Love with Oncom
At the
first time, when I heard a word of ‘Oncom’, it sounded weird. What is it?
I have been staying in Jakarta on
February 2016. I work for Pustaka Obor Publisher as a Digital Books Specialist.
And in my workplace, the employees contribute together for cooking at Lunch
every workday. I began knowing Jakarta’s food from my colleague. She is Miss
Dian who likes cooking. Basically, there is no difference between Jakarta’s
food and my hometown food. Furthermore, I had many Javanese culinary
experiences. I was born in Demak and lived there for 15 years, after that I
stayed in Wonosobo for 3 years, then I continued my study in Surabaya and spent
my time there for about 4 years. So I have tasted many foods, especially
Javanese food. But, when my colleagues said that they would fry Oncom, It’s
really ’peculiar’.
Miss. Dian described that Oncom is
unique. And the others also said that it’s an extraordinary food. A few hours
later, when I was very hungry, I walked to the kitchen. The foods had been
ready prepared by two guys. I asked them, what’s the food? They gave it to me
and said, “Fried Oncom!”
This was very particular for me.
Because I could try a ‘mysterious’ food at that time. I moved closely and took
that one. I surely chewed it. Apparently, it tasted familiar for me which was
salty and soft, but there was a kind of crispness and it’s also little bit
bitter at the first tasting. If we continually chaw it, the taste will be
astonishing. I was be amazed and hence I want to eat again. I remembered that
Oncom in my hometown was called Gembus. They are quite different even though
they look similar. I can’t explain it in detail, so you could be tasting these
foods by yourself, and you will know how to distinguish them.
I searched on the Wikipedia in
order to find an information. Oncom is an Indonesian food, especially popular
in West Java. This food is produced by fermentation of some molds, like the
process of making Tempe. The most difference is Oncom will be ready consumed
when the molds produce spore, while Tempe can be consumed before the molds
produce spore (still on hyphae phase).
Tempe is a delicious one but I
think Oncom is rather tasteful than it. In my opinion, there is a philosophy of
them. Oncom is processed longer then Tempe. That’s why it is such as our life
which is full of process. We have to follow all steps and confront plenty of challenges
if we want to achieve the better life in the long run. As well as Oncom, our
life also needs fermentation. It can be interpreted as motivation, creativity,
innovation and inspiration. We definitely will not get them if we don’t want to
enhance our skills and abilities. Think of them as a lesson. We can find some
valuable lessons by reading books, understanding everything happens around us,
listening to the others about their advice, and much more.
Remember!
Life is really bumpy
And by the
way what is Oncom in your language? :-D
this picture was taken from: http://kreasiresepmasakanindonesia.blogspot.co.id
