Sumbawa is the biggest island in West Nusa Tenggara province (NTB). This island extending from the east to the west part of the province. Being a large island, Sumba also supports a lot of wonderful cultures. As a result, you can find many delicious dishes from Sumbawa, too.
There are five main regencies in this island and each one of them has a unique dish. In term of culinary, Sumbawa is a bit different from its neighbor, Lombok. Here are some delicious dishes from Sumbawa that you need to try.
Uta Londe Puru
This is a very basic dish. Uta Londe Puru is basically a grilled milkfish. Only a large milkfish is selected for this dish. They clean the fish thoroughly and then grill them with salt only. Only fresh fish is being used for this dish. Even without spices, the meat tastes sweet and savory. It has a soft texture. It is commonly served with spicy soybean sauce and lemon slices.
Mangge Mada
In Mbojo language, mangge mada means banana bloom curry. Just as the name implies, the main ingredient for this dish is banana bloom, usually from raja variant. As with all curry (or gulai as many Indonesians call it), it also uses coconut milk. Sometimes people add chopped chicken and shrimp. Without the use of turmeric, mangge mada has a white soup with a strong savory flavor.
Singang
This dish comes from Samawa tribe. It is similar to Uta palamara from Mbojo tribe. The main ingredient for this dish is fresh fishlike milkfish or snapper. Basically, singang is a fish soup. However, the soup has a very strong taste due to the generous use of spices. At a glance, it will look like fish gulai but it doesn’t use coconut milk at all.
Sepat
Another fish-based dish, sepat is a popular dish during Ramadan. First, they clean and grill the fish. After that, the re-cook the fish into a special soup. The soup is made from tamarind, shallot, chili pepper, and tomato. Sometimes they throw eggplant in the mix too. Sour fruits like lime, starfruit, and tamarind are added to counter the fishiness taste.
Gecok
Unlike most of the dishes here, gecok is made from beef or cow innards. Gecok is usually a dry dish, meaning it commonly doesn’t have soup in it. However, some variants also use a lot of soup. The meat is stir-fried with a lot of spices and sometimes with coconut milk too. It is fried until all the soup is gone, creating delicious meat with dark color.
Sumbawa is a lovely island with a lot of beautiful places. This island is also rich in culinary delights. You can try many tasty dishes from Sumbawa, coming from several tribes that live on this island.
