Editing Rendang (section)

== Etymology and definitions ==
Both the ''[[Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia]]'' and ''[[Kamus Dewan]]'' define rendang as meat cooked with spices and coconut milk until completely dry;<ref>{{cite web |title=Rendang |url=https://kbbi.web.id/rendang |website=kbbi.web.id}}</ref><ref name="Rendang DBP">{{cite web |title=Rendang |url=https://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Cari1?keyword=rendang |website=prpm.dbp.gov.my}}</ref> ''rendang'' is also a verb for the action of frying in a pan with or without oil (only in Kamus Dewan). Food historian Khir Johari explains that ''rendang'' had a broader meaning for frying in general before the prevalence of ''goreng''. For instance, [[Abdullah Abdul Kadir|Munshi Abdullah]] in his 1838 [[Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Kelantan|travelogue to Kelantan]] described the [[Terengganuan Malays|people of Terengganu]] enjoying ''{{lang|ms|rendang pisang}}'' ([[Banana fritter|fried banana fritters]]) — what the Malays now called {{lang|ms|goreng pisang}} or {{lang|ms|pisang goreng}}.<ref name="Khir Johari Book"/>{{rp|191-193}}

A 1960 article from Azizah Ja'afar in [[Berita Harian]]'s Dewan Wanita section{{refn|group=n|Azizah Ja'afar was head of the [[Majlis Amanah Rakyat|Rural Industrial Development Authority]]'s Taman Asuhan Wanita who compiled terms that according to her were used at the Sekolah Mentadbir Rumah Tangga in Johor Bahru and at the Taman Asuhan Wanita in Kuala Lumpur.<ref name="Azizah Ja'afar">{{Cite web|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/beritaharian19600201-1.2.54|title=DALAM LAPANGAN MASAK MEMASAK PUN PERLU DI-AKUI|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg}}</ref>}} lists ''rendang'' as "frying with a generous amount of oil", similar to ''{{lang|ms|merendang pisang}}'' or ''[[jemput-jemput]]'' (fried fritters), where the things being fried would float in the hot oil. This distinguishes ''rendang'' from ''goreng'', which involves little to no oil, as seen in dishes like ''[[nasi goreng]]'' or ''[[mee goreng|mi goreng]]''. Additionally, "rendang" is also the name of a traditional Malay dish known for its rich, spicy flavors, such as ''rendang santan'' (meat cooked in coconut milk), and ''rendang pedas'' (spiced meat).<ref name="Rendang Istilah Rumah Tangga">{{Cite news |author=Azizah Ja'afar |title=Istilah Rumah Tangga  |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/beritaharian19600208-1.1.6 |date=8 February 1960 |newspaper=Berita Harian |page=6}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;" 
|+ The meanings of {{lang|ms|rendang}} from 17th-century Malay wordlists.<ref name="Hoogervorst Journal"/>
|- 
! Year !! Author !! Description
|-
| 1623 || C. Wiltens, and S. Danckaerts || to fry in butter or oil, to fry, to fricassee
|-
| 1677 || F. Gueynier || to fry in a pan, to fricassee, to sauté
|}

Linguist Tom G. Hoogervorst's etymological research traces {{lang|ms|rendang}} back to the 17th-century Malay wordlists.<ref name="Hoogervorst Journal"/> The name ''rendang'' comes from the frying process; by the late 19th century, {{lang|ms|rendang}} was associated more specifically with a type of dry curry by British colonial officials in Malaya, where it is noted that Malays distinguished {{lang|ms|rendang}} as a dry curry and {{lang|ms|[[gulai]]}} as a wet curry.<ref name="Malay Dry Curry"/> In olden times, {{lang|ms|rendang}} was often translated to English as "fried meat"<ref name="Malay Fried Meat">{{Cite news|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/singstandard19571104-1.1.5|title='Rendang Daging' |date=4 November 1957 |newspaper=Singapore Standard  |page=5 }}</ref> or "dry curry".<ref name="Malay Dry Curry">{{Cite book | last1 = Clifford | first1 = Hugh Charles | last2 = Swettenham | first2 = Frank Athelstane | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0Q8AAAAMAAJ | title = A Dictionary of the Malay Language | pages = 504 | year = 1894| publisher = authors at the Government's printing Office }}</ref>

Rendang entered [[Oxford English Dictionary]] through Malay and Indonesian ''rendang'' which also cognates with [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]] ''randang''.<ref name="Rendang OED">{{cite web |title=Rendang |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/rendang_n?tab=etymology&tl=true#1211422760 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> Gusti Asnan notes that the earliest recorded mention of ''randang'' in the Minangkabau context appears in J.L. van der Toorn’s Minangkabau-Malay-Dutch dictionary published in 1891.<ref name="Gusti Asnan"/>

In Minangkabau, rendang comes from the word "marandang", which means cooking food slowly until the food becomes dry.{{Citation needed|reason=The definition is in conflict with the oldest Minangkabau dictionary definition (Toorn's, 1891) |date=April 2025}} The [[Minangkabau people]] brought rendang as a provision because of its ability to last a long time when moving to other regions.