). Water is poured in and brought to a boil. Then, sweet soy sauce and tamarind juice are added.
Adding Vegetables
After the soup cooks down a bit, fresh vegetables are mixed in. Shredded cabbage and sliced tomato make the dish crunchy and fresh. Some Tongseng recipes also use coconut milk. If you like spicy food, you can add slices of bird's eye chili to your soup!
Serving Tongseng
Tongseng is usually served hot with steamed rice. The soup is similar to gulai soup, which is another Indonesian curry. However, gulai does not use sweet soy sauce. Tongseng usually looks brownish-gold because of the sweet soy sauce. Gulai often uses different parts of beef, but Tongseng mostly uses just the meat.
The Story of Tongseng
Many people think Tongseng is a mix of goat satay and gulai spicy soup. Experts believe Tongseng first appeared in Java between the 1700s and 1800s. During that time, many Arabs and Muslim Indians came to Indonesia.
New Meats and Flavors
These new settlers brought their favorite meats, like goat and lamb. They also introduced new dishes. Sate kambing (goat satay) is thought to be a local version of Indian-Muslim kebabs. Gulai soup was likely inspired by Indian curry dishes.
Sweet Soy Sauce Connection
In the 1800s, sugar farms grew in Central Java. Factories were built to make sugar, including traditional Javanese palm sugar. Soy sauce factories also opened. This led to the creation of kecap manis, which is sweet soy sauce made with palm sugar. This sweet soy sauce became key to Tongseng. It brought together the savory gulai soup, pieces of goat satay, and the fresh taste of cabbage and tomato.
Today, Tongseng is a very common dish in Javanese cities like Boyolali, Surakarta (Solo), Klaten, and Yogyakarta. Many Tongseng sellers come from these towns. You can also find Tongseng in big Indonesian cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, and Surabaya. Tongseng sellers often call their small restaurants Warung Sate Solo. These places specialize in satay, Tongseng, and gulai.
