Alternative names Sei Course Main course Region or state Kupang, Indonesia | Type Smoked meat Place of origin Indonesia Main ingredients Pork, Beef | |
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Serving temperature Hot or room temperature Similar Pork, Beef, Pohulpohul, Na tinombur, Rambak petis | ||
Se'i or sei is a typical smoked meat from Kupang, Timor island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The kind of meat used in smoking process might be pork (se'i babi), beef (se'i sapi) or game animals such as venison (se'i rusa). Today, the most popular se'i meat is pork.
Contents
Se'i is a thinly sliced smoked meat utilizing a mixture of salt and spices which gives a unique taste unlike any bacon. This smoked meat is thicker than common bacon. This dish is easily found in restaurants and warung in Timor. Se'i usually made from pork or beef. In Kupang, people served se'i with nasi panas (hot steam rice) plus sambal lu'at and jagung bose.
Etymology
The name of Se'i derives from the local language that mean "smoked meat".
History
This dish is traditionally served and consumed by the people of East Nusa Tenggara province, especially by Timorese people. In dry climate of Timor island, Se'i is a traditional method employed in order to preserve meat, as a food reserve and security, and also to increase nutritional and economic value of the meats. In the past, the food was actually made from Timorese deer (Cervus timorensis), however, since Timorese deer has been hunted near to extinction in Timor island and thus became rare, domesticated animals such as beef and pork became the main ingredients of Se'i. Today, local people of Kupang mostly prefer pork se'i and beef se'i, and it is one of the most sought delicacy by visitors in Kupang. Numbers of restaurants serving se'i also has appeared outside of East Nusa Tenggara, such as in Jakarta and Bali.
