Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond

4. The Dragon’s Trail in Chinese Indonesian Foodways

107 4 Introduction The฀Republic฀of฀Indonesia฀is฀an฀archipelago฀consisting฀of฀18,108฀islands,฀ large฀ and฀ small,฀ spanning฀ an฀ area฀ of฀ about฀ 1,919,440฀ square฀ kilometres.฀ Only฀ 6,000฀ of฀ the฀ islands฀ are฀ inhabited,฀ of฀ which฀ the฀ largest฀ are฀ Java,฀ Sumatra,฀ Kalimantan฀ (Borneo)฀ Sulawesi฀ and฀ the฀ Western฀ part฀ of฀ Papua฀ (New฀ Guinea).฀ Although฀ the฀ island฀ of฀ Java฀ is฀ not฀ the฀ largest,฀ it฀ has฀ become฀ the฀ most฀ important฀ because฀ of฀ its฀ fertility.฀ Over฀ the฀ centuries,฀ it฀ has฀ become฀ an฀ important฀ center฀ of฀ trade฀ and฀ agriculture.฀The฀ largest฀ city฀is฀Jakarta,฀which฀is฀at฀the฀same฀time฀also฀the฀capital฀of฀the฀Republic.฀ Other฀large฀cities฀are฀Surabaya,฀Bandung,฀Semarang฀and฀Medan.฀Ironically฀ the฀relatively฀small฀island฀Bali฀is฀probably฀the฀most฀well฀known,฀because฀ of฀ its฀ beautiful฀ landscapes฀ and฀ its฀ rich฀ cultural฀ heritage.฀ The฀earlier฀foreign฀traders฀who฀came฀to฀the฀Archipelago฀were฀Arabs,฀ Chinese฀ and฀ Indian฀ traders,฀ who฀ had฀ braved฀ storm฀ and฀ wind฀ and฀ all฀ other฀ kinds฀ of฀ danger฀ in฀ search฀ for฀ spices฀ and฀ exotic฀ merchandise,฀ such฀ as฀feathers฀of฀the฀bird฀of฀paradise,฀pearls,฀trepang,฀bird’s฀nest,฀etc.฀to฀bring฀ The Dragon’s Trail in Chinese Indonesian Foodways Myra฀Sidharta C H A P T E R 05 CFFW.indd 107 7/13/11 5:57:14 PM 108฀ Myra฀Sidharta back฀ to฀ their฀ countries฀ (Purcell฀ 1980:฀ 391).฀ Later฀ on,฀ they฀ also฀ settled฀ on฀ the฀ coastal฀ areas฀ of฀ the฀ larger฀ islands฀ to฀ manage฀ warehouses,฀ set฀ up฀ to฀store฀the฀goods฀that฀could฀not฀be฀shipped฀immediately.฀They฀married฀ native฀ women฀ and฀ formed฀ families,฀ which฀ in฀ due฀ time฀ grew฀ to฀ small฀ creolized฀ communities.฀ During฀ the฀ sixteenth฀ and฀ seventeenth฀ century,฀ Europeans฀ have฀ joined฀ the฀ settlers,฀ first฀ the฀ Portuguese฀ and฀ Spaniards,฀ followed฀ by฀ the฀ Dutch,฀ Germans฀ and฀ French.฀ With฀ so฀ many฀ foreigners฀ around,฀it฀is฀not฀difficult฀to฀envision฀the฀multi-cultural฀expressions฀formed฀ over฀ the฀ centuries.฀ History of the Chinese Settlers Archaeological฀ finds฀ points฀ to฀ relations฀ between฀ China฀ and฀ the฀ Archipelago ฀since฀the฀Han฀dynasty.฀The฀artefacts฀found฀in฀several฀parts฀of฀the฀ Archipelago฀ were฀ trade฀ objects฀ brought฀ by฀ seafarers฀ or฀ tributary฀ goods฀ exchanged฀ between฀ the฀ two฀ nations.฀These฀ seafarers฀ and฀ tribute฀ carriers฀ did฀ not฀ settle฀ down,฀ but฀ returned฀ to฀ China฀ after฀ their฀ tasks฀ were฀ done.฀ It฀ was฀ only฀ much฀ later฀ that฀ the฀ Chinese฀ had฀ settled฀ in฀ the฀ Indonesian฀ Archipelago,฀certainly฀during฀the฀Yuan฀dynasty,฀when฀the฀Javanese฀troops฀ betrayed฀ the฀ Mongol฀ troops,฀ who฀ had฀ come฀ to฀ help฀ them฀ to฀ defeat฀ the฀ King฀ of฀ Kediri฀ and฀ to฀ found฀ the฀ kingdom฀ of฀ Majapahit.฀ Many฀ of฀ the฀ soldiers฀ managed฀ to฀ escape฀ and฀ not฀ daring฀ to฀ return฀ to฀ their฀ homeland฀ for฀ fear฀ of฀ severe฀ punishment,฀ had฀ settled฀ in฀ the฀ country฀ where฀ they฀ continued฀ to฀ live฀ and฀ spread฀ Islam฀ as฀ well฀ as฀ introduced฀ technological฀ skills,฀ including฀ culinary฀ skills.1 ฀ According฀ to฀ the฀ present-day฀ Kediri฀ people,฀ the฀ troops฀ had฀ taught฀ the฀ local฀ people฀ to฀ make฀ tofu฀ (Sidharta฀ 2008:฀ 197–8).฀ There฀ is฀ also฀ evidence฀ that฀ the฀ Chinese฀ had฀ introduced฀ certain฀ vegetables฀ to฀ the฀ Archipelago,฀ because฀ in฀ Yingyai฀ Shenglan,฀ Ma฀ Huan฀ (1970:฀ 92)฀ wrote฀ that฀ he฀ saw฀ all฀ the฀ vegetables฀ the฀ people฀ had฀ were฀like฀those฀in฀China.฀To฀this฀day฀these฀vegetables฀are฀known฀by฀their฀ Chinese฀names,฀like฀bakcoi,฀kailan,฀etc.฀Also,฀the฀indigenous฀Indonesians฀in฀ the฀rural฀areas฀seldom฀have฀cultivated฀vegetables฀on฀their฀menu,฀most฀of฀ the฀ time฀ they฀ consume฀ leaves,฀ ferns,฀ nuts฀ and฀ gourds.฀The฀ urban฀ people฀ are฀ more฀ health฀ conscious฀ and฀ have฀ added฀ green฀ vegetables฀ on฀ their฀ menu.฀The฀method฀of฀cooking฀applied฀to฀these฀vegetables฀is฀also฀Chinese:฀ ฀ chao฀ or฀ stir-fry,฀ which฀ may฀ be฀ said฀ to฀ be฀ a฀ Chinese฀ culinary฀ art฀ (Cheng฀ 1955:฀ 42).฀ The฀ other฀ islands฀ have฀ less฀ Chinese฀ inhabitants฀ and฀ the฀ degree฀ of฀ assimilation฀into฀the฀local฀cultures฀is฀also฀much฀lower.฀However,฀big฀cities฀ 05 CFFW.indd 108 7/13/11 5:57:14 PM The฀Dragon’s฀Trail฀in฀Chinese฀Indonesian฀Foodways฀ 109 like฀ Medan฀ and฀ Palembang฀ on฀ Sumatra฀ island,฀ Manado฀ and฀ Makassar฀ on฀ Sulawesi฀ may฀ be฀ exceptions.฀ Being฀ important฀ ports฀ of฀ trade,฀ these฀ places฀ and฀ the฀ environs฀ had฀ a฀ considerable฀ number฀ of฀ Chinese฀ settlers฀ as฀ well.฀ Also฀ the฀ island฀ of฀ Ambon฀ on฀ the฀ island฀ group฀ of฀ Moluccas฀ has฀ many฀ Chinese,฀ because฀ those฀ islands฀ were฀ the฀ ones฀ where฀ the฀ seafarers฀ first฀ came฀ to฀ trade฀ in฀ spices.฀ When฀Admiral฀Zheng฀He฀came฀with฀his฀fleet฀between฀1406–23฀there฀ were฀already฀Chinese฀communities฀settled฀in฀the฀coastal฀areas฀of฀Java฀(Ma฀ Huan฀ 1970:฀ 93).฀ Also฀ settled฀ there,฀ were฀ the...