Niniek L Karim and the Memory of Rendang Rice

Actress Niniek L Karim has pleasant memories of rendang. When he was little, his mother often made delicious rendang.

KOMPAS/SEKAR GANDHAWANGI

Actress Niniek L Karim in Jakarta on Sunday (21/4/2024).

It feels like just yesterday the actress Niniek L Karim tasted her mother's cooking. He remembers very well his Minang mother's formula for cooking rendang: one kilogram of beef cooked with coconut milk from three coconuts. It feels like? Lamak bana!

"Duh, I can still taste it in my mouth!" said Niniek in Jakarta, Sunday (21/4/2024).

She once found rendang with a taste similar to her mother's at a Padang restaurant in Jakarta. However, the flavor of the rendang in the restaurant had changed. According to Niniek's friend, the taste was not as delicious as before.

Even though Niniek lost her nostalgic place, the memory of her mother cooking rendang all day remains ingrained in her mind. Her mother used to cook five kilograms of meat on a brick stove, then transfer it to a smaller pot when the coconut milk reduced. Because there was a lot of rendang, her mother would usually share it with friends or neighbors.

“My mother cooks rendang from the time we go to school until we come home. After helping, we took a nap and when we woke up we had to have a snack. So we ate rice with rendang seasoning in a pan," said Niniek, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia.