The proverb “Tiada rotan akar pun jadi” (If there’s no rattan, let use of roots) has attached to rattan since long time ago, it builds the image of rattan as the number one binding material. But it turns out that not only as binding material, furniture raw materials, and building construction materials, rattan can also be made into a delicious cuisine.

The cuisine is usually made from its umbut or young rattan cane. Cuisines that can be made from rattan umbut are various such as pakat, curry, sour soup, juhi singkah, rattan vegetable soup, and young rattan saute, even lalapan (raw vegetables with spicy sauce). The inside of the rattan cane which has whitish colour is taken for food. It is the tasty taste which mixes with a little bitter taste that gives its own unique characteristics. Moreover, in addition to delicious, rattan umbut is also believed to have medicinal properties and be able to prevent disease.

In Central Kalimantan, young rattan is found in the forests and riverbanks. Usually young rattan is widely available in rural areas, particularly in the territory of Dayak tribe. Young rattan is also sold in traditional markets, vegetable sellers and big markets. Rattan which has been peeled and then tied of 5 canes per bundle, is sold at an average of 5 thousand rupiahs per bundle.

The preparation to cook it is young rattan is first cleaned and peeled its skin. The thorns on the rattan cane quite make the peeling proccess difficult. To eliminate the bitter taste, rattan umbut can be boiled first. Then the inside substance which is rather soft, tasty, and white is taken and cut into small pieces for easier consumption. After that rattan umbut is ready to be eaten or cooked into various cuisines.

Community which commonly processes rattan as food is the Dayak community, especially in Central Kalimantan. Rattan collecting activity has become their routine, so that young rattan is already familiar to the life of Dayak people. No wonder Dayak people have a variety of recipes for preparing young rattan into a unique, authentic, and delicious cuisine. For example juhu singkah which is very delicious when combined with betok fish, pojak iyur gai kotok or young rattan saute which is cooked for traditional ceremony and believed to cure malaria, and rattan vegetable soup which is cooked with sour eggplant, sweet potatoes and served with roasted patin or baung fish.

It differs with Mandailing people in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra. Mandailing people process rattan umbut into pakat, which is rattan umbut that is cut into pieces and roasted in the hearth for 1 hour and then taken its whitish substance and then served with coconut milk serundeng. But unfortunately this cuisine can not be found every day. Pakat is only served during Ramadhan in the city of Medan. Moreover, the price is quite expensive which reaches 5 to 8 thousand rupiahs per cane measuring 30 cms.

It seems that our society is quite creative in processing rattan. From its umbut only it can be transformed into various kinds of cuisine.We could say that rattan has various uses and benefits from as craft materials, furniture, building construction material, dye, binding material to food and medicines. Therefore, rattan becomes a potential plant to be cultivated. For that, we need to preserve rattan and make it as  a part of our lives. One of the ways is to preserve and promote the culinary rattan.

Source of image: http://tomyagung.blogspot.com/2010/11/procedure-text.html, Makanan Khas Kalimantan Tengah, Juhu Singkah