PONG TOFU - Javanese Chinese Cultural Mosaic In A Plate of Dish

PONG TOFU

Address: Jl. Gajahmada 63B Semarang, IndonesiaPhone: (024) 355 6440
GPS Coordinate: S6°58'41" E110°25'14.9" (view map)

A plate of special Tahu Pong Semarang is not only in the form of tofu, petis (shrimp paste) sambal. Behind its delicious taste, the food is a beautiful mosaic that would blend crossbred culture, Javanese and Chinese.

PONG TOFU
Javanese Chinese Cultural Mosaic In A Plate of Dish

Chinese culture which has been present in Nusantara (the Archipelago) since hundreds of years ago continues to be tied together with local culture and creates new cultural variety which is a mix of both and often referred to as crossbred culture. Semarang is a city that is rich in phenomenon of acculturation of Chinese and Javanese Cultures, particularly in the culinary realm. Call it Soto Bangkong and Lumpia Gang Lombok (spring rolls). Both of these foods originally came from the mainland of China and then experienced a process of adaptation to the local community tongue. In addition to these two foods, there's more of a special crossbred culinary from Semarang named Tahu Pong.

Culinary with the main ingredients of fried tofu has been known in Semarang since the 1930s. The name of tahu pong came from the word 'kopong' or empty. Tahu which is used to make tahu pong dish indeed tahu that is empty and has no filling. But there are also opinions said that the name pong came from the word 'phong' which is in Banlam dialect (South Hokkien) means to bulge. It is quite reasonable considering that in the beginning tahu was special Chinese food that is in Hokkien called 'tauhu' (fermented soybeans), which then spread to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and to the whole world.

This delicious fried tofu is then put together with petis (shrimp paste) chilly and pickled turnips. Petis is originally from Indonesia cuisine. Unlike terasi (other shrimp paste) that is known almost all over Southeast Asia area, petis is only known in Indonesia, especially on the north coast of Java. The history of the creation of petis derived from the fishermen on the north coast of Java that did not want to waste the rest of their processed sea food. The rest of the dish are then added with brown sugar and heated until thickened like gravy and used as a companion to eat a snack.

Two types of food from two different cultures were then put together in a single container so that the menu of tahu pong was created, that is tempting. For you who love spicy food, you can add chilly pepper grinded into petis that has been melted. Then eat tahu together with the chilly sauce, the sensation of tasty, salty and sweet immediately is felt in the mouth. Do not forget to add the sour and fresh pickled radish as a taste balancer.

Opening hours:
10:00 to 22:00 pm

Price:

• Tahu Pong: IDR 8,000
• Tahu Pong Gimbal: IDR 14,000
• Tahu Pong Emplek: IDR 12,500
• Tahu Komplit: IDR 22,000

Price may change at any time.