Memasak 3

The group Memasak 3 has had an enjoyable experience learning about the Indonesian Cuisine. During the span of the project, they had the chance to make Bakwan Jagung, the Indonesian corn fritters and Tahu Goreng, the Indonesian fried beancurd. The ingredients used in general include shallots, corn, eggs, spring onions, coriander, flour and apple. Although those ingredients seemed incompatible at first look, the mixture comes out really tasty as many of us present during the project day can attest to. Some difficulties the group experienced though were getting the Bakwan Jagung into the right shape and size and surprisingly, using the stove. It is because it was the first time for many to try their hands at cooking! As deep frying the Bakwan Jagung involves a large amount of oil, the group also found the experience an ‘oily one’. Despite these little hiccups along the way, the group has had a good time preparing the two dishes and definitely found the experience a very very memorable one!

Memasak 4

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Memasak Group 4 prepared makanan khas Indonesia, klepon dan agar agar gula merah. They went to Ibu Yuke’s house to learn how to make the desserts.

The first attempt at making agar agar gula merah went pretty smoothly save for some small hiccups along the way. They forgot to filter the mixture before pouring it into the moulds and the agar agar have some black dots at the bottom. However everything went smoothly on the project day and everyone can enjoy the delicious agar agar gula merah. On the other hand, their first try at making klepons did not go smoothly as the klepon skin keep breaking and the brown sugar kept leaking out. Other problems included taking the klepons out of the boiling water too early as the sugar had not yet melted and putting too little brown sugar into the dough, resulting in the klepon becoming tasteless. Fortunately, the desserts done on the actual project day are successful, showing their tremendous improvement and potential in memasak makanan khas Indonesia!

If you are interested in cooking the desserts at home after enjoying their wonderful taste, here are the recipes!

Agar Agar Gula Merah

Ingredients for agar agar gula merah

1. Coconut milk

2. Agar agar powder

3. Sugar

4. Gula merah

5. Pandan leaves

6. Water

Steps to make Agar agar gula merah:

1. Dissolve agar agar powder in water and coconut milk.

2. Add in sugar, gula merah, pandan leaves and bring to boil while stirring.

3. Filter and pour the mixture into the mould after it boiled and keep it refrigerated.

Klepon

Ingredients for Klepon include:

1. Brown sugar

2. Glutinous flour

3. Pandan leaves

4. Green colouring

5. Coconut flakes

Steps to make klepon:

1. Squeeze the pandan leaves in water to get its fragrance and colour.

2. Sieve away the dregs and add in the colouring to make it into a rich green colour.

3. Mix water and flour until it becomes dough.

4. Cut the dough into small bits and use them to wrap the brown sugar.

5. Boil the klepons until they float on the boiling water. Take them out and sprinkle the coconut flakes over them and they are done!

Memasak 5

Credits: Powerpoint slide of LAB1201 Memasak 5 Project Group (Semester 1 AY2011/2012)

The group from Memask 5 visited Ibu Fanny's house and learnt how to make makanan khas Indonesia, getuk lendre and lemper ayam.

Getuk lendre is a simple Javanese dish that is made from tapioca. After a lengthy procedure, the delicious tapioca cake is finally ready to be served with coconut. It tastes sweet and chewy, a suitable snack for tea break or after food.

Lemper ayam literally means glutinous rice with chicken filling, which is what you get when you taste it. The glutinuous rice is then wrapped with banana leaf so that your hands will not be dirty when enjoying this savoury snack. A very considerate idea indeed!

Thank you Memasak 5 for presenting such delicious makanan khas Indonesia for us! For those who have enjoyed the food and will like to try it out, the recipe is kindly provided by the group in the powerpoint slide above.


And the photos on the project day!

Janur!

Janur are young coconut leaves with the colour of yellowish green. Indonesian often use janur to make decorations in the ceremony. Janur are needed for main equipment in tradition ceremony and food packaging. Janur are prepared with scissors or plaited into many flower shapes. Then, they are arranged as decorations on table. It can also be used as wall or hanging decoration to beautify rooms. Now, lets have some fun!

Here are the detailed steps to make an ikan:

Step 1: Select 6 ribbons with the length of 16cm  of any two colours.

Step 2: Cut all the ribbons at their center with the length of 5cm, which is the width of the 3 ribbons as shown.

Step 3: Slot the ribbons alternately and start to weave them.

Step 4, 5 and 6: This will be how it will look like after completed weaving the 6 ribbons together.

Step 7:  Tighten the Ikan by pulling the end of the ribbons. 

Step 8: Stuff the cotton wool into the Ikan. The size of the ikan will depend on the amount of the cotton you stuff into the ikan.

Step 9: Also stuff the middle ribbon into the ikan with the cotton wool. Stick the sides of the ikan.

Step 10: Cut the remaining ribbons into the fins and tail of the ikan.

Step 11: Then, stick them up together.

Step 12: Paste the eyes of the ikan on its body.

and you are done with a nicely made ikan!

Batik Jumputan

Batik Jumputan (a.k.a. Batik Ikat) is the Indonesian art of tie-dying. Under Ibu Liana's guidance, the batik jumputan group learnt how to create patterns in the cloth by tying it carefully with rubber bands. After learning the basics, the students split into smaller groups to design and dye the cloths. On the performance night, the group told us about how batik jumputan is made and also displayed their beautifully and brilliantly dyed creations for all of us to admire.

Drama

Maluku Dance

The Tari Maluku dance is a group dance originating from Maluku, an eastern region of Indonesia. It involves the use of bamboo poles and requires a strong sense of rhythm and spacial judgement, as well as teamwork. The Tari Maluku group showed a lot of teamwork and coordination in their skillful dodging of the bamboo laundry hangers. Their quick footwork was really impressive, and their enthusiasm infectious. It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun, performers and audience alike. In fact, it seemed like the performers were laughing from start to finish. Though there were minor mistakes in their dance, it just made it even more fun to watch. I think the audience particularly appreciated the last segment where the boys dodged the poles with their heads, risking their valuable brain cells. The whimsical music was especially apt for such a light-hearted performance, and the rhythm of it all really drew the audience in. I guess you could say it was a mesmerizing and hilarious performance. Judging by the applause at the end, it was clear that the Tari Maluku performance was really appreciated by everyone. Though Tari Maluku was originally a war dance, it seems to be even more useful for cultivating friendship. I just wish we could throw a midget or better yet, a giant! into the mix and watch what happens :D Anyway, thanks a lot guys for entertaining us all with your frenzied performance!

Here are the slides for the Tari Maluku segment:

Tari Maluku

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Menyanyi

On the night of “Aku Cinta Indonesia”, Grup Menyani brought to us a wonderful and enjoyable musical. It comprises of two pop-rock songs of romance to complement the storyline. The first song, namanya “Jatuh Cinta Lagi”, tells a story about a playboy who couldn’t find a girl he likes to begin a serious relationship, until he met one special girl. The second song, namanya “P.U.S.P.A”, continues the musical by telling us how the playboy-turned-good tries to court the then-attached girl and capture her heart with his sincerity and tenacity. Eventually, the musical ended with a happy ending where the male lead wins his girl’s heart. This musical is rather entertaining with a few comedy scenes in between. All participants wore smiles on their faces throughout the performance, so I think they themselves really enjoyed performing too.

This successful performance by Grup Menyani was the fruit of labour of the committed group members who put in a lot of effort to memorize the two songs in Bahasa Indonesia. The fast pace of the songs made it more difficult for them to sing the lyrics accurately. But the real challenge comes in when they have to sing the song and dance to the choreographed steps all by memory. According to the members themselves, they even agreed to meet up once more outside the stipulated practice sessions to be sure everyone is able to play their part well during the final performance. Thank you guys for your great effort!

Saman Dance

Photos taken from Saman Dance:

                                                     
Description of Saman Dance:

When you come across an Indonesian cultural performance in any international exhibition, it is very much likely that Acehnese vibrant traditional dance, the Saman Dance, would be one of the assorted cultural splendors put on stage. Mostly comparable with any Balinese dance, Saman Dance is one of the sweethearts of Indonesian performing arts, often acts as an ambassador of exceptional Indonesian dances.

Created by a native Acehnese, a religious leader named Sheikh Saman around the 16th century, the dance is widely known as indigenous to the Gayo society as it was born in Central Aceh. Many modern societies in Asian, Australian, and European nations have adopted its harmonious and impulsive mechanism. However, the originality and authenticity of the dance can never be imitated when the essence is always in Aceh.

Performed by a group of dancers wearing mostly colorful and bright traditional uniform, the dance is a development of an art of Acehnese dance called Pok Ane. It is a singing of a poem, combined with claps of hands, pats on chest, and thigh slaps. The movements are so harmonious and sometimes vigorous that would leave the spectators in awe. Saman Dance is truly an entertaining performance that only beautiful minds can create such exquisite and artful techniques.

Angklung

Credits: Presentation slides of LAB1201 Angklung Project Group (Semester 1 AY2011/12).

The Angklung Group looked professional. They were all very well dressed. The females in black top with sarong while the males in batik shirts with long black pants and topi. Before the performance begins, there was a brief introduction about Angklung by a member of the Angklung Group. Angklung is a musical instrument originated in West Java, indonesia. The musical instrument is made of bamboo. The word Angklung originated from two words angka and lung. Angka means "tone", and lung means "broken" or "lost". Hence, Angklung means "incomplete tone". It is impossible to perform with only one angklung. Angklung playing promotes cooperation and mutual respect among the players. The Angklung Group performed two traditional folk songs "Naik Ke Puncak Gunung" and "Burung Kakak Tua" (the tune of "Burung Kakak Tua" sounds the same as "Topi Saya Bundar"). Overall, The performance went quite smooth and the music played was nice. There was loud applause from the audience.

Traditional Costumes

*Note Click on 'cc' on the video to see some of the explaination/description (if there is any)*
Credits: Presentation slides of LAB1201 Kostum Traditional Project Group (Semester 1 AY2011/12).

Indonesia is made up of 13,466 islands and 33 provinces, with approximately 300 ethnic groups that have their own unique cultures and practices. Different parts of Indonesia, as well as different ethnic groups, have different cultures, which are greatly reflected in their traditional costumes; each having their own unique costumes and dresses. Taking for example, the Dayaks’ women (can be seen in slide 23 of the presentation) wear accessories like metal bracelets, collars made of insect wings and animal teeth as they are hunters and their dresses/costumes signify their bravery and courage. On the hand, the traditional Sundanese women (refer to slide 11) wear kebaya and sarung, which looks elegant. Hence, traditional costumes of the various ethnic groups from various parts of Indonesia reflect their culture strongly and through the performances of our fellow Lab1201 students, we have got a chance to see some of these traditional costumes with our very own eyes.

Photo of Kostum Traditional Project Group:

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