W

ith Chinese New Year only a few days away, Jakarta residents have begun preparations for the celebrations, locally known as Imlek. Some have been going to Glodok in West Jakarta, an area renowned as the capital’s Chinatown to buy food for the big day.

People of Chinese descent are not only preparing dishes and decorations to celebrate with their loved ones but also their ancestors. They have been buying the usual red lanterns, kue keranjang (basket cakes), as well as food to share with family in the celebrations or to leave as offerings in Imlek, which falls on Jan. 28 this year.

Even though not all ethnic Chinese people offer up the favorite foods of their beloved forefathers, some — especially Buddhists and followers of Confucianism — still uphold the tradition.

One such is Amanda. She went to a small restaurant in Chinatown on Monday to buy food for her ancestors while also praying for them as part of her family tradition during Imlek.

Despite many Chinese dishes containing pork, like the famous red roast pork known as char siu, Amanda opted to buy the vegetarian version of the dish.

In a small business in an alley in Glodok called the Vegetarian Restaurant, Amanda bought char siu made from konnyaku flour and colored with angkak (red yeast rice), which gave the dish a very similar appearance to its pork version.

The restaurant has helped her greatly during the celebration preparations as she needed the dish for her offerings, she said.

“Some of my forefathers were vegetarian. That is why I bought the char siu,” she told The Jakarta Post, about the dish that sells for Rp 20,000 (US$ 1.50) per portion.

The price is half that of pork-made char siu.

Handi, the owner of the restaurant, said some Chinese-Indonesians came to his restaurant to buy meat-like dishes to be served at their dining tables during Chinese New Year. His restaurant offered vegetarian cuisine of a similar appearance and flavor.

The 52-year-old restaurateur said that char siu was one of the favorite dishes sold at his restaurant, the other is a sea cucumber-like dish made of silky bean curd, which the restaurant made mostly just before Imlek.

“Many of our customers wait in line a day before the New Year for that special dish,” he said.

Dishes made with sea cucumber are considered a classic Imlek speciality, believed to bring good luck for the New Year. The restaurant, equipped with only three tables and less than 20 chairs, is packed, especially nearing Imlek, Handi said. Old and young, ethnic Chinese and others, regularly visit the restaurant for some healthy food.

Handi started selling vegetarian food eight years ago but only moved the restaurant to the city’s Chinatown four years ago.

Glodok has long been the center of Chinese New Year celebrations in the capital, enlivened with signature decorations, bright red lanterns, vendors selling traditional snacks and barongsai lion dances.

During the era of former dictator Soeharto, Chinese Indonesians were banned from publicly celebrating Imlek. It was only in 2001, during the tenure of president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, dubbed the father of Indonesian pluralism, that the ban on Chinese cultural and linguistic expression was lifted. The next year, the government of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri declared Chinese New Year a national holiday.