Tahu sumedang or Tahu bunkeng (Sumedangite tofu, bunkeng tofu) is a
Sundanese deep-fried
tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...
from
Sumedang
Sumedang (former spelling: Soemedang) is a town in Western Java, Indonesia, approximately 46 km northeast of Bandung. It is the capital of Sumedang Regency. The town is just south of the volcanic Mount Tampomas, which is 1,684 m (5,52 ...
,
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It was first made by a
Chinese Indonesian named Ong Kino. It has some different characteristic from other tofu.
History
Tahu Bunkeng is one of the oldest
tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...
stores in the city of
Sumedang
Sumedang (former spelling: Soemedang) is a town in Western Java, Indonesia, approximately 46 km northeast of Bandung. It is the capital of Sumedang Regency. The town is just south of the volcanic Mount Tampomas, which is 1,684 m (5,52 ...
. In 1917, the authentic "Bunkeng" tofu was first made by a Chinese immigrant by the name of Ong Kino made the first tofu in Sumedang. Ong Kino came from
Anxi County
() is a county of the prefecture-level city of Quanzhou, in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It lies adjacent to and directly north of Xiamen.
Anxi is well known for a number of varieties of Oolong tea, the best-known of ...
,
Quanzhou City,
Hokkian
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in T ...
Province,
China, in the early 20th century. Ong Kino started making tofu for the consumption of his family members, but afterwards he started to sell the tofu to his neighbours. Increasingly, more people came to like the tofu and a business was established due to this. In 1917, Ong Kino's only son, Ong Bunkeng, came to Sumedang and inherited his parents' business; Ong Kino and his wife decided to return to their hometown in China. After returning to China, he bequeathed his business to his son, Ong Boen Keng (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
:王文卿). From 1970 until 1980 the business advanced. In 1992, the business achieved the highest success and is still very successful to this day. Now the business is taken over by Ong Yu Kim and is almost taken over again by Ong Tjiang.
When Prince Soeriatmadja of Sumedang was on a journey to
Situraja subdistrict, he stopped by "Tahu Bunkeng" to taste the tofu. He made a remark in
Sundanese: ''"Geuning ngeunah ieu kadaharan teh, moal burung payu geura"'' (roughly translated as "This tastes so delicious, many people will surely buy it").
Tahu Bunkeng outlet is located in Sumedang city centre on Jalan 11 April No. 53, Tegalkalong. There are several branches in the city on Jalan M. Abdurahman No. 50, Jalan M. Abdurahnam No. 155, and Jalan Prabu Gajah Agung.
Characteristic
Tahu sumedang characteristics are its content half empty
or completely empty.
It has a creamier inside than the normal white tofu. The taste is
savory. It is best served with
lontong
Lontong is an Indonesian dish made of compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf, commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Rice is rolled inside a banana leaf and boiled, then cut into small cakes as ...
, various kinds of
sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chilli sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients, such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an ...
,
soy sauce or
cabe rawit.
Eko Hendrawan Sofyan of ''
Kompas
''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper from Jakarta which was founded on 28 June 1965. The paper is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is a part of Kompas Gramedia Group. Its head office is located at the Kompas Multime ...
'' said that the size of tahu sumedang is about 2.5–3 cm x 3 cm. He also described that tahu sumedang is light brown, mottled shell, crunchy, and tasty.
See also
*
Tahu goreng
Tahu goreng ( Indonesian spelling) or Tauhu goreng (Malaysian and Singaporean spelling) is a generic name for any type of fried tofu dish in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Preparation
When preparing the dish, cakes of har ...
*
List of tofu dishes
This is a list of tofu dishes. Tofu, also called bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is a component in many East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines. Tofu dishes
* ...
*
List of deep fried foods
This is a list of deep fried foods and dishes. Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, such as cooking oil. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan, and industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum ...
References
Bibliography
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{{Indonesian cuisine
Indonesian Chinese cuisine
Sundanese cuisine
Tofu dishes
Vegetarian dishes of Indonesia
Street food in Indonesia