Bandarlampung - Idul Fitri may be over but kemplang fish cracker producers in Bandarlampung remain busier than ever making the traditional South Sumatran snack. While demand for kemplang in Lampung is always high during Idul Fitri, the cracker is still proving popular even though the celebrations have finished.
"We increased production during the Ramadan fasting month, especially in the weeks before Idul Fitri when demand grows by 50 percent," said Bong Chu, 43, a kemplang producer in Bandarlampung.
"Usually, holidaymakers bring home kemplang when they return to Jakarta or to other areas in Indonesia after spending their holidays here."
Bong Chu and younger sibling A Yung inherited the business from their parents, who produced the fish crackers from the moment they arrived in Lampung in the 1970s from Bangka Island.
Both their parents have since passed away, so the children now continue the business. They have been so successful in running the business, surrounding residents have caught on and developed similar operations, transforming Gunung Sulah and Kampung Sawah Brebes into a renowned kemplang making area.
The area is also known as "Kampung Kemplang" due to the hundreds of kemplang entrepreneurs working there.
Bong Chu can use up to 100 kilograms of snakehead fish meat and the same amount of tapioca flour each day to produce the crackers. He employs dozens of neighbors, mostly housewives, to prepared and grill the kemplang product.
The housewives are only paid Rp 30 (less than one U.S. cent) to grill a single cracker, but seem content in doing their jobs. They can bring home between Rp 8,000 and Rp 10,000 per day, a small contribution to the family income.
Kemplang crackers are made of tapioca flour, white fish meat (usually of the tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), snakehead, belida (Chitala lopis) and jolot varieties) and salt, eggs, taste enhancer, garlic, pepper and ginger.
It is very popular among residents in Lampung because it is grilled instead of fried, and thus many people believe they contain less cholesterol.
People from the southern part of Sumatra, such as Lampung, Bengkulu and Jambi, are fond of eating kemplang on its own and not with rice, contrary to customs in most other parts of the country.
Virtually all the kemplang varieties taste similar with a salty, crisp texture. The flavor variations are achieved by mixing the bag of chili paste with the cracker, and adding some soy sauce.
There is a special way of eating kemplang: The chili paste is spread on one cracker, which acts as a serving plate, and all the other crackers are dipped into it. Once they are finished, the dipping cracker can finally be eaten.
Although kemplang originates from South Sumatra, larger scale kemplang producers are dominated by the Indonesian-Chinese community in Lampung who migrated from Bangka and Belitung provinces.
Many native Lampung residents and those from Java have also set up businesses, many as a result of the monetary crisis in the late 1990s.
An Indonesian-Chinese woman, Cik Aling, 43, who has been working in Bandarlampung for many years, was a regular housewife before the crisis.
When the economic crisis hit Indonesia in 1997, she diligently created her own brand called Dua Belida. Now, her products reach supermarket shelves in Banten and Jakarta.
She started out with just Rp 500,000 in 1999 to buy ingredients to make kemplang.
Cik Aling can sell stock of up to 2,000 bags of kemplang to each supermarket monthly. Demand usually increases ahead of Idul Fitri and school holidays.
She sells each package at Rp 1,750 to the supermarkets, which is later sold for up to Rp 3,000 each.
Aling and Bong Chu said they would continue to make kemplang crackers as long as there are enough people to enjoy them. Oyos Saroso H.N.
Source:
http://www.thejakartapost.com (November 05, 2008)
