Try to Eat Nasi Jamblang, One of The Typical Cirebon Food

Some time ago I visited Cirebon. I try to enjoy "Nasi Jamblang". This food is one of Cirebon's special foods. This food is wrapped in teak leaves. As for the side dishes, it is served in a buffet manner. Starting from vegetables, fried tempeh, fried lungs, eggs, shell satay, black squid, potato chips, pepes, fried beef brain to the meat.

The prices for the side dishes are sold at various prices. ranging from 1,000 rupiah to 6,500 rupiah per menu. When I first tried this food, vegetable tofu became the most sought after food. The seasonings are as if they were made by themselves. In fact, sambal is not too spicy. So, I like the sambal here. I tried potato cakes, tofu vegetables, salted fish and omelette. It's delicious but the portions are very small. I think I have to try 2 servings to enjoy this meal.

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This food is often used as breakfast and lunch. because of its very small size, Nasi Jamblang, is indeed very suitable for breakfast. Actually, this food has been around since the Dutch occupation. What's the story? Are you curious? There are many versions of the story circulating about this food. I have summarized the story about this food.

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The name "jamblang" is taken from the name of a village in Cirebon. Well, Nasi Jamblang became a savior for the occupation people in the Dutch colonial era. At that time, the community was forced to work to build a road Anyer-Panarukan.

The community deliberately wrapped the rice in Jatu Leaves to keep the rice delicious when it was distributed to forced laborers. At that time, the workers had to steal time to eat. In addition, teak leaves do not make the rice dry when wrapped. Unlike the banana leaf, the wrapped rice is always stale. This is a problem for workers.

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In ancient times, people were forced to make the Daendels road. Currently, the road is called Jalan Pantura which passes through Cirebon. the road required thousands of workers. Starting from coolies, foreman, employees to security. They came from far away. They also have to leave very early while bringing food for lunch.

However, the rice they bring is often stale when wrapped in banana leaves. In a location where they don't have food vendors. For that, the workers take it by wrapping it with teak leaves.

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In some stories, Nasi Jamblang became food consumed by the people of Cirebon who fought against the Dutch in the Kedongdong War (1753-1773), this war was triggered by a very high tax policy. The Cirebon people took the battle base in Jamblang.

Another story, Nasi Jamblang was connected to the construction of sugar factories in Idi Gempol and Plumbon. And a spirit factory in Palimanas in the 19th century. This project absorbs a lot of the people of Cirebon and its surroundings. However, many workers have difficulty finding food stalls to fill their stomachs. There is one businessman named Ki Antra and his wife, sharing free rice.

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Rice wrapped in teak leaves. Their kindness spread to many people. Many workers come to eat by paying their sincerity. They became the forerunner of Mrs. Pulung's Nasi Jamblang business. Nasi Jamblang Mrs. Pulung decided to open a business near her house.

These efforts are managed from generation to generation. Now the Jamblang rice has changed its name to Pure Jamblang Rice. This Jamblang rice is peddled by traders by walking around. So, Nasi Jamblang became more widely known and became popular. That's the story about Nasi Jambang, Cirebon food. You can enjoy it when you visit Cirebon.

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About Author

Nurdiani Latifah

My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I currently live in Jakarta – Indonesia, after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I had been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.

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