Papeda (food)

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Papeda

Papeda served with yellow soup and grilled mackerel called tongkol
Alternative names	Popeda, Pepeda, Bubur Sagu, Nangu, Kapurung, Sinonggi
Course	Main course, staple food
Place of origin	Indonesia
Region or state	Sulawesi, Maluku and coastal Papua
Serving temperature	Hot or room temperature
Main ingredients	Sago
Media: 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,^[1] the Maluku Islands and coastal Papua.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[2] Sayur bunga pepaya (papaya flower bud vegetables) and tumis kangkung (stir-fried water spinach) are often served as side-dish vegetables to accompany papeda.^[3]