Tugas Bahasa Inggris 2#_Article

1. Pempek-Palembang, South Sumatra

Pempek is the best-known of Palembang's dishes. Its origin is undoubtly Palembang, however the history behind the creation of this savoury dish is unclear. According to local tradition, around the 16th century there was an old Chinese immigrant who lived near the Musi river. He noticed an abundance of fish caught by the local fishermen. In the Sumatran tropical climate, before the invention of refrigeration technology, most of these unsold leftover fish decayed and were wasted. The indigenous people, however had limited knowledge and techniques for processing fish. During that period, most of the indigenous people simply grilled, fried or boiled their fish instead of adding other ingredients to make new dishes. The old Chinese man mixed in some tapioca and other spices, which he then sold around the village on his cart. The people referred to this old man as 'pek-apek, where apek is a Chinese slang word to call an old man. The food is known today as empek-empek or pempek.

Another theory suggests that pempek was a Palembang adaptation of Southern Chinese ngo hiang or kekkian (fish slice) as a surimi (魚漿, yújiāng) based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce.

2. Rendang-Minangkabau, West Sumatra

Rendang originates from the Sumatran Minangkabau region. One of the earliest written records of rendang is from the early 16th century Hikayat Amir Hamzah. The making of rendang spreads from Minangkabau region to Mandailing, Riau, Jambi, across the strait to Malacca and Negeri Sembilan, resulting in a variety of rendang traditions.

The popularity of rendang has spread widely from its original domain because of the merantau (migrating) culture of Minangkabau people. Overseas Minangkabau leave their hometown to start a career in other Indonesian cities as well as neighboring countries, and Padang restaurants, Minangkabau eating establishments that are ubiquitous in Indonesian cities, spring up. These Padang restaurants have introduced and popularized rendang and other Padang food dishes across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the wider world.

Andalas University historian, Prof. Gusti Asnan suggests that rendang began to spread across the region when Minangkabau merchants and migrant workers began to trade and migrate to Malacca in the 16th century. “Because the journey through the river waterways in Sumatra took much time, a durable preserved dry rendang is suitable for long journey.” The dried Padang rendang is a durable food, good to consume for weeks, even when left at room temperature.

3. Serabi-Bandung, West Java

Serabi, surabi or called srabi is an Indonesian pancake that is made from rice flour with coconut milk or just plain shredded coconut as an emulsifier. Most of traditional serabi tastes sweet, as the pancake usually eaten with kinca or thick golden-brownish colored coconut sugar syrup. However another savoury version also existed that uses oncom toppings. Each province in Indonesia has various serabi recipes corresponding to local tastes.

The origin of serabi is obscure, however it is thought that the name serabi derived from "Serbia" as it came from the originator of the recipe who was at the time trying to recreate palačinke, an originally Serbian pancake. It was probably progenited during Dutch East Indies era where the immigrants from Serbia came to the Indies and left their marks in local culinary. Yet the rice flour coconut milk based kue (delicacies) are already developed earlier in Indonesia.

4. Bika Ambon-Medan, North Sumatra

Bika Ambon is a dessert from Indonesia. Made from ingredients such as tapioca flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and coconut milk, Bika Ambon generally sold in pandan flavour, although now available also other flavors like banana, durian, cheese, chocolate.

The yeast creates bubbles, which gives it a unique spongy texture when it is baked.

Although the name contains the word "Ambon", the name of an island and its largest city, Bika Ambon is widely known as the specialty cake of Medan in North Sumatra and often brought as a gift by those whom visited the city. The origins of Bika Ambon are not known, however there is some speculation that they came to Medan through Ambonese traders, where the locals took a liking to it. Mojopahit Street, Medan Petisah is a most famous sales region of Bika Ambon in Medan, North Sumatra. There are at least 40 stores that sell this kind of cake.

5. Lumpia Semarang-Semarang, Central Java

Lumpia Semarang is the kind of food rollade containing bamboo shoots, egg, and chicken or shrimp. The taste of lumpia Semarang is a fusion between Chinese and Indonesian flavors because first made by a Chinese descent who is married to an Indonesian and settled in Semarang, Central Java. This meal started sold and recognized in Semarang when GANEFO Games held in the reign of President Sukarno.

Another theory suggests that Lumpia are pastries of Chinese origin similar to fresh popiah or fried spring rolls popular in Southeast Asia. The term lumpia derives from Hokkien lunpia, which is an alternate term for popiah. The recipe, both fried and fresh versions, was brought by the Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province of China to Southeast Asia and became popular where they settled in Indonesia and the Philippines.

In the Netherlands, Belgium and France, it is spelled loempia which is the old Indonesian spelling for lumpia and has also become the generic name for "spring roll" in Dutch and French. A variant is the Vietnamese lumpia, wrapped in a thinner piece of pastry, in a size close to a spring roll though, the wrapping closes the ends off completely, which is typical for lumpia. In Venezuela, it is spelled "lumpia" and it was introduced by Chinese people who migrated to the South American country.