Indah Setiawati and Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Thu, 01/22/2009 1:49 PM
Sugar and spice: A rice cake maker prepares her products for sale. The Nian Gao (“year cake”) has become a permanent feature of the Imlek celebration. (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)
The sweet sticky smell of sugar drifting across from the hundreds of rice cakes in Nyoman Darmana's yard stops passersby in their tracks.
They draw a deep breath, savoring the sweetness on the air, fantasizing about the delicious cakes that send off such an aroma.
These are kue keranjang, the sticky rice cakes that are the taste of Imlek, the Chinese New Year.
This small rice cake business on Jl Buluh Indah in western Denpasar, is run by Darmana, 60, and his wife Putu Juniarti, 42. The couple are grateful for the additional income the joyful season of Imlek brings, and even lower profits due to the high price of sticky rice and kerosene have failed to dampen their pleasure.
"I have been making kue keranjang for Imlek since 1983," Darmana said. "This is the blessing that we can only get during the Chinese New Year, so I am very grateful."
The Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Monday, is the most highly anticipated festival for the island's producers and sellers of kue keranjang.
An obligatory treat on Chinese tables at this time of the year, the rice cake or Nian Gao ("year cake") carries a deeper meaning and spiritual hopes for the Chinese and their descendants. It is a symbolic wish for a better future. Moreover, it is believed that when friends eat cakes together, the sticky brown confection strengthens their friendship.
For Darmana, it strengthens his finances too. He generally makes a 30 percent profit on average sales, to the value of up to Rp 20 million (US$1,800). From his kitchen, he supplies 10 stores in Denpasar, selling each rice cake for Rp 9,500.
About 15 days before this merriest of the Chinese festivals, Darmana hired four neighbors. This small team has made about 2,000 rice cakes this year - weighing in total about 800 kilograms.
In preparation for the cooking, Darmana purchases at least 650 kilograms of sticky rice and 600 kilograms of sugar; they produce 275 rice cakes a day.
Producing the cakes requires perseverance and patience: The process from grinding the sticky rice to steaming it takes about two days. The single delicate step of wrapping each individual cake in plastic to stop the dough from spilling out is a daunting task, another rice cake baker admitted.
"It takes a long time, a very long time, to wrap hundreds of rice cakes," Sara Yenny said.
This year, Yenny and her employees have made around two tons of rice cakes - they got started on it two and a half months ago - and sent them to markets in Bali and Surabaya, East Java. She and her husband, Jhon Joshua, started making rice cakes in 2003, after the 1998 economic crisis inflicted substantial losses on their business supplying motorcycle spare parts.
"*If you cannot get a job to earn money, then make and sell rice cakes'. My ancestors pass this message down to every generation," Jhon said.
He said the business got better every year because they could sell their cakes to major traditional markets and supermarkets. In previous years, they turned out one ton of rice cakes, and since improving their cakes' quality, have been receiving larger orders from Surabaya.
"Actually I felt a bit worried about the current financial crisis," Jhon said. "When I took 500 boxes with four rice cakes each to a supermarket in Surabaya and saw a mountain of other rice cakes in the store, I wondered whether all of them would be sold."
The store manager calmed him down, saying, "Don't worry, these piles of rice cakes will be sold out several days before Imlek."
Yenny said the rice cakes, which can last for one year if kept in the refrigerator, can be eaten in a number of ways. People can cut a cake into pieces, dip it into egg, add salt and fry it. Or steam it first to make it softer and serve it with grated coconut or warm thick coconut milk.
"Anyway you choose, the rice cake will still taste great. I can assure you of this because we have always feasted on our leftover rice cakes," Darmana said, grinning.
Xi nian Kuai Le. Wishing you a happy - and sweet - lunar New Year.
