Mi Kopyok, warming you up

It seems that Semarang people have got a lot of influence from Chinese food. Mie or noodles is Chinese-everyday-menu. Kopyok or scrambled is the way to serve the food. I can find some street vendors selling from one kampong to another from morning to afternoon. This kind of food can replace breakfast menu or lunch. Last time, I found one when I was about to buy my lunch. Actually, I felt reluctant to go out since there was a heavy cloud. Thanks God, the seller looked to find a shelter and we-my workmate and I were starving. God always sets the right situation at the right time.

Mie kopyok is one of local food in Semarang. The ingredients are easily found both and traditional or supermarket. They are:

Bahan:
4 rice cakes, slice

150 gram noodles (mostly the color is yellow), boil a couple of minutes,
100 gram sliced-smooth cabbage,
100 gram bean sprouts
1 stem of sliced celery
1 teaspoonful fried onion
2 spoonful of sweet soy sauce
Gendar (chip made of hard-boiled rice)

Broth:
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
200 gram of bones with a bit of adhering meat, slice
700 ml water
2 spoonfuls of frying oil (to sauté)
1 teaspoonful of pepper
1/4 nutmegs
1 teaspoonful of salt

Direction:

1. How to make broth: sauté the chopped garlic with frying oil, put sliced bones with a bit of adhering meat, cook for some minutes. Pour some water, pepper, nutmeg and salt, boil together. Turn off the stove.
2. Boil some water, put noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts on a ladle, dip into the boiled water, boil for a while.
3. On the plate, arrange rice cake, boiled noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts, pour the broth, sprinkle cracked gendar, sliced celery, fried onion and sweet soy sauce. Serve it hot.
4. the recipe is for 4 portions

Wanna try the recipe? For those who live far away from Semarang can use the recipe to get the sensation of Semarang.

Berok Bridge, The Ex- Dutch Masterpiece

Being occupied by Dutch for hundred years, Indonesian people still had difficulty to pronounce Dutch language. We can see it from the name of a bridge located close to Johar traditional market. The bridge is called “brug” which means bridge in Dutch. Since Indonesian people find it difficult to pronounce ‘brug’, so they modify it into ‘berok’. Therefore, the name of the bridge is Jembatan Berok. Jembatan itself in Indonesian means bridge. Those people who understand the meaning of it would find it funny.

The bridge links Pemuda street into Mpu Tantular street formerly called as Gouvernementsbrug. The location was located in west gate or gouvernementsort Vijfhoek fortress.

The fortress was once built in the range of Oud standt (Old Town) and Bodjong (present called as Pemuda). The fortress was reconstructed in 1842, while the bridge remains there as public traffic lane.

Formerly the bridge was constructed made of wood with simple construction. But then there was another permanent reconstruction. The bridge was rebuilt by cement. In 2009, from my point of view, there is another construction into more permanent, large enough for vehicles to pass by.

Notes: for some people who live near by the bridge, or whose jobs location bear by the bridge, they mostly make use of river under the bridge for daily use, such as wee wee or loosen the bowels (poo)

Sentiling, a distinguished munch

Sentiling sounds unique even in Javanese. Sentiling is kinds of traditional munch in Semarang. However, this kind of snack might be found in different region with different names. In the past, this delicacy could be found easily in traditional market or even in food stalls. Due to the variety of munchies these days, sentiling is hardly found everywhere. Some more modern snack replace sentiling, such as black forest, chiffon, pie, burger, etc. It needs effort to find one place which sells this snack.

Sentiling is made from grated cassava, sugar and little artificial color for food (mostly red and yellow). The batter is steamed for about half hour. Before being served, sentiling is sliced into pieces and rolled in grated young coconut. It tastes not too sweet and rich.

Sentiling is quite rare these days, but it doesn’t mean we can’t find one. Some food shops in traditional market sell it, but not in a big amount. I found some places that provide the snack in Bulu traditional market; I can’t name some other places since I don’t experience buying in other places. Well, the harder the effort to find sentiling, the tastier it is.

Es Thung2 (Thung2 Ice, The Memory Remains)

When I was a child, this kind of beverage was very popular among kids in elementary school. Who would think that after so many years, the sellers of es thung2 still survive till the recent generation? I found some of them the other day. Some reasons might them stay survive as follows.

Despite of thousand of brands in beverage, es thung2 has its uniqueness. Why it is called as thung2, it is due the sound of the sellers produce when they move around kampongs, offering their commerce. They hit a kind of brass with a piece of wood (the brass can be used to play traditional music in Indonesia, called “kethuk”). By doing so, the sellers don’t have to say anything, to promote their commerce.

The more ingredient of a certain thing, the more expensive the product is. The ingredients of es thung2 are simple: young coconut milk, salt, water and flavor: young coconut (called ‘degan’), vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, or durian when it is in its season. The way to make it as simple as the ingredients. Unfortunately I don’t have any experience in watching the process. But as far as I know, es thung2 is a homemade with simple tools.

Well, there’s no reason why younger generation don’t love this homemade everlasting beverage. It might survive in the years to come.

Leker, the taste that you can trust!

This is an everlasting snack that exists in Semarang. I’ve known this kind of snack since I was a kid. Te name sounds Dutch, Lecker, and I don’t know how people could get that name. One possible reason why is the taste of the snack is yummy and crispy. Dutchmen say ‘lekker’ as yummy in English. Young and old, from generation to generation love it.

The materials to make Leker is quite simple. What you have to prepare is flour, eggs, and water. You can choose any flavors depending on your interest: chocolate peanut, bananas (the sellers use same kind of bananas called “Raja” bananas), cheese. The price depends on the flavor you choose.

The leker sellers are easy to identify. They mostly ride old bicycles with cooking equipment at the back of their bicycles. They sell from one kampong to another kampong, from schools to schools (mostly elementary school students love to buy it). On Sunday morning, Semarang has a center of public crowd in Simpanglima. They can be easily found there, too. To prove that everyone is fond of the snack, buyers have to stand in line to buy, no matter how many sellers available there!!!

Greeting

Dear visitors,

Thanks for dropping by. This is a blog telling you about Semarang, Indonesia, a city where I was born. I want to present to you all that Semarang is worth visiting with its unique culture, local people, food, places, etc. I expect that all things I write here can give you a picture of Semarang.

Enjoy.