Hello everyone and All members of ASEAN Hive Community, How are you? I hope we are all always healthy and happy. One of the things that makes you happy in life is having kind and understanding neighbors. Interaction between neighbors is a common thing we find in Indonesia, and it is very positive because we can help each other when there are problems or other things.
Kacang Garing Sihobuk
This morning, I got a gift from my neighbor. It's like a tradition in Indonesia, to give gifts to relatives or neighbors, when we have just returned from a place (such as vacation or hometown). As you know I come from Indonesia, and what you should know is that Indonesia is a very large country (not only Bali or Jakarta) with a very large population. My neighbor, just returned from his parents' house in Tarutung, North Tapanuli. The city is still in the same province as Medan City, where I live but is 8 hours away by bus. My neighbor gave me a gift of one snack which is also my favorite snack.
This snack is called "Kacang Garing Sihobuk" (Sihobuk crunchy peanuts). It is a souvenir that is often brought home by everyone who visits the Tapanuli area (such as the cities of Tarutung, Sidimpuan, Sipirok or Sibolga). When I was still working in South Tapanuli, I often bought these snacks for myself to eat, even I often came directly to the producers. This snack has a history that is quite sad. I was told directly by my parents about the tragedy.
History
This food takes the name of one village, namely Sihobuk Village. Sihobuk village is located far from the capital of North Tapanuli, Tarutung. In the 1980s, this village was famous for producing crunchy and savory peanut products that are loved by many in Tapanuli even to Medan City. However, a landslide occurred which left the village destroyed and buried. This disaster also left dozens of victims dead and the few remaining people in this village fled to other villages around the location of the natural disaster. I had stopped at the former location of Sihobuk village which had been buried by a landslide, when I was still working at an NGO.
Since the tragedy, the remaining residents have continued their crunchy peanut snack business and use the name Kacang Sihobuk on each package. Uniquely, the naming of "Kacang Garing Sihobuk" as a brand has never been registered or patented by anyone or any institution, so anyone can make this snack business. It seems, Kacang Sihobuk has become an identity of the Tapanuli community that can be owned by everyone.
Packaging
The hallmark of this snack packaging is the consistency of design and color that has never changed since the first. As far as I can remember, the packaging labels are typically red and white in color with the large words “Kacang Sihobuk” the only difference being the name of the manufacturer. I also get a story why the packaging of this peanut snack can be uniform from the first.
My father said, after the landslide tragedy, all peanut snack entrepreneurs were gathered in a cooperative formed by the government. It aims to simplify the process of distributing business assistance or products. The cooperative provides the packaging as you can see in the photo to be used in each package of the peanut snack. However, since the 1998 monetary crisis, the cooperative that was formed by the government has disbanded, but the packaging characteristics are still used today.
The Uniqueness
The process of making this snack is still very traditional. To get a crunchy and delicious peanut snack, peanuts are soaked and cleaned using running water for one day (24 hours). After that, sorting is done to get rid of the nuts that are not good. For the cooking process, they use the roasting technique (a way of frying food without using oil) with sand media. Usually, they cook it using firewood in a very large frying pan. This process is what distinguishes Sihobuk beans from other peanut products. This cooking process requires extra energy, so it must be done by adult men.
The roasting process that uses sand makes sometimes we get peanut shells that still have a little sand left. But don't worry because it's harmless. Because of that, I always open these nuts by hand, and don't use my mouth/teeth to open the shells.
This snack has a strong taste and makes anyone who tries to eat it will not stop until the nuts run out. Sihobuk Peanut have a savory texture with a large size so they are perfect for snacks. Uniquely, it is very difficult to get damaged/ugly nuts in each package of Sihobuk Peanut. Maybe, because the cooking process uses sand so that the hollow beans will destroy themselves.
If you visit North Sumatra or Lake Toba, you can easily find this snack and maybe taste it for yourself. I'm sure you will understand why I like this snack.
Call me Isdarmady, because I have a full name that is very long, namely Isdarmady Syahputra Ritonga. I am a head of the family who work as Farmers Vegetables Hydroponic and Consultant Hydroponics, sometimes I also sell coffee from various regions in Indonesia.
I have expertise dispensing coffee with a variety of techniques and tools brewing, because I have the desire to make a coffee shop with hydroponics as centerpieces. Help me realize that dream.
Thanks for read, vote, re-blog and support me in Hive. Maybe god will reward the kindness, let’s success together.