Pork packed into green bamboo with chilli, ginger, lemongrass and lemon basil, and cooked in the flames.
What makes it tinoransak
Pork, cut small.
Cooked in bamboo over fire.
Fresh chilli, ginger and herbs — no coconut milk.
Where it comes from
Tinoransak is feast food in the Minahasa highlands, made for weddings, Christmas and the harvest thanksgivings the region is known for. Pork is cut small and mixed with chilli, shallot, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaf and lemon basil, then packed into lengths of green bamboo and set against a fire.
The bamboo steams the meat in its own juices and scents it; the result is tender, hot and herbal. Cooked in a pot, it's much the same dish, and many now make it that way.