kuah beulangong — Aceh, Indonesia

Kuah beulangong is an Acehnese stew of meat, usually beef, goat or buffalo, simmered with young jackfruit in a spiced, coconut-touched broth. Its name refers to the belanga, the large cauldron in which it is cooked, a detail that already points to its role as a dish made for many people rather than for a single household meal. The stew is reported from Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, where it is closely associated with communal celebrations: religious holidays, circumcision feasts, weddings, and other gatherings where a whole village or neighborhood might share the same pot. Cooking it well outside of such occasions is uncommon precisely because of the scale the dish is built for. Preparation starts with a ground paste of shallots, garlic, chilies, ginger and turmeric, fried until fragrant before the meat goes in to sear. Young jackfruit is added once the meat has started to soften, since it needs less time to cook through, and the two simmer together until tender. Roasted grated coconut, pounded fine, is stirred in toward the end along with coconut milk, thickening the broth and giving it a deep golden color and a slightly nutty, toasted note. What distinguishes kuah beulangong from other Indonesian meat-and-coconut stews is this combination of scale, the specific pairing of meat with young jackfruit, and the toasted coconut finish, which sets it apart from the many coconut-milk curries found elsewhere in the archipelago. It is typically eaten with plain rice, the sauce spooned generously over each portion.