Types
If pieces of meat are cooked in spicy coconut milk, then what is the dish called?
Rendang
In Minangkabau culinary tradition, there are three recognised stages in cooking meat in spicy coconut milk. The dish which results is categorised according to the liquid content of the cooked coconut milk, which ranges from the most wet and soupy to the most dry: Gulai — Kalio — Rendang. The ingredients of gulai, kalio and rendang are almost identical with the exceptions that gulai usually has less red chilli pepper and more turmeric, while rendang has richer spices. If pieces of meat are cooked in spicy coconut milk and the process stopped right when the meat is done and the coconut milk has reached its boiling point, the dish is called gulai. If the process continues until the coconut milk is partly evaporated and the meat has begun to brown, then you have kalio. For a traditional dry rendang, the process continues hours beyond this, until the liquid has all but completely evaporated and the color turns to a dark brown, almost black color. Thus not only liquid content but also colour indicate which type of rendang is involved: gulai is light yellow, kalio is brown, and rendang is very dark brown. Today one mostly only finds two simpler categories of rendang: either dry or wet.