Jakarta, CNN Indonesia — Typical Indonesian food apparently has the opportunity to become an idol for the taste buds of foreign culinary lovers. Indonesian food has the requirements and requirements for various spices, types and flavors, making it a favorite compared to western food which tastes quite bland.
However, this does not mean that Indonesian food or snacks do not have weaknesses, one of which is the cleanliness of these snacks for consumption. Jeffry Sie, owner of Gudeg Yu Nap who once represented Indonesia serving gudeg at the 2015 World Street Food Congress in Singapore last April, shared the lessons he took from this international culinary event.
“I learned a lot from this event, one of which is prestige,” said Jeffry while laughing to CNN Indonesia, Sunday (14/6) when met at the Bango Snack Festival at Plaza Barat Gelora Bung Karno, Central Jakarta. “But what really concerns them is food hygiene.”
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Jeffry said that here are several conditions that must be met so that Indonesian cuisine can go international:
1. Stove type
The issue of food hygiene is the main focus for food to get attention from foreign people. Jeffry admits that most street food in Indonesia does not have a clean kitchen and tends to be traditional.
“If in Indonesia using gas is considered clean enough, overseas they demand the use of electric stoves,” said Jeffry.
Using traditional stoves such as firewood will definitely leave behind a large amount of ash and soot. Even when the use of wood is replaced by kerosene, it still leaves soot and a strong oil smell.
The use of gas, which is currently used by the majority of food traders in Indonesia, is apparently still considered unclean by foreign people.
2. Wash your hands
One sign of a clean cook is when he washes his hands before cooking, but when it comes to international standard snacks, the frequency of washing his hands seems to be a special thing.
“In the kitchen you can wash your hands every five minutes, so during one cooking time you can wash your hands up to twenty times,” said Jeffry.
Washing your hands is useful for removing bacteria and germs that are on your hands after other activities or from food that has not been washed thoroughly. Most people only wash with water, even though good hand washing is using hand washing soap and running water.
3. Place to put food
Have you ever come across a street food cook who places pots full of cooked food on the floor? Or maybe you’ve found it in a restaurant or have you done it yourself?
It turns out that according to international food assessment standards, the way a chef treats food that has been cooked is also a concern, even though it is still in the pan.
“You are not allowed to put food below, but there is a limit, namely 20 centimeters from the floor,” said Jeffry.
4. Water type
Often in a snack shop, the seller prepares two types of buckets containing two types of water with different purposes, one for cooking, and the other for washing dishes. And international cooking standards share the same opinion.
“They use two types of water, the first for cooking directly, the second for washing dishes because it contains chemicals.”
However, often the problem in big cities like Jakarta is the chlorine content in the available tap water. Many are reluctant to use or consume tap water because of its chlorine content.
5. Color of the board
This is what is unusual for roadside food vendors. International food hygiene assessment standards require chefs to have different types of cutting boards according to their function.
“Usually you only use the same thing, if you go there you have to use five kinds of cutting boards, chicken yellow, seafood blue, meat red, vegetable green, white for serving,” said Jeffry.
These colors indicate the function of the cutting board. A yellow cutting board means it is used for meat from poultry, such as chicken, duck, and the like. Blue cutting boards are intended for all food ingredients that live in water, or seafood.
A red cutting board is useful for cutting red meat such as from cows, goats, buffalo or pork. Meanwhile, green is for vegetables and fruit, and white is specifically for when food is ready to be served.
“You also have to wash a cutting board every time you use it, even if you want to cut the chicken after the duck, so you don’t contaminate each other,” said Jeffry.
6. Have chlorine ready
While Indonesian people are used to washing dishes with laundry soap and then draining them as usual, if you want to go international, you have to provide a bucket of water with chlorine dissolved in it.
“For plates, after washing them, soak them overnight and then wash them and use them tomorrow,” said Jeffry. “That’s to get rid of germs.”
At least by soaking cutlery or cooking utensils overnight in a chlorine solution, you will have to have a lot of cooking utensils in reserve in your future kitchen.
(mer/mer)
