Rendang is a spicy Minangkabau meat dish originating from the highlands region in west of the Sumatra island in Indonesia.

[1][5] It has spread across other islands in Indonesia to the cuisines of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.

As the signature dish of Minangkabau culture, rendang is traditionally served at ceremonial occasions to honour guests during festive events; such as wedding feasts and Eid al-Fitr also known as Hari Raya or Lebaran.

[10] Rendang is also traditionally served among the Malay community in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, as well as the Maguindanaon and Maranao in the Philippines.

[18][19] In 2018, rendang was officially recognised as being one of the 5 national dishes of Indonesia; the others are soto, sate, nasi goreng, and gado-gado.

Due to regular contacts between India and West Sumatra since the early second millennium, there are possibilities that north Indian curry was the precursor of rendang.

[22] Andalas University historian, Prof. Gusti Asnan suggests that rendang began to spread across the region when Minangkabau merchants began to trade and migrate to Malacca in the 16th century, "Because the journey through the river waterways in Sumatra took much time, a durable preserved dry rendang is suitable for a long journey.

[24] One of the earliest written records of rendang is from the Malaccan Malay manuscript of Hikayat Amir Hamzah,[25] which date back to the 1550s.

[26] The popularity of rendang has spread widely from its original domain because of the marantau (migrating) culture of Minangkabau people.

[27] It has been claimed that the four main ingredients represent Minangkabau society as a whole:[28][29] In Minangkabau tradition, rendang is a requisite dish for special occasions in traditional Minang ceremonies, from birth ceremonies to circumcision, marriage, Qur'an recitals, and religious festivals such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

[37] In 2018, rendang was officially recognised by the Indonesian government as one of the country's five national dishes: the others are soto, sate, nasi goreng, and gado-gado.

[23] Its durability is one of the reasons that today, prepackaged rendang is sent as food aid relief for natural disaster survivors in Indonesia.

The spices, garlic, shallot, ginger and galangal used in rendang have antimicrobial properties and serve as natural organic preservatives.

The verb merendang actually refers to a method of slow cooking; continuously churning the ingredients in a pot or frying pan, on a small fire, until all of the liquids evaporate and the meat is well done.

The dish which results is categorised according to the liquid content of the cooked coconut milk, which ranges from the most wet and soupy to the most dry: Gulai — Kalio – Rendang.

If the process continues until the coconut milk is partly evaporated and the meat has started to brown, the dish is called kalio.

Although, unlike crispy dendeng balado spicy jerky, rendang's texture is not actually dry, since it is quite moist and rather oily.

Kalio has quite abundant liquid sauce acquired from cooked coconut milk that partly has turned into spicy oil, which is quite flavourful if consumed with steamed rice.

[133] Most recently, there were Taiwanese baozis with rendang fillings sold at Neo Soho Mall in West Jakarta.