Try to remember again, how much Chinese-Indonesian food have you eaten? You might not remember it, or even don’t know if the Indonesian food you eat experiences acculturation with the Panda Country. And maybe after you read this sentence you immediately think, “Really?”
In this article, you will find that there is quite a lot of Indonesian food that is influenced by China to such a great extent. So, sit comfortably in your chair, prepare delicious snacks, and consider the following article on Chinese-Indonesian food. Happy reading!
- Fu Yung Hai
Yes, that’s right, Fu Yung Hai is one of Indonesia’s foods that has such a large influence from China and could be categorized as famous food in Indonesia. Fu Yung Hai can also be called Puyonghai or Fu Yong Hai. As you might already know, Fu Yung Hai is a truly unique and delicious Chinese food.
How come? This is because Fu Yung Hai mixes an omelet with a healthy mixture of side dishes and vegetables, for example, pork, meat, chicken, beef, crab meat, to seafood. This food is very varied, right?
Typically, Fu Yung Hai is eaten with a kind of sweet and sour sauce. Those sweet and sour tastes are made from peas and tomatoes, sometimes even this sauce is added with pineapple, you know! Wow, really unique, huh?
- Cakwe
Cakwe lovers, let’s hold hands! Snacks with an elongated shape with a delicious savory taste is indeed able to make us crazy. Moreover, the crisp outside really contrasts with the inside which feels soft. Really like heaven, right?
In his home country, cakwe more exist with the name You Tiao. This traditional Chinese food began to show its popularity in the Song Dynasty. At this time, there was a tragedy about the death of General Yue Fei, a nationalist who died due to slander from the Prime Minister named Qin Hui.
From the death of Yue Fei, the Chinese people then created a small food in the form of 2 sticks together, made of the rice flour mixture. This food is named cakwe and is a symbol of people’s hatred of Qin Hui’s despotism. Hm, it turns out that this delicious meal has a history that is quite infuriating, huh?
For Jakartans, don’t worry! Cakwe can be found anywhere now, including Jakarta. Well, it seems like cakwe can be your top list of what to eat in Jakarta.
- Bihun
The next Chinese-Indonesian food is vermicelli or also known as bihun. If you have known noodles before, surely you will agree that bihun is a relative of noodles, but thinner and has the color of white or clear. The naming of bihun in English is rice vermicelli or rice noodles, or it can be called rice sticks.
The name of Bihun itself is adapted from the Chinese language, where “Bi” has the meaning of rice and “hun” has the meaning of flour. This is reasonable, considering the rice vermicelli itself is made from rice flour.
Not only in China, yet brother noodles made from rice flour are famous everywhere you know, like in Southeast Asia and South Asia. In various countries, vermicelli usually experience acculturation with their respective cultures so as to produce a new food that is unique. How cool!
- Lumpia
For you Semarang people, maybe you can find this snack everywhere, right? Yep really, lumpia is very famous in the city of Semarang and is perfect to be enjoyed warm at night with hot coffee or ginger. This Indonesian street food is really cool, right?
The original name for Lumpia from Chinese is usually spelled as lun pia, and the spelling of Lumpia which is often known by the people of Indonesia is a way of pronouncing Hokkian. Now, you can regard Lumpia as traditional food in Central Java.
Lumpia is made from wheat flour which is formed into thin sheets. After that, Lumpia will be filled with various types of stuffing, such as eggs, meat, seafood, bamboo shoots, or fresh vegetables. Hm, delicious!
- Tekwan
The next delicious Chinese-Indonesian food is Tekwan. For those of you who are Palembang’s native people, there is no doubt about the deliciousness of this Tekwan himself, right? Tekwan has now traveled to various places in Indonesia and experienced tastes that are tailored to their respective regions, but still, Tekwan is acculturated traditional food from Sumatera.
Tekwan is actually a typical food from Palembang which is created from fish meat and tapioca which is made from a mixture of fish meat and tapioca. After that, this mixture will be formed into small round shapes and served with savory shrimp sauce and has a unique taste.
Not alone with fish meat mixture, tekwan is also usually served with a variety of supplements such as vermicelli, mushrooms, yam, celery, leeks, to fried onions. And if you like crispy flavors, you are strongly advised to add chips. Exciting!
So, that’s all about Indonesian-Chinese food. Which one is your favorite?
