Charins Chang, The Explorer of Textures

June 3, 2020 Rian Farisa Leave a comment

Charins Chang’s passion for science and baking brought her to Indonesia after many years living abroad. In no time, she has captured the hearts of many through her well-crafted cakes and desserts. What are her hopes and struggles living the dream in Jakarta? Here, Charins shared the story for everyone.

What got you into baking in the first place?

I started baking since high school and that’s because Betty Crocker’s brownie mix. I was amazed even with the process of just mixing the powder with water and then it becomes a cake. But the reason why I love baking is because it is so closely related with science and all about the chemical reactions! You don’t really see it with your eyes but it’s happening.

Did you study at a cooking school after that?

Interestingly, I went to Australia not to learn more about baking, but I was studying Biotechnology for five years there. After graduation, I moved back to Singapore and started working in the petroleum bioengineering industry. However, I never lose my love for baking. I did it almost every night and shared the cakes with my friends, to the point that my family became so sick of my baking! (she laughs)

That’s why I started my cake business online on charins.com and then after a year, I finally decided to study more properly about pastry. I did a bit of school in France and an internship with a champion pastry chef there. I was immersing myself with the language and the countryside, steering away from Paris. After that, it’s time to move to Jakarta.

What made you move to Jakarta instead of Singapore?

My parents have always been very supportive with my plans and when I told them that I want to move back here, everyone came along! We all still visit Singapore from time to time though.

Why Jakarta? I think it’s because the people are more chilled and fun here. There’s also something charming about the city, despite of course – the traffic. I saw also a high demand for quality desserts and pastries in Jakarta, but you could only find a handful of good pastry shops here a few years ago when I came. That’s the opportunity that I had been looking for.

What happens next?

Originally, the reason why I moved back was to open my own dessert shop here. After a few years though, it’s easier said than done. I don’t want to just jump in recklessly and struggling unnecessarily just because I needed more experience in the industry. So, I decided to just take my time exploring the city and looking for opportunities. I keep my Instagram active and the online cake shop helps me get by.

From there, turns out that I received a lot of opportunities for consulting, creating menu, and for supplying. There’s even this café from Myanmar which was asking to collaborate. Benedict and Heavenly Sweet found me also on Instagram.

Care to share us a bit about your dessert creations?

When I first joined Benedict, I revamped the whole dessert menu. That time, there was this hype for the Thai mango desserts, and I decided to jump in by creating my own interpretations. Surprisingly, the Mango Sticky Rice Tart was a huge success and people started posting about it.

I also created a sister dessert for it called Tart Ketan Item – with coconut and black sticky rice. It’s basically a twist of our traditional dessert of bubur ketan hitam. There’s also Marie Regal Cake because yes, everyone loves Marie Regal!

I also started making bite-sized desserts like bonbons since people are not always wanting to eat a whole cake. In each bonbon, I created a whole dessert that can consists of elements found in cakes, crunch, cookies, and ganache. I put also many things like potato chips, wajik, nastaar, and talam. For my creations, I just love doing my own formulations instead of copying recipes.

Why bonbons by the way?

I’m more interested in chocolate because it’s very science-y and no one’s making bonbons seriously yet as far as I know. I suppose it’s because the high level of difficulty to mass produce it. Bonbons must be made carefully because it won’t be good otherwise. You need to temper chocolate to a certain degree, or the fat crystals won’t crystallize properly so it won’t get the good snap. It’ll be pasty, thick, and won’t have good texture.

But I think the challenge is that most people may find it hard to understand why it costs the same as buying a whole chocolate bar instead. That’s why I’m trying to find the middle ground here to still maintain the quality but also creating time efficiency.

Lastly, what are you plans next?

Opening my own shop, that’s for sure! But for now, I enjoy teaching at Heavenly Sweet every month. I have own classes and I also create my own syllabus based on science! We do one-on-one series about sponge cake, butter cake, pound cake, or only egg whites. We explore why each recipe is made different, why adding this and that yield different results, or how to decrease the sugar content without compromising texture. It’s not about the usual recipe sharing class and for you to bake at home. It’s about how to make the student think more about the process and how to remake recipe in their own version. Other than that, I am also sharing my expertise about baking with less fortunate kids. We are creating these baking classes for them and showing that everyone can bake. We want to let them know that they have options in this industry for their future.

Featured on Passion Magazine

Interviews

Fernando Sindu, The Effervescent Chef

May 27, 2020 Rian Farisa Leave a comment

Always on the move, the energetic Chef Fernando Sindu is forever seeking new ways to improve himself and expanding beyond borders. With several restaurants under his leadership now, the sky’s still the limit. Join us as he told a story about his struggles and a recipe for you to try at home.

How was it in the beginning for you?

I always have that one wish to become a chef since I was in high school. However, my dad declined my proposition as he was very conservative when it comes about education and career. It happened again when I was about to enter college, and that’s why I have a degree in computer science!

But, upon seeing that I was very persistent to pursue my career as a chef, he eventually agreed to let me try it. However, he wanted me to choose only the best school and the choices were between Le Cordon Bleu of Paris and Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York. I chose the latter for language reason and thus began my life as a New Yorker.

How was the New York story then?

I graduated after a year and eight months from CIA and started working at Michelin-starred restaurants. First at Oceana, it was one Michelin-starred and specializing in seafood. The second one was at Boqueria and it was among the best Spanish restaurants in the city.

I worked there for around three years and I really enjoyed it. Under the guidance of Chef Jason Hua – famous now as the head chef for The Dutch in New York, I was entrusted as a sous chef there. But quite unfortunately, I was only able to stay there until 2012.

What happened?

Found out that foreigners – especially in upper management positions, were having a hard time to extend their working visa around that time. It was the election year and the reasons were purely political.

Boqueria had plans to expand and I was promised for a head chef position. The restaurant sponsored my visa, and we even hired a lawyer to try to win this but to no avail. Disappointed, I returned home, but my dad encouraged me to start my own place here in Jakarta.

While waiting for the opportunity to open my own restaurant at Kemang Village – which eventually did not happen, I met with a fellow CIA alumnus – Ivan Wibowo. Seeing that the private dining business was not a thing yet in 2012, together we formed up Good For Eats (G48). I received ample advice from the pioneer himself – Chef Adhika Maxi, about the know-how in the business. He had been well-known in the business, years ahead from us.

Tell us your career journey here in Jakarta starting from there.

Our first gig was with a huge company’s executives and the private dinner was priced at 350,000 rupiahs per head. We barely made a profit, but it was the experience we had been looking for. From there the words start spreading and we did around two gigs per month.

Not wanting to be complacent, we actively sought other opportunities. We approached The Cook Shop and they agreed to let us run the place for a pop-up gig once a week. The audience liked it and after quite some time, they wanted us to do it every Saturday and Sunday instead!

Our next target was a restaurant back then at Panglima Polim, Mama Goose. They let us run the pop-up during the weekdays and we began picking up more attention. Offers coming in for collaborations, but it was with Union Group that we finally landed the deal. With them, together we built Benedict and it now opens at Grand Indonesia and Pacific Place. My latest project was Cork & Screw Country Club at Senayan Golf – a brand new addition to Union Group’s already long list of esteemed restaurants.

How do you define your cooking style?

I like to be inspired from many cuisines of the world. I also like my dishes to have stronger flavors. I feel very energetic every day and that’s why I like to bring up a wide spectrum of flavors in my dishes – from acidity, a bit of bitterness, salty, spicy, and umami. For the past two years however, I have been diligently playing with more Indonesian flavors.

That side was inspired by my Manadonese wife who love to take me around many Indonesian eateries, especially the cuisine of her people. Many of these are places that I won’t normally visit by myself. That, and the encouragement from a friend of mine who wanted me to do a cooking demo for Ubud Food Festival prompted me to learn more about Indonesian food.

How do you see the Indonesian food movement nowadays?

I’ve had my fair share of experience living abroad, becoming a chef at Michelin-starred restaurants, and working with great people. However, we will never be truly credited if we, as Indonesians, don’t promote our own cuisine to that level. I have a dream that someday my restaurant will get that one place among the ranks of San Pellegrino’s 50 Best Restaurants. But surely, we must all work harder for that.

So, for us to be appreciated by these institutions – like Michelin also for example, we also need to improve the palate of our diners. I’ve seen by myself that Indonesians still order the same menu every day. It’s mostly rice-related dishes for Asian cuisines, or pasta aglio olio for Western. Indonesians need to be more adventurous than this, so chefs and restaurants can come up with creative ideas to serve their diners from time to time.

Other than this, there are friends who have been collaborating with the government to promote the Indonesian cuisine. Albeit limited, we’re yet to see good progress in the future. As for me, I’m planning to travel more for the next two years and see how far Indonesian food can take me. There are more markets to visit and more traditional food stories that I need to discover.

Can you tell us about what you are serving today?

Satay is a highly versatile dish and you can easily cook, you can carry anywhere, and a lot of twists I can play with. Today I have prepared Sate Maranggi with pickles and crispy rice, Balinese Sate Udang with Base Genep seasonings and sambal matah, and lastly – we have the classic Sate Ayam.

I’m creating a platter here that everyone can try at home or alternatively, you can instead cut the meat into cubes and grilled it. I hope you can enjoy my recipe here.

Featured on Passion Magazine

Interviews

Kareyca Moeloek, Making Jakarta Healthier One Step at a Time

May 22, 2020 Rian Farisa Leave a comment

Contributing the success of Berrywell and Fedwell through hardships and teamwork, Kareyca Moeloek is now seeing Jakarta in a new light – smarter and healthier. She told Passion about her life, her gigs with the Leafwell Group, and how she’s shaping the future with her talented chef-sister Renatta Moeloek.

How was it all in the beginning for you?

Believe it or not, I wanted to become a professional dancer initially! Growing up in Jakarta, I was trained in ballet since early. And it was during high school that I decided to move out to Perth. My plan was to continue my study at a dance academy there. Turns out, I didn’t make it and I was utterly devastated!

Everyone was already in college around that time, so instead, I joined short courses and collect a lot of diplomas – from marketing to event organizing. In the meantime, I had to do part-time jobs as well to make it there – since my parents wanted me to return home.

What happens next?

The easiest job I can get? The hospitality industry. Working at a bar, I was quite enjoying it. I started out as just a glass polisher, and then I was gradually entrusted with the floor and then the café. From there, I realized that a degree in hospitality would certainly accommodate me working in this industry. Moreover, I could make myself eligible for applying as a permanent resident – which my parents eventually supported as well.

Meanwhile, it was finally time for Rena (Renatta Moeloek) for college and she had always known exactly that she’s destined to cook. She wanted to learn at the best place and that would be Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. So, we kept ourselves in touch across different continents through Skype – hoping that one day we can do cool collaborations.

Sounds like you guys were all set to live abroad, but why did you return here?

Rena was promised for a gig in New Zealand after her internship finished at a Michelin-starred restaurant in France. As for me, after my internship at Sheraton, I wanted to explore my opportunities also there.

Turns out, we had visa problems and got stranded in Indonesia. Many years living abroad made me unsure about what I can do in Jakarta, until we decided to embrace any opportunity we can get. We did pop-ups, food trucks, and private dinners. Rena handles the kitchen and me in the service.

But one day, I met an old friend of mine Dio. He started this healthy catering company – Leafwell Group with his friends and wanted me to collaborate for the opening of Berrywell.

So, this is the part where you decided to stay in Jakarta?

Initially I was torn in-between working at a big company, or to help this promising startup company. I decided to choose the latter and began as a store manager at Berrywell’s first outlet in SCBD. Turns out it was a huge success for the company! We have been riding the momentum where people are getting aware with healthy lifestyle.

Long story short, Berrywell then opened new outlets at Plaza Senayan and Menteng Shophaus. Finally, the next best opportunity for me and Rena to work together again came when the group decided to open a new concept of healthy dining called Fedwell. There, I will be entrusted again with the operations and Rena with the menu! We did a lot of research, food tasting, and prepared everything. However, the team was still very busy with Berrywell and couldn’t find the right time to launch Fedwell.

Can you tell us about Fedwell?

Fedwell finally opened on April 2018 and started out again with just normal expectations. Again, much to our surprise, people have been flocking here like crazy, so we had to assign the kitchen crews as well to help with service! Steadily, we’re hiring more people and now we’re enjoying the dynamics here.

So, the concept is similar with salad bars where people can choose the ingredients and the crews will assemble it for you. However here, we serve wholesome, healthy food instead. We don’t do frying here, but we do roast, torch, and steam most of our ingredients. Fedwell is basically a DIY diner where customers can use the order form to create their own dish or to choose from what we have assembled. There are many choices for carbs, proteins, vegetables, and the dressings.

The challenge is to introduce the DIY culture to our customers and creating this mindset that healthy food can also be flavorful. We want to help creating a new, smarter Jakarta where people gradually know how to live healthily and get themselves in touch with good quality ingredients.

What are your plans after this?

The Leafwell Group is still growing, and we are planning for more surprises in the future. As for Rena, we’re currently transforming this place owned by our mom with a new kitchen and a nice place to eat. It’s a small, but we’ll invite people for private dinners. In the meantime, we help each other whenever we have the opportunity, but I do look forward for our new gigs in the future.

Featured on Passion Magazine

Halal, Semarang

Kahvehane: Java Loenpia & Katuai Kopi, Semarang

January 7, 2020 Rian Farisa Leave a comment

Sebuah cafe dalam kontainer dan tampil berbeda dari sekitarnya. Inilah satu daya tarik dari Java Loenpia & Katuai Kopi yang saya tak sengaja temukan saat bertandang ke Sam Poo Kong, Semarang.

Siang hari di ibukota provinsi Jawa Tengah ini tidak main-main panasnya. Tapi bukan berarti itu menyurutkan sekian banyak turis yang berkunjung ke klenteng ini. Sebagai salah satu daya tarik kota Semarang, Sam Poo Kong memang menempati wilayah luas dengan lapangan parkir yang cukup untuk semua. Tentunya sederetan jajanan kaki lima juga menanti untuk dicoba.

Namun di antara itu semua, tetiba hadirlah penampakan cafe kekinian yang menggunakan container sebagai strukturnya. Bahkan dari sebelum mobil kami parkir-pun, saya sudah mengincar untuk mengunjunginya.

Meski klenteng Sam Poo Kong diteduhi banyak hehijauan dan masih banyak lagi camilan yang tersedia di dalamnya, tak lama saya langsung saja menghampiri cafe ini. Maklum, hari itu begitu panas dan rasanya tidak terlalu mood untuk berkelana.

Benar saja, angin sejuk langsung berhembus ketika memasuki cafe berbentuk container ini. Bentukan di dalamnya dirancang seperti sebuah bar. Tempat duduk berupa stool juga terdapat di jendela sebelah kanan menghadap suasana parkiran tempat wisata ini.

Sederetan menu telah menanti dan langsung saja saya memesan seporsi lumpia Semarang dan segelas es kopi susu. Paduan yang tepat, bukan? Lebih menyenangkannya lagi, belum ada orang lain yang berkunjung di hari itu. Sungguh tempat yang tepat untuk menikmati camilan, ambil beberapa foto, dan beristirahat sejenak.

Java Loenpia punya sederetan produk yang sudah tersertifikasi halal MUI dan Katuai Kopi juga punya lini kopi yang bersahabat harganya. Keduanya tampil dengan presentasi yang baik. Tahu bahwasanya setelah ini kami akan menuju sebuah restoran untuk bersantap siang, maka apa yang saya nikmati saat ini cukup agar tidak menjadikan perut keroncongan.

Jelang beberapa saat sebelum panganan saya ludes dan dipanggil untuk perjalanan berikutnya, sekelompok turis luar kota mendatangi cafe ini. Wah, pas deh saya pikir, toh hampir waktunya juga untuk berangkat. Maklum, kehadiran sekaligus banyak orang di space yang tidak terlampau luas ini pasti akan menjadikan suasana riuh rendah.

Nah, waktunya untuk menuju Kalalili at The Palis, satu spot kekinian di Semarang yang punya beberapa restoran di dalamnya. Makanan Indonesia tetap akan mewarnai perjalanan kali ini dan sungguh tak sabar untuk mencobanya. Tetap ikuti saya di perjalanan yang satu ini, ya!

JAVA LOENPIA & KATUAI KOPI, SEMARANG

Address:
Sam Poo Kong
Jl. Simongan No.125, Semarang – Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

Website:
http://javaloenpia.com/

Opening hours:
Daily, 7am – 9pm

Halal, Semarang

Street Food: Nasi Ayam Bu Nyoto, Semarang

November 18, 2019 Rian Farisa Leave a comment

Menginjak hari ketiga bertualang di Semarang, kembali semua dimulai dengan sarapan yang lezat. Kali ini giliran nasi ayam Bu Nyoto, salah satu yang paling ikonik dari kota bersejarah ini!

Kembali bangun pagi menjadi kunci dari segala petualangan saat berlibur. Karena agendanya adalah sarapan di luar, maka saya memulai hari dengan – ya, sudah bisa ditebak, bukan? Jawabannya adalah sarapan ringan di Rooms Inc. Semarang!

Punya kesempatan beberapa hari menginap di sini berarti saya bisa mencoba makanan berbeda setiap harinya. Karena sarapan dari buffet beragam dan kesempatan menginap hanya semalam, biasanya banyak orang yang terlalu berlebih dalam mengambilnya. Apalagi kalau hanya untuk sekadar foto-foto dan berbagi di linimasa. Alangkah lebih baiknya kalau kita mengambil yang terbaik dan secukupnya. Sayang rasanya kalau tersisa banyak, bukan?

Nah, setelah berkumpul semua dengan teman-teman, waktunya untuk berangkat menuju Nasi Ayam Bu Nyoto!

Konsep sarapan nasi ayam

Sepiring nasi ayam khas Semarang tengah dinikmati. — Nasi ayam khas Semarang, nikmat untuk sarapan ataupun makan malam.

Bagi kamu-kamu yang tinggal di Pulau Jawa dan sudah menyatu dengan kultur kulinernya, pasti tidak akan asing ketika melihat isi dari nasi ayam khas Semarang. Dibanderol dengan harga yang sangat terjangkau, seporsi biasanya terdiri dari beberapa elemen yang sering tampil di masakan rumahan.

Misalnya saja di Nasi Ayam Bu Nyoto, nasi ayam yang tersaji dalam pincuk ini dipadukan dengan suwiran ayam, telur bacem, dan sayur labu siam. Sebelas dua belas dengan nasi liwet Solo, bukan? Sungguh sederhana namun punya cita rasa yang sangat kaya. Rasanya seporsi saja tidak cukup!

Menilik kembali kuliner historis Indonesia

Sayur labu siam tengah diisikan ke dalam panci. — Salah satu komponen terpenting dalam nasi ayam khas Semarang adalah sayur labu siam.

Layaknya menu-menu historis lainnya, nasi ayam di kota Semarang tentu punya nama-nama besar di baliknya. Selain Bu Nyoto, ada juga yang senang berkunjung ke Bu Wido ataupun Bu Pini. Konsep ibu-ibu dengan pengalaman panjang memasak selama puluhan tahun memang populer di hampir seluruh dunia, tapi tentu banyak cerita di baliknya.

Menariknya, Pulau Jawa selalu punya nama kedai sekaligus figur aslinya. Ambil saja contohnya di Jogja dengan jajanan pasar Mbah Satinem ataupun gudeg Mbok Lindu. Kedua tokoh tersebut memang terlampau ikonik, tapi jangan lupakan juga nama-nama lainnya.

Hampir sebagian besar di antara mereka berangkat dari sebuah perjuangan mempertahankan diri dan kemaslahatan keluarganya. Dari yang dahulunya “dipalak” para Kompeni Belanda supaya bisa berjualan, berlari-lari dikejar aparat, ataupun yang hingga kini masih hidup dalam kesederhanaannya.

Tapi ingat, cita rasa yang mendalam dari masakan mereka merupakan hasil kerja keras selama puluhan tahun. Itu tidak akan didapat hanya dengan berjualan asal-asalan. Saya masih percaya bahwa warisan yang ditinggalkan adalah akumulasi dari dedikasi seumur hidup dan menolak jalan pintas.

Pengalaman makan di Nasi Ayam Bu Nyoto

Nasi ayam tengah disiapkan untuk pelanggan. — Meskipun ramai, kamu tidak perlu menunggu lama untuk nasi ayam yang telah dinanti-nantikan itu.

Warung tenda milik Bu Nyoto buka dua kali dalam sehari – untuk sarapan dan makan malam. Terletak di pinggir jalan raya besar, nasi ayam Bu Nyoto tampil cukup ramai di pagi hari saat kami berkunjung sekitar pukul 8.30. Meskipun tidak tampak antrian, setidaknya hampir semua tempat duduk yang tersedia sudah ditempati.

Proses memesan juga terbilang mudah meskipun tidak teratur secara antrian. Dengan sigap para ibu-ibu di balik segenap bahan nasi ayam langsung saja menyiapkan porsi demi porsi. Tidak lama, kami semua menikmati dengan sangat setiap suapnya. Hanya butuh waktu sekejap untuk menghabiskannya dan sempat tergoda untuk tambah satu piring.

“Jangan, lah“, dalam hati saya berujar. Kita simpan saja dahulu kenangan ini untuk kemudian kita bersua kembali. At this point, Semarang sudah masuk ke dalam relung hati dan di sana kuberjanji akan menjumpainya kembali satu masa nanti. Tentunya dengan mengajak seluruh keluarga menikmati hidangan-hidangannya yang terbaik!

NASI AYAM BU NYOTO, SEMARANG

Address:
Jalan Mayjen MT Haryono, Semarang – Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

Opening hours:
Daily, 6am-10am & 6pm – 9.30pm