Side Dishes During The War, Keumamah Engkot, That Still Survive

Craftsmen drying fish in a home-based industrial business, Gano Village, Syiah Kuala District, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Friday (11/8/2019). (ANTARA Aceh/Ampelsa/15)

BANDA ACEH - Not many people know, even the younger generation of Aceh themselves barely know that Engkot keumamah is a side dish or rice companion when guerrillas in the forests during the war against the Dutch.

In Minang, people know the delicious culinary delights of rendang, but in Aceh, the side dish of engkot keumamah or also known as wooden fish has been popular for hundreds of years, and has become a special menu for the kingdom when entertaining important guests.

Wooden fish does not mean that it is made of wood, but engkot keumamah is tuna/chikalang that has gone through a drying process. Tuna fish, after the meat is cut into several parts, then boiled and then dried in the sun.

The traditional engkot keumamah which was served in a special menu as a side dish for the Acehnese warriors during their war against the Dutch colonialists. The reason is, culinary with the main raw material of tuna is durable, for months to support the nutrition of the guerrillas who are fighting against the invaders.

Not only during the war, but public transportation in the past also became one of the important provisions brought by prospective pilgrims from Aceh who traveled for months by ship to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

To produce delicious and delicious dishes from the main ingredients of engkot keumamah with spices rich in spices, including shallots, garlic, sunti acid (dried starfruit), cayenne pepper, red chili, green chilies, ginger, coriander and turmeric, leaves meet or greet koja

There are several culinary variants with the main raw material of engkot keumamah which is believed to be able to arouse the taste of everyone who will try it, including curry dishes, stir-fry, and coconut milk sauce.

Culinary with the main ingredient of public transportation is also one of the special menus served during wedding parties (kenduri), celebrations of the sunnah of the apostles, and activities to entertain important government guests.

Engkot keumamah previously only made certain by old people in the village, and limited to being sold in markets, but now culinary made from sea fish is often found in souvenir shops, and is suitable as souvenirs because it is equipped with spices. aka just cook.

Acehnese cuisine as one of the local wealth and wisdom owned by the Indonesian people, said Aceh manuscript collector Tarmizi A Hamid, needs to be registered as intellectual property rights (HAKI) so that their existence is maintained.

Beulangong gravy

It turns out that Acehnese cuisine, which is rich in spices and without artificial flavouring, is not only public transportation, said Tarmizi, there are quite a lot and different regions also have different types and tastes, one of which is the Beulangong soup, typical of Aceh Besar.

Every celebration held, whether it's a wedding party, circumcision of the apostle, commemorating the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Nuzul Quran and various other feasts, it feels invalid if there is no beulangong sauce dish.

Actually, the culinary beulangong soup if interpreted is a curry sauce, the main raw material for beef and mutton, which is cooked in a large cauldron. This beulangong sauce is primarily from Aceh Besar cuisine.

Not surprisingly, at large kenduri celebrations such as commemorating the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, residents cook beulangong sauce, which sometimes amounts to 30 large cauldrons and is cooked in mutual cooperation at the maunasah or mosque in a village/gampong in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh City.

Uniquely, the culinary beulangong soup is specially cooked by men, starting from the beginning of slaughtering cattle, dominantly cattle/goats. Beulangong sauce as a culinary rich in spices is mixed with young jackfruit, kepok bananas and banana tree hearts.

Men of various ages work together to slaughter, weed and cook beef/goat in beulangong sauce, either in mosques or prayer rooms if it is for a feast to commemorate Maulid Nambi Muhammad or Nuzul Quran in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Tarmizi A Hamid, who is familiarly called Cek Midi, also hopes that the Aceh Government, especially related agencies, must pay special attention to the protection of the works of the elderly as the nation's cultural wealth.

"I suggest that the Aceh government and other relevant agencies should seriously pay attention to culinary and cultural richness and customs in order to be given protection. For example, the culinary engkot keumamah and the beulangong sauce are immediately patented (Haki), so that in the future there will be no other regions or countries others who claim it as their own," he said.

He gave an example, currently beulangong sauce is not only found in Aceh Besar or Banda Aceh City but is easily found in all regions in this province, even this culinary has also been served at banquets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On a normal day, the beulangong sauce which gives off a distinctive aroma and is appetizing for anyone who tastes it is easy to find because many stall businesses have been set up in a number of strategic roads, such as in Banda Aceh City and Aceh Besar District.

In the month of Ramadan, for example, the culinary vendors of seasonal beulangong soup line a number of roads that are busy with motorized vehicles in the cities of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar. The dish is one of the side dishes for breaking the fast for the Muslims of the Veranda of Mecca.

On the other hand, Cek Midi hopes that the Aceh government will pay more attention to maintaining traditions and culture, especially the variety of traditional Acehnese culinary delights which are still maintained by the people of the province with a population of around 5.2 million people.

"We must be proud that Aceh has a variety of traditional culinary delights with tantalizing flavors, and is also recognized by domestic and foreign tourists when tasting Acehnese specialties, such as engkot keumamah dishes and beulangong sauce in Aceh Besar," he added.

As a traditional product of local wisdom that is owned and still survives in Aceh, it is proper that culinary dishes such as engkot keumamah dishes and beulangong sauce are preserved and patented. This was reported by Antara, Monday, April 25.