Gulai tunjang — West Sumatra, Indonesia

Gulai tunjang names a curry built on beef tendon, tunjang, cooked in gulai, the yellow-to-red coconut-milk sauce that runs through much of Minangkabau cooking. The tendon becomes soft and gelatinous after long cooking, giving the dish its particular sticky, rich texture. It is reported from West Sumatra and the wider Minangkabau region, served at nasi Padang restaurants and at family tables, often appearing among the dishes set out for festive meals rather than as an everyday plate. Beef tendon is cleaned and boiled for a long time until tender, while a paste of shallot, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, chilli and candlenut is fried until fragrant. Coconut milk is added along with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and turmeric leaf, and the tendon joins the pot to simmer until the sauce thickens, reddens and the oil starts to separate at the surface. Some cooks add a hard-boiled egg to the pot, or cut the tendon into larger or smaller pieces; the level of chilli heat and the richness of coconut milk both vary by household and by stall, so no two bowls of gulai tunjang taste quite the same.