It's easy to find a satay seller who also sells tongseng and curry. Apparently, these three dishes have a relationship in terms of the seller's strategy and the history of its existence in the country.
"The 18th to 19th centuries, many merchants from the Middle East came to trade in the archipelago. They also spread religion and brought other interests, including culinary," said culinary observer Arie Parikesit in the Bango Ketchup Preserving the Nusantara Culinary Heritage of Tongseng Serving at Oasis Restaurant, Jakarta .
Arie mentioned that the two types of meat favored by Middle Eastern merchants were goats and sheep. The penchant for eating goat and lamb meat which was eventually transmitted to the local community. Sate which is currently known as one of the country's dishes, according to Arie is actually inspired by shish kebabs from the Middle East. The only difference is in terms of seasoning and siraman sauce.
So why is the satay dish closely related to tongseng and curry? "After the meat has been processed into satay, the innards and other parts of the goats are left. The remaining parts are then processed into curry," Arie explained. From the boiled broth, then the seller sautéed again with cabbage and tetelen. Be a tongseng dish. "The zinc from the tongseng is taken from the word 'oseng-oseng' (stir-fry)," said Arie.
by cooking satay, curry, and tongseng, the seller can use all parts of the goat to the maximum and nothing is wasteful. Tongseng's own dish is now believed to come from Klego Subdistrict, Boyolali, Central Java. "In the past the Klego District community made a living by farming, it turned out to be a lack of livelihood. Finally they switched to selling satay and tongseng, until now," Arie explained. In Klego there is even a seller's monument with a satay cart and tongseng pikul which shows the pride of the Klego people for the culinary.