16.286 Beef Rendang

Cycle 16 – Item 286

Post 5,765

18 (Sat) October 2025

Beef Rendang

3.0

on MSY Mola Mola 1

-Banda Sea, Indonesia-

with fellow divers

Living Aboard the Mola Mola: Day 6 of 7

- Day -4 (16.277 Nasi Goreng Kampoeng)
- Day -3 (16.278 Ikan Bakar)
- Day -2 (16.279 Chicken & Beef Platter)
- Day -1 (16.280 Buntut Goreng)
- Day 1 (16.281 Beef Semur)
- Day 2 (16.282 Egg Fuyunghai)
- Day 3 (16.283 Egg Balado)
- Day 4 (16.284 Ayam Goreng Lengkuas)
- Day 5 (16.285 Hotpot)
- Day 6 (16.286 Beef Rendang)
- Day 7 (16.287 BBQ with “My” Sambal)
- Day +1 (16.288 Fried Chicken Nusantara (Quarter Chicken Package))

In Indonesia. Here for a 7-day liveaboard scuba diving trip: sailing across the Banda Sea on board the MSY Mola Mola, while diving, eating, drinking, sleeping (i.e., “living aboard”) the boat. The Banda Sea is one of four seas surrounding the archipelago of Maluku Islands aka the Spice Islands (where European powers fought wars during the 16th-17th centuries to gain control of the islands’ abundant spices, such as nutmeg, cloves, and mace). Primary objective: sighting schools of hammerhead sharks. (Two prior liveaboard trips were both to the Maldives aboard the MV Adora (see previously 14.062 Sautéed Sword Lettuce (Three Times) (2023) (9.191 Grilled Beef Tenderloin (2018).) My first time ever in Indonesia – who knows if I’ll ever return? – I arrived a few days early to maximize the visit and hang out in Jakarta.

MSY Mola Mola in Ambon Bay, with Merah Putih Bridge in the distant background.

DIVE 16

– Pulau Suanggi –

Back at Suanggi for 4 more dives, 4 more opportunities to encounter the school of hammerheads.

BREAKFAST

So grateful to find a traditional Indonesian breakfast – a noodle soup at that – waiting for us after the first dive.

Components: shredded chicken + boiled eggs + shredded white cabbage + glass noodles

The kitchen appears to be growing more confident in serving local cuisine, inspired by the group’s overwhelmingly positive response to the initial offerings.

Aromatics: lime + celery leaves + ground shrimp crackers + sambal + fried shallots

Soto Ayam is an Indonesian dish. Chicken (ayam) with glass noodles in tumeric-infused soup (soto), often hard boiled eggs, garnished with celery leaves + fried shallots/garlic + ground shrimp crackers + sambal. A national dish.

Soto Ayam (3.5): I could eat this every day.

Absolutely loved it.

DIVE 17

– Pulau Suanggi –

Nothing to report.

LUNCH

Seafood Pillow Pasty (3.5): will definitely try recreating this at home.

Extremely satisfying meal (3.5), top five.

DIVE 18

– Pulau Suanggi –

On the 11th of 12 dives at Suanggi, Group 1 came upon the school of hammerheads. The encounter lasted about 3 minutes, taking them close to 40 meters in pursuit (in the video, dive computers can be heard urgently beeping to warn of rapid descent).

Alas, I was in Group 2, and we weren’t so fortunate.

DIVE 19

– Pulau Suanggi –

No sighting of the school on the 12th and final dive at Suanggi.

But in the spirit of diving, we all felt (sorta) a shared sense of vicarious achievement in that earlier sighting, the only sighting of the entire trip.

DINNER

Padang Sauce is an Indonesian spice mix (bumbu). Comprised of chilies + shallots + garlic + ginger + turmeric + candlenuts + lime leaves (seemingly the basis for all Indonesian foods), ground into a paste and fried, then combined with ketchup + oyster sauce + salt + pepper, sometimes scrambled eggs (like Singaporean chilli sauce). Usually tossed with crabs. Hails from the city of Padang, the capital of Western Sumatra.

Loved it. One of my favorites on the trip thus far.

Rendang is an Indonesian dish. Meat – most commonly beef, at least as it is known globally, though Wikipedia lists 55 local variations – braised long and slow in coconut milk with spices and aromatics until the liquid eventually turns into a thick dark paste. A national dish.

Excellent meal overall (3.5), with wide variety of flavors and textures.

It was okay. The paste was nicely balanced, but the beef was dry and tough. But very pleased at long last to experience this most iconic of Indonesian dishes at the source (see previously 5.134 Beef Rendang + Sprouts + Beans + Rice).