Papeda (food)

Papeda, or bubur sagu, is a type of congee made from sago starch. It is a staple food of the people indigenous to Eastern Indonesia, namely parts of Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands and coastal Papua. It is also widespread in Papua New Guinea and serves as the counterpart to central and western Indonesian cuisines that favour rice as their staple food.

The starch is acquired by felling the trunk of a sago palm tree, cutting it in half, and scraping the soft inner parts of the trunk, the pith, producing a crude sago pith flour. This flour is then mixed with water and squeezed to leach the starch from the flour. The still-moist sago starch is usually stored in a container made of sago palm leaflets, called tumang, in which it will keep for several months before spontaneous fermentation will turn it too acidic and unsuitable for making papeda. Depending on the variety and the growing conditions, it may take a sago tree five to over ten years to accumulate enough starch in its trunk to make the effort of extracting it worthwhile.

Papeda is made by cooking sago starch with water and stirring until it coagulates and becomes more translucent. It has a glue-like consistency and texture. Sayur bunga pepaya (papaya flower bud vegetables) and tumis kangkung (stir-fried water spinach) are often served as side-dish vegetables to accompany papeda.

Locations
According anthropologist Johszua Robert Mansoben, papeda is commonly found in Papua Province's Sentani and Abrab by the Lake Sentani, Arso, and Manokwari. Meanwhile in the culinary tradition of the lowlands in South Papua and Central Papua like Mappi, Asmat, Mimika, and Merauke, sago is processed differently. Such as made into sagu bakar, sagu lempeng, sagu sef, and sagu bola.

In southern Sulawesi mainly Luwu and Tana Toraja, Kapurung is made from cooked sago congee which is picked up using chopsticks or fork and rolled into a ball. Usually it is served with beans, vegetable and fish in a soup. While in Southeast Sulawesi, specifically from Tolaki tribe, Sinonggi, sago congee is served separately from the side dishes more akin to Papeda. It needs to be picked up by specially designed wooden sticks.

There are similar dishes in Malaysia, where it is called linut, part of the Melanau cuisine in the East Malaysia state of Sarawak, and in Brunei, where it is called ambuyat.

Menu variations
In general, papeda is consumed with mackerel and fish broth, but it can be replaced with red snapper, tuna, or cork fish. Most of these fishes are spiced with turmeric and lime, giving a distinctive yellow color on the broth. Papeda is sometimes also consumed with boiled starchy tubers, such as those of cassava or yam. Besides yellow broth and fish, papeda can be enjoyed with sayur ganemo, which is made from young melinjo leaves, stir-fried papaya flowers and red chilies.