When I Eat Rottan, Get to Know Pakkat - A Traditional Dish of The Mandailing Tribe

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Hello everyone
How are you today ? I hope and pray, we are all always given health and also happiness in living this life. I also want to wish all Muslim members of On Hive a happy fasting month in this month of Ramadan. May we get benefits and wisdom from every worship we do.

For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a moment that is always awaited and anticipated. There are many reasons to be happy when Ramadan comes, such as the opportunity to pray and worship God, the opportunity to experience eating and breaking fast with family, colleagues or friends and also the opportunity to taste various culinary delights and foods that can only be found during Ramadan.

I am the last type of person, always happy to look for delicious and unique culinary delights that can only be found during Ramadan. I am also lucky, because I live in Indonesia. A country that has a wealth of culture and traditional culinary that makes other people jealous to see it. Every region, village or city in Indonesia has interesting traditional culinary delights to discuss, especially Ramadan culinary. One of my favorite culinary traditions that I can only find in this Ramadhan moment is Pakkat.

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What is Pakkat?
Pakkat is one of Indonesia's traditional culinary delights originating from Mandailing or South Tapanuli, North Sumatra. The question is, what type of food is this? Pakkat is young rattan shoots which are burned and then eaten. So, it can be said that eating this food is the same as us eating rattan.

If you are not familiar with rattan. I'll explain a little, rattan is a plant that thrives and can be found in Indonesia's forests. Rattan belongs to the palm tree group but has a slender, vine and not hollow shape. At first glance, this plant is similar to bamboo but with slimmer conditions. Rattan is often used as a furniture material or tropical decoration. Pakkat, is the tip of this plant, which has a softer texture.

The process for cooking pakkat is very simple. Each stick of this pakkat will be burned in the fire for about 15-30 minutes until the rattan sticks become burnt. Once again, grilled not grilled, the process is similar to how we burn wood. The skin of the pakkat has to be really black and burnt, because otherwise the pakkat won't cook and the taste will change.

After pakkat it burned perfectly. The skin will be peeled off and the tough ends removed. We will see the contents of the package which is white with a soft texture. This culinary is a type of fresh vegetables or raw vegetables that are eaten side by side with Pakkat rice sold at a very affordable price of 3 sticks for IDR 10K (0.7 USD)

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How About Taste from Pakkat
How does this "roasted rattan" taste? The first thing I want to say, it tastes bitter and bitter. Yup, you read that right and that's how it feels. However, if pakkat is eaten with warm rice plus chili sauce and onions, then you can't stop eating it. For many people, eating pakkat as a side dish with rice can increase our appetite. I often buy packkat during Ramadan because if I eat too much sweet food, my stomach often feels full and the pack can get rid of it.

The unique part of this culinary is that not everyone can eat pakkat. This culinary is only consumed by the surrounding South Tapanuli community and also the Mandaling ethnicity. Only in Medan City, where I live. Sellers and buyers of packages are immigrants from South Tapanuli or Mandailing. So, don't be surprised when you buy a package, you will definitely be invited to speak the Tapanuli language or the Batak language. Because there are almost no other ethnicities, apart from the Mandailing ethnicity or the Angkola ethnicity, who eat this food.

So, because of that. Many ethnic Mandaling people think and assume that eating Pakkat is part of a cultural intent that cannot be separated. Often, when at traditional events and pakkat is served as one of the dishes, people who are not going to eat pakkat will be asked and doubted whether the guest is from outside the Mandaling ethnicity or something else. Because of that, I often think that pakkat has become part of the identity and identity of the Mandaling community.

So, are you guys interested in trying this "pakkat" or roasted rattan shoots?

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