Editing Rendang (section)

==== The first known use of the word ====
Food historian Fadly Rahman traces the earliest reference to rendang to the early 16th-century Malay manuscript ''[[Hikayat Amir Hamzah]]'' associated with the [[Malacca Sultanate]]{{refn|group=n|In the 15th and 16th centuries, at the height of the Malacca Sultanate's power, its capital became a key Asian port, controlling much of the region along the Malacca Straits (Malay Peninsula and Sumatra).}} (1400–1528).<ref name="Fadly Rahman Journal">{{Cite journal | last = Rahman | first = Fadly | title = Tracing the origins of rendang and its development | journal = Journal of Ethnic Foods | date=1 September 2020 |volume=7 | issue=28 |doi=10.1186/s42779-020-00065-1| doi-access = free }}</ref> Written during the spread of Islam in the Malay world, this adaptation of the Persian [[Hamzanama]] was later compiled into Malay and intended to inspire Malacca's soldiers in their fight against the Portuguese in 1511. In Malay version, there mentioned the words "rendang" and "merendang" (roasting) which is quoted as follows:<ref name="Fadly Rahman Journal"/>

{{Verse translation|lang=msa|...Khoja Buzurjumhur Hakim pun pergi pula ke kedai orang merendang daging kambing, lalu ia berkata ‘beri apalah daging kambing rendang ini barang segumpal...
|...Khoja Buzurjumhur Hakim went to the stall where people were ''merendang'' (roasting) goat meat and said, 'give me just a piece of this goat meat ''rendang''...'}}

This passage suggests that ''merendang'' refers to a cooking technique, while ''rendang'' describes the resulting dish have been part of the Malay vocabulary since the 16th century.<ref name="Fadly Rahman Journal"/>