Tasty lumpia
A special spring roll from Semarang in Central Java, its makers call the snack lunpia or loenpia, but most people know it as lumpia.
Made mostly from sliced bamboo stem, or rebung, which is first fried with egg, shrimp and sometimes with fish or chicken, the filling is then rolled in a thin wheat-dough package before it is fried again.
People usually eat lumpia with hot chili sauce and occasionally with marinated cucumber. Tourists can find shops offering lumpia in almost all corners of the city.
The story goes that lumpia is a combination snack made from Chinese and Javanese recipes. A man from China, Tjoa Thay Yoe, came to Java early last century and married a local woman, Wasih. The pair later made their living by selling lumpia, a tradition that is continued by Tjoa's grandson today.
Originally, lumpia was also made with pork, which has been replaced with fish and chicken for Muslim consumers.
-- Text and photos by Suherdjoko
Photo A: Lumpia
Signs outside a food stall tempt passersby with pictures of tasty lumpia snacks on Jl. Mataram in Semarang. The street is often filled with dozens of sidewalk vendors, who compete with each other for customers.
Photo B: Lumpia
Karman, 42, the owner of the Lumpia Mataram shop, prepares the thin wheat dough for the dish.
Photo C: Lumpia
The compound of rebung, egg, shrimp, fish and chicken is then wrapped in the dough.
Photo D: Lumpia
After wrapping, the lumpia is ready for frying.
Photo E: Lumpia
A man fries lumpia as his fellow workers prepare more dough at the Lumpia Gang Lombok cafe, located in the Gang Lombok area of Semarang's Chinatown.
Photo F: Lumpia
Trudy (left) and Rudy Verwoord from Amsterdam enjoy lumpia produced by the Gang Lombok shop. The shop is owned by Liem Swie Kiem, the grandson of Tjoa Thay Yoe. Liem says he sells his lumpia snacks as far way as France.
Photo G: Lumpia
A worker at the Lumpia Gang Lombok shop packs lumpia to be delivered to customers. The shop sells up to 1,000 packs of the rolls a day, at Rp 6,000 a piece.