Dishes · A classic of Minangkabau · Kapau, near Bukittinggi

Nasi kapau

Rice from the highland village of Kapau, with its own spread of gulai: tambunsu, stuffed intestine; long-cooked jackfruit, cabbage and bamboo shoot; and more.

What makes it nasi kapau

  • Many dishes around rice, served from tiered basins with a long ladle.
  • Gulai tambunsu — intestine stuffed with egg and tofu.
  • Gulai of mixed vegetables — jackfruit, cabbage, long beans, bamboo shoot.

Where it comes from

Kapau is a village in Agam, a short way from Bukittinggi, and its cooks became known across West Sumatra. Nasi kapau is like nasi Padang, but with its own dishes and its own ritual: the seller sits behind basins stacked in steep tiers and reaches every one with a long-handled ladle.

Bukittinggi's market has a whole row of stalls selling it, and Minang migrants have carried it on to Jakarta and beyond.

How it varies

With rendang
Rendang and dendeng from the same tiers, beside the Kapau specialities.

Be the first here

Start your own nasi kapau
No one here has made nasi kapau yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.

Near it

MinangkabauGulaiA turmeric-yellow coconut curry — fish, goat, jackfruit or offal — and the first stage on the road to rendang.No one here has made it yetMinangkabauRendangBeef simmered in coconut milk and spice paste for hours, until the liquid is gone and the meat fries in what's left.2 versions hereMinangkabauDendeng baladoBeef sliced thin, dried or boiled, fried until crisp, then tossed through a coarse, oily sambal of red chilli and shallot.No one here has made it yet