What is "papeda"

n. 1 sago congee, a staple food of native people in Maluku and Papua 2 the subgenus ''Papeda'' of the genus ''Citrus'', a citrus species native to Asia 3 ''Citrus ichangensis'', the Ichang papeda

Papeda may refer to:

• Papeda (food), a staple food of eastern Indonesia
• Citrus subg. Papeda, a subgenus of Citrus
• Ichang Papeda, a slow-growing species of the genus Citrus

Papeda or bubur sagu, is sago congee, the staple food of native people in Maluku and Papua. It is commonly found in eastern Indonesia, as the counterpart of central and western Indonesian cuisines that favour rice as their staple food.

Papeda is made from sago flour. The Papuan natives acquire the flour by felling the trunk of a sago tree, cutting it in half, and scraping the inner parts of the trunk. The trunk pulp is then mixed with water and squeezed to extract the starch-rich essence. The still moist sago flour is usually stored in a container made of sago palm leaflets, called tumang in which it will keep for several months before spontaneous fermentation will turn it too acidic and unsuitable for making papeda. Depending on the variety and the growing conditions, it may take a sago tree five to fifteen years to accumulate enough starch in its trunk to make the effort of extracting it worthwhile.

Papeda is made by cooking sago flour with water and stirring until it coagulates. It has a glue-like consistency and texture. Papeda is usually eaten with yellow soup made from mackerel, tuna or mubara fish spiced with turmeric and lime. Papeda sometimes also consumed with starchy tubers, such as boiled cassava and yam. Sayur bunga pepaya (papaya flower bud vegetables) and tumis kangkung (stir-fried water spinach) are often served as side dish vegetables to accompany papeda.

TROPENMUSEUM Alfoerse vrouwen bereiden papeda (sagopap) West Ceram TMnr 10013893.jpg|Natives of Seram island in Maluku cooking papeda in bamboo. sago palm starch product,papeda,gata-gata(Hatusua,W.Seram,Maluku,ID thu01oct2009-1324h).jpg|Using a special wooden fork called gata-gata to separate a serving from the bowl of 'papeda', a glue-like staple dish in West Seram, Maluku, Indonesia.

There are similar dishes in Malaysia, where it is called Linut, part of the Melanau cuisine in the East Malaysia state of Sarawak, and in Brunei, where it is called Ambuyat.