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Explore | Flavours 81
Traces of Chinese Flavours
3
2
When Indonesia began building trade relations across the
various points of the Silk Route, from Asia, through Arabia and
to Europe, the traders never came empty handed. They brought
with them different elements from their cultures along
with culinary riches.
If one were to ask which region had the most turmeric, onions, pecan, kencur (kampferia moon. In Chinese tradition, the moon
influence on Indonesia’s culinary scene, galanga), bay leaf, pandan leaves, shrimp is seen as a sacred symbol.
it would surely be Chinese travellers. These paste and many others.
foreign traders referred to the archipelago Aside from inspiring the birth of lontong,
as nan yang, which translates as ‘the southern All the same, Chinese travellers also brought the shape of the moon also inspired Chinese
sea’, a nickname meant to indicate the a fresh twist to traditional Indonesian cooking settlers on Bangka Island to create what is
strategic region’s promising prospects from with the introduction of new techniques known as Hok Lo pan, a dish more popularly
both economic and political perspectives. such as grilling (zhi), steaming (zheng), known nowadays as martabak manis (sweet
But beyond their political and economic sautéing (fan chao), slow cooking (dun), soy martabak). Made from dough, eggs and sugar,
mission, these travellers carried with them sauce cooking (hui) and fast frying (chao). Hok Lo pan, too, takes a moon-like form.
a variety of gastronomic delights from their Little did the Chinese on Bangka Island
homeland which were, over time, adapted This cultural exchange gave birth to fresh know that word of this sweet, round cake
to suit the character of local dishes. takes on traditional Chinese dishes, which would eventually travel across the
became unlike anything in their home archipelago, and would later be put in the
Having to make do with ingredients they country. Take for example lontong cap go same category as the martabak, a dish that
were able to find across the archipelago, meh, which one will not find anywhere in was first introduced from India.
classic Chinese dishes slowly evolved to China. Though its history remains pretty
adjust to and accommodate the local palate. much unknown, the dish is said to date Hok Lo pan, which means ‘cake of the people
Nasi goreng (fried rice), for example, a dish back to the period when Chinese travellers of Hok Lo’, quickly became popular in other
that started as a way to make sure leftovers first set foot in Indonesia. Indonesian regions under a variety of names,
of other dishes did not go to waste, rose to such as ‘moonlight cake’, ‘martabak manis’,
the mainstream with Indonesian spices Many believe lontong (a type of rice cake) and ‘Bandung cake’. Sellers of this cake
thrown into the pans. is a variation of another Chinese dish called eventually began offering it along with
bakcang. The round form of lontong is said its savoury counterpart, martabak asin,
In the archipelago, garlic, chilli and pepper to be a reference to the shape of the moon, as if in keeping with the Chinese views
– staple ingredients back in China – met while the words cap go meh translate as on maintaining a yin-yang balance in
with the richness of local flavours such as ‘the 15 evening’ or the night of the full every aspect of their lives.
th
Traces of Chinese Flavours
3
2
When Indonesia began building trade relations across the
various points of the Silk Route, from Asia, through Arabia and
to Europe, the traders never came empty handed. They brought
with them different elements from their cultures along
with culinary riches.
If one were to ask which region had the most turmeric, onions, pecan, kencur (kampferia moon. In Chinese tradition, the moon
influence on Indonesia’s culinary scene, galanga), bay leaf, pandan leaves, shrimp is seen as a sacred symbol.
it would surely be Chinese travellers. These paste and many others.
foreign traders referred to the archipelago Aside from inspiring the birth of lontong,
as nan yang, which translates as ‘the southern All the same, Chinese travellers also brought the shape of the moon also inspired Chinese
sea’, a nickname meant to indicate the a fresh twist to traditional Indonesian cooking settlers on Bangka Island to create what is
strategic region’s promising prospects from with the introduction of new techniques known as Hok Lo pan, a dish more popularly
both economic and political perspectives. such as grilling (zhi), steaming (zheng), known nowadays as martabak manis (sweet
But beyond their political and economic sautéing (fan chao), slow cooking (dun), soy martabak). Made from dough, eggs and sugar,
mission, these travellers carried with them sauce cooking (hui) and fast frying (chao). Hok Lo pan, too, takes a moon-like form.
a variety of gastronomic delights from their Little did the Chinese on Bangka Island
homeland which were, over time, adapted This cultural exchange gave birth to fresh know that word of this sweet, round cake
to suit the character of local dishes. takes on traditional Chinese dishes, which would eventually travel across the
became unlike anything in their home archipelago, and would later be put in the
Having to make do with ingredients they country. Take for example lontong cap go same category as the martabak, a dish that
were able to find across the archipelago, meh, which one will not find anywhere in was first introduced from India.
classic Chinese dishes slowly evolved to China. Though its history remains pretty
adjust to and accommodate the local palate. much unknown, the dish is said to date Hok Lo pan, which means ‘cake of the people
Nasi goreng (fried rice), for example, a dish back to the period when Chinese travellers of Hok Lo’, quickly became popular in other
that started as a way to make sure leftovers first set foot in Indonesia. Indonesian regions under a variety of names,
of other dishes did not go to waste, rose to such as ‘moonlight cake’, ‘martabak manis’,
the mainstream with Indonesian spices Many believe lontong (a type of rice cake) and ‘Bandung cake’. Sellers of this cake
thrown into the pans. is a variation of another Chinese dish called eventually began offering it along with
bakcang. The round form of lontong is said its savoury counterpart, martabak asin,
In the archipelago, garlic, chilli and pepper to be a reference to the shape of the moon, as if in keeping with the Chinese views
– staple ingredients back in China – met while the words cap go meh translate as on maintaining a yin-yang balance in
with the richness of local flavours such as ‘the 15 evening’ or the night of the full every aspect of their lives.
th
