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Masakan Padang is the cuisine of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. The Minangkabau were traders and travellers, moving along the spice routes that linked Sumatra, Aceh and Java. In modern Indonesia, there are Padang restaurants everywhere. You can recognise them by their windows stacked with plates – towers of curries and veggie dishes. In traditional Padang restaurants, these towers are disassembled, and the dishes are placed in front of you on the table, so diners compose their own meal, with a bed of soft rice. One bite might carry a coconut-y gravy; another the smoky edge of grilled meat; another, the slow burn of green-chilli sambal. Although Temu Kangen has opted for a bain-marie and an à la carte menu, the effect of combining wonderful flavours on a bed of fluffy rice is the same.
The vibe
If dim light bulbs exist to hide detail, the lighting does the opposite here, showing off every element of the food and the bright white and burnt-orange décor at Temu Kangen. This new sibling of Sydney Indonesian favourite Medan Ciak (in the CBD and Mascot) is quick, affordable and focused on getting serious Sumatran food on the table. It may not be somewhere you’d bring someone for a romantic dinner, but the food is delicious, authentic and excellent value.
The food
When I order, the waitress asks, ‘Is spicy OK?’ with a tone of warning in her voice. The first dish that hits the table is the nasi Padang bungkus (from $23). We go for the version with sambal squid, but other options include fried or grilled chicken, beef rendang and vegetarian. It comes as a tall parcel wrapped in greaseproof paper and banana leaf, secured with a green rubber band. When I unwrap it, a tower of delicious-looking ingredients collapses into the rice: squid rings, cassava leaves, cucumber and whole egg. While it sat in its parcel, the flavours and juices had time to soak into the rice, so every spoonful tastes carefully composed. The cassava leaves are dense and earthy. They have soaked up their coconut gravy so each bite carries both richness and a leafy chew. The squid is excellent – tender without a hint of chewiness, heated just to the point of cooked through.
The chicken satay is among the best I’ve ever had outside of Indonesia. The thigh pieces are chunkier than the small, chewy style you often get in Bali. Each piece of chicken has been grilled until the edges have just started to catch and blacken. The sauce is thick, salty and rich, with a dark, caramelised kecap manis character.
This savoury, charry depth runs throughout the meal. The menu actually suggests it from the beginning. Right at the top, you’ll see a dish called nasi gurih. In most of Indonesia, nasi gurih refers to rice cooked with coconut milk and spices. It’s a close cousin of Java’s nasi uduk. But ‘gurih’ also means something like ‘savoury completeness’ – a flavour somewhere between richness and umami. It’s a delicious quality that is consistent throughout the meal here.
Our sayur lodeh ($14) arrives in a shallow wooden bowl, its pale coconut broth carrying big wedges of young jackfruit and chunks of cabbage. The flavour of the gravy is almost like a Malay coconut laksa. It is gentle at first, but then it warms with chilli and turmeric. The jackfruit is the texture of unripe pineapple, and it holds the broth beautifully. The side serve of rendang is also served in a wooden bowl, and it’s rich and aromatic. The chunks of beef break apart easily with a spoon.
The drinks
The drinks list offers the familiar Indonesian comforts: teh botol (bottled tea), sweet agar jelly and coconut, and the kind of icy sweetness that makes more sense once the background chilli of the food starts to gather momentum. But most people will do what we do and rely on the jugs of cool water and paper cups.
Time Out tip
For a first visit, order the nasi Padang bungkus with squid and the chicken satay. Between the tenderness of the squid, the satay’s dark sweetness and the slow burn of the sambal, you’ll understand why masakan Padang has made the happy journey south from the Minangkabau kitchens of West Sumatra to a bright little shopfront in Haymarket.
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