The Humble Potato in Indonesia

Often referred to as a ‘spud’ in western countries, the humble potato in an Indonesian’s daily food intake is actually not as a staple food but in some ways used as a dressing. I can only remember having potatoes in Rendang!.

However, gastronome and epicurean el supremo, Suryatini N. Ganie, explains further about the use of this vegetable:

A Potato ‘who’s who’ in Local Cuisine

Though already a familiar vegetable in Indonesian traditional markets for more than half a century, the potato is still a stranger in our veggie paradise.

It has a special place in our cooking, not as a staple to full us up but to give dishes a certain touch.

Buying the big, uneven, rather oval potatoes of today, available all over Indonesia, I remember the small round potatoes available 30 to 40 years ago called kentang rendang.

The kentang rendang were mostly used in West Sumatra where they were added to that renowned dish, rendang. The round, small, unpeeled potatoes were added when the rendang was nearly ready.

In the course of time, as people accustomed to potatoes as a staple came to Indonesia, people here began to grow potatoes from various countries.

At that time, mostly American potato varieties dominated the market. They were cultivated in upland areas, adjacent to local crops.

Regions that became famous for their potatoes were areas around Sukabumi, the Dieng Plateau and Malang.

In Bali, potatoes are found abundantly in the mountainous areas, while in Sulawesi, Manadonese and Torajans are perfect potato growers.

Locals originally thought the large, “alien” potatoes had a somewhat bland taste.

In Central Java they say that large potatoes are not sedep (delicious), whereas kentang rendang are tasty and sweet; sometimes kentang rendang is a term that means “beautiful“.

For example, asked whether the girl dating her son was beautiful the mother would say: “Yes, her face is like a kentang rendang, small and round.” Because the ideal of beauty for a rural Javanese woman is a round and small face!

Two varieties of potato were popular in the 1960s.Kentang Jawa also called kentang mengger, were grown in upland areas, while kentang Periangan were grown in the Sundanese highlands of West Java.

Kentang Jawa has a rather yellowish color while kentang Periangan is pale yellow, crispy when fried and its eyes are not so deep compared with those of kentang Jawa.

Of course the potato varieties in Indonesia change and now new varieties are on the market. Pay a visit to vegetable stands at traditional markets and in supermarkets and you will find so-called test potatoes and also diet potatoes for those keen on keeping their weight steady.

There are also varieties that are specifically used for making certain dishes only. Kentang siomai is a variety that remain a bit waxy, and do not crumble when cooked, a potato good for making boiled potatoes, which accompany the very popular dish siomai Bandung that has strong Chinese overtones and is served in many eateries and even in five-star establishments. Kentang siomai hailed from Kentucky (the U.S.) some years ago.

As many dishes have foreign overtones in Indonesia, some ever-popular foodstuffs are made by adding potatoes. Sambal goreng, a spicy dish, must have potatoes, and also a dish with Dutch overtones called pastel tutup. ]

Tutup means “closed” or “covered” because the dish is made with a thick layer of mashed potatoes on the base of the baking form and also to cover it at the top.

A fritter called perkedel (with French and Dutch overtones) is made from potatoes that remain hard after the cooking procedure.

The potatoes are mashed and when added to ground meat or fish are formed into balls and coated with breadcrumbs and then fried. For some it will be a snack, but for us it is a very diverse foodstuff, fried as a snack with sambal or mustard or eaten with steaming hot rice and soy sauce.

Some cooking methods have specific names. Kentang ongklok for example is made by boiling potatoes until tender and when pouring away the water one shuttles the pan to the left and right, or up and down as do the Dutch. The accompanying sound will be “klk … klk … klk …“, which translates into ongklok in local dialect!

Suryatini N. Ganie