Jakarta Fair offers 'kerak telor'

Jakarta Fair offers 'kerak telor'

By Christiani Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): The annual Jakarta Fair has been a long awaited
opportunity for vendors of a traditional Betawi snack called
kerak telor. It is made from eggs and beras ketan (glutinous
rice) and shaped like an omelette.

The word kerak refers to the surface and bottom of the rice --
burned while being cooked in a small, closed wok over a charcoal-
fueled burner. Prospective customers are among the organizer's
claimed 30,000 daily visitors. The fair will end July 13.

When a customer places an order, the wet beras ketan is fried
without oil on a pan for about two minutes. It is then blended
with eggs and pre-fried shredded coconut. The mixture is fried
again for a few more minutes until the surface becomes a little
burned.

Mashed dried shrimp and fried red onions are poured onto the
snack, and then it is ready to be served.

During the month-long event, vendors earn a modest fortune
from the snacks sold for around Rp 2,000 each, because the almost
extinct snacks are associated with the 30-year-old fair.

Partly because of this association with the event, and also
because income from the snack has become increasingly less,
selling kerak telor has become seasonal.

According to a longtime vendor, 48-year-old Raup Sayuti, the
snack has been known since the days of Dutch colonial rule, when
it could be found all over the city.

But former vendors have found more stable jobs and only sell
the snack at the Jakarta Fair or other events.

In time, the Betawi native said, "Income from sales of the
snack isn't worth the energy spent walking around."

He was not sure whether the snack lost out to competition of
many other snacks which Jakartans love, whether hot dogs or
noodles.

"Even Betawi people themselves might not want to buy the
snack," the father of seven children said.

In the daytime Raup cuts patterns at a small garment factory
in Mampang, South Jakarta, which brings in up to Rp 5,000 (US$2)
a day.

In the afternoon he leaves for the fair with ingredients which
his oldest son and brother have helped prepare -- beras ketan,
which has to be soaked for at least seven hours, eggs, fried
shredded coconut, and spices.

Raup said at least 100 vendors at the fair were many of his
neighbors along Jl. Warung Buncit 8, 9, 10 and 11 in Mampang
Prapatan, South Jakarta.

Their main earnings were from working as ojek (motorcycle
taxi) drivers and shop attendants, or from renting out their
homes, other vendors said.

"Even though selling kerak telor is seasonal, it's good
because we earn more money," Raup said.

For Raup, being a kerak telor vendor is also a legacy
inherited from his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who
all made and sold the snack.

He said his predecessors would walk around all day selling the
snack to people from all walks of life.

Like Raup, his father also took the opportunity of night
events such as Pasar Malam, in Gambir, near the former site of
the Jakarta Fair, and in downtown Kota.

Raup recalls his father selling the snack at Pasar Malam as a
"luxurious" experience.

"I loved it, although I could only look at the attractions and
displays of things sold there...I didn't have the heart to ask
bab (father) to buy me even a small lollipop," Raup said.

Raup started selling the snack himself in the early 1970's. "I
remembered earning a great deal of money from selling the snack
at the Asian Games in Jakarta," he said -- when the snack was
only Rp 125 each.

This year, he said, "We are earning even more money. We earn
up to Rp 50,000 a day during weekends."

Raup's little daughter Ida comes along with her mother every
day. She also enjoys the fair, like Raup used to as a boy, and
loves to look at the attractions and many dolls which she cannot
ask her parents to buy. (cst)