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3 Important Roles of Kencur in Cooking

"Jamupedia Friends often taste dishes with distinctive tastes and aromas? Or, you might often feel something is not quite right in a dish because lacking of certain spices? Yes, each type of spice provides an ingredient to makes a dish tastes delicious. This is because each spice has its own function in determining a certain taste in a dish, including kencur."

Published by : Kurnia HD  -  10/02/2020 08:07 WIB

2 Minutes read.

Kencur/aromatic ginger (Kaempferia galangal) is one of the basic spices of Javanese cuisine. For Javanese people it’s one of the bumbu pawon (kitchen spices) should not be omitted from the kitchen. In cooking, you can use the small white rhizome flesh by shredding, mashing with other spices, slicing, or by coarsely grinding it. Kencur cannot be substituted with other spices because it provides a distinctive taste and aroma.

Well, here are 3 functions of kencur in a dish.

Savoring stir fry

Kencur gives a unique and fresh taste to stir fry. The trick is to simply slice it or geprek (hammer a little with pestle), then mix it with other stir-fry spices. Let’s prove it on your stir fry!

Increase Aroma

Kencur has a very distinctive aroma that comes from its essential oils and alkaloids in it. That is, every dish that uses kencur will have a distinctive and easily recognizable aroma. For example, kencur can make the aroma of pecel sambal or urap sayur even more fragrant.

Lalapan complements

In addition to directly affecting the taste of food, kencur can also be used as a complement to lalapan (fresh vegetables, eaten raw). Jamupedia friends, if you want to enjoy lalapan kencur, you should choose young and fresh kencur.

Well, that’s the three functions of kencur in a dish. Of course, you need to use just enough kencur, my friend, not too much and not too little, so that your dish is delicious.

References

Muhlisah, Fauziah. 2012. Tanaman Obat Keluarga (Toga). Surabaya: Penebar Swadaya.

Pramudyo, Adi. 2018. Budi Daya dan Bisnis Jahe, Lengkuas, Kunyit, dan Kencur. Jakarta Selatan: PT Agro Media Pustaka.

https://resepkoki.id/kencur-memilih-mengolah-menyimpan-dan-kegunaan-dalam-masakan/ (diakses pada tanggal 13 November 2019)

https://www.fimela.com/lifestyle-relationship/read/4058845/sebenarnya-apa-kegunaan-kencur-dalam-masakan (diakses pada tanggal 13 November 2019)