Saksang or sa-sang is a savory, spicy Indonesian dish from the

Batak people Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

. It is made from minced

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

dog meat Dog meat, also known as fragrant meat or simply fragrant, is the meat derived from dogs. Historically human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, dog meat is consumed to a limited extent in ...

(or, more rarely,

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

meat) stewed in its blood, coconut milk and spices; including

kaffir lime ''Citrus hystrix'', called the kaffir lime, Thai lime or makrut lime, (, ) is a citrus fruit native to tropical Southeast Asia. Its fruit and leaves are used in Southeast Asian cuisine, and its essential oil is used in perfumery. Its rind and cr ...

and

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf ...

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

and Thai pepper,

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, oily heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

galangal Galangal () is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originating in Indonesia. It is one of four species in the genus ''Alpinia'', and is known for its pungent, aromatic flavor. Greater gal ...

turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...

and '' andaliman'' (the fruit of a native shrub similar to

Sichuan pepper Sichuan pepper (, also known as Sichuanese pepper, Szechuan pepper, Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Mountain pepper, and ''mala'' pepper, is a spice commonly used in Sichuan cuisine in China, Bhutan and in northeast India. It is called mej ...

). Although saksang is widely consumed and familiar within Batak tribes' traditions, it is more often associated with Batak Toba. Saksang has special significance to the Bataks, as it is an obligatory dish in Batak marriage celebrations. ''Saksang'', together with '' panggang'', '' arsik'' and '' daun ubi tumbuk'', are the essential dishes in Batak cuisine.

References

Batak cuisine Indonesian stews Blood dishes {{Indonesia-cuisine-stub

See also

References