TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Spending holiday to Lombok is not complete without savoring a local dish Bebalung that can be found in several restaurants. This menu can be found in great hotels in Mataram, the capital and the biggest city in West Nusa Tenggara province.

Bebalung is a typical dish from Lombok and is known all over the island.

Bebalung itself means “energy” and because of this, the locals believe that consuming bebalung makes them energized and boosts their vitality.

Bebalung is a kind of soup made of beef or ox ribs mixed with spices consisting of chili, garlic, shallot, galangal, ginger and saffron. This mix of spices is called ragi rajang by Sasak tribe.

In a hotel, this cuisine is served along with kuluh or a kind of jackfruit, so it is known as Bebalung Kuluh. This dish is boiled beef ribs and it is served with sauce called ragi genep. Kuluh is cooked separately and added to the dish.

Kuluh is known to contain rich protein and unsaturated fat, making it healthy to consume. Kuluh is an alternative to the dish. Kuluh tastes bland and is completed with the sauce ragi genap consisting of galangal, candlenut and coriander.

According to Santika Mataram Hotel chef Yasa, kuluh and the ribs have to be cooked separately. Since the beef is from local cow and it is usually slaughtered when it is old, the ribs have to be boiled in a long period with little fire.

“This is trying out new things. Turned out people like it,’’ he said last September.

Bealung kuluh, he said, is served with white warm rice and it makes this menu worth trying.

‘It can be eaten for lunch and dinner,” he said.

On September 2017, Santika Mataram Hotel promoted this menu to their guests as the main dish.

SUPRIYANTHO KHAFID