It turns out that Sumedang Tofu was created by the Chinese, here's the story

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The most famous product from the city of Sumedang is, of course, Sumedang tofu. However, not many people know that Sumedang tofu production was not created by Sumedang people, but by Chinese immigrants. And initially, it wasn't fried tofu, but boiled tofu.

What's the story?

The Chinese immigrant named Ong Ki No and his wife came all the way from China to trade. When he arrived in Sumedang, Ong's wife missed Chinese food. He really liked tao-fu (now called tofu). But I couldn't eat it because there were no soybeans in Sumedang.

“Because of his affection for his wife, Ong Ki No was willing to go around looking for soybeans in areas that were unfamiliar to him,” wrote BRIN researchers M. Luthfi Khair A. and Rusydan Fath, in Know the history of Sumedang (2021).

Luckily, Ong quickly found a soybean plantation in the Conggeang area. He immediately processed it and it became the first tofu in Sumedang.

The tofu is a type of boiled white tofu. Ong's wife loves and always eats Ong's tofu. As a result, he loved his wife so much that Ong almost cooked tofu every day as the main meal. Ong also sometimes distributes the tofu he makes for free to fellow ethnic Chinese or neighbors on holidays.

Not infrequently he also sells the tofu at his stall. However, people's enthusiasm for tofu is very low.

It's not a matter of paying or not, but the tongue of the majority of Sumedang people cannot accept Ong's tofu. Long story short, due to the decline in turnover, Ong and his wife chose to return home to China in 1917.

In the same year, Ong's son, Ong Bung Keng, came to Sumedang to continue his father's business. “His parents' failure to sell tofu made Ong Bung Keng think about what he should do to make the tofu more attractive,” wrote the BRIN researcher.

Until finally he had the idea to fry the white tofu. The result turns out to be tofu that has a crispy texture, has cavities and is more tasty than normal boiling.

Apart from that, when it is fried, a very tasty aroma of tofu emerges. This aroma then succeeded in attracting the attention of many people. One by one they tasted it and the fried tofu went viral. However, Ong Bung Keng has no intention of selling it.

Until finally in 1928, the Regent of Sumedang, Prince Soeriaatmadja, accidentally met Ong on his way. He stopped because he was distracted by the piercing smell of life that was very fragrant. Apparently it was fried tofu made by Ong.

He immediately tasted it and immediately asked Ong to sell the fried tofu because it would definitely sell. Since then, fried tofu was first sold in Sumedang. The price is around 3 pesers or 1.5 cents. Ong slowly turned into a tofu boss and this business practically made him rich.

This success made many people follow in the same footsteps. As a result, the fried tofu business from Sumedang has sprung up to this day. Likewise, the tofu business made by Ong Bung Keng is still established today.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(mfa/mfa)