Seeing Indonesia through Soy sauce Cap Sapi

Brilliant work for

Indonesia - Hardian, Prasanti, Prananda

Several bowls of typical Bandung chicken porridge were served in front of us. Slightly thick rice porridge, sprinkled with shredded chicken, fried soybeans, finely chopped celery and crackers in orange color. The softness of the chicken porridge accompanied our morning chat. Not long ago, one of us ordered tempe mendoan served with a special soy sauce sauce. Likewise, our Kupat Tahu was smothered in peanut sauce and soy sauce.

Unique indeed, in one table, three breakfast menus are served with the same main recipe, namely soy sauce, a distinctive flavor enhancer. Food may be different, but tastes are united by soy sauce. Soy sauce is in all Indonesian favorite foods; Soto, meatballs, batagor, to fried rice.

To learn about soy sauce, the Soy Sauce Collector Community introduced Mrs. Marin who has access to visit the oldest soy sauce factory in Bandung, “Kecap Cap Sapi”. Arriving at the location, we were faced with a large light brown tall metal door welcoming us. We were amazed that the factory doors were relatively small and could fit only one truck, so the question arose as to whether we were in the right place.

But when the door opened, the warm smile of the middle-aged man, the guide, greeted and invited us to enter. It turned out that, even though the factory gate was small, it could only fit one car, it was the door leading to a courtyard which was the access to the factory. The factory area inside was much wider than it looked from the main road.

At the far end of the driveway, you can see the factory owner’s house which is directly next to the door leading to the factory. The house is quite large and has two sturdy pillars in front of the main door. From a distance we could see two people waiting for us at the door leading to the factory. The guide introduced us to people who turned out to be Mrs. Marin and Mr. Herman. Mrs. Marin, the person

Mr. Herman the heir of

taste - Hardian, Prasanti, Prananda

we contacted to ask permission to visit the “Cap Sapi” soy sauce factory, is the second child of Pak Herman. We were greeted warmly by them. As soon as we entered we immediately invited us into the factory and sat on the chairs that were already available.

Bandung Original Soy Sauce

Pak Herman said that the soy sauce “Cap Sapi” is a product from the city of Bandung. “My father used to come from China and set up a soy sauce business here. He made it himself, sold it himself using bicycles from homes. In 1939, the soy sauce factory “Cap Sapi” was not here, but in the Ciateul area. At that time it was still produced around the house which was still surrounded by rice fields and many cows were used for field work. That was what inspired my father to name our product soy sauce “Cap Sapi”. The archives supporting Pak Herman’s words, such as proof of tax payments, are still well documented from the era of the Dutch East Indies, Japan, to the beginning of the Indonesian government. One thing that is extraordinary, one by one the tax evidence from time to time is shown. Some of the tax documents are written in Dutch, some are written in Japanese and in Indonesian, although they still use blanks written in Japanese and indicate the year after Indonesia’s independence.

Interestingly, this study visit related to the process of making soy sauce actually opened historical archives showing the transfer of power in the country. In fact, the history of soy sauce if traced in sequence can lead us to history. The factory we are currently using is the second factory. The first factory is located in the Ciateul area, then the second factory is the one in Holis since the 1970s.

“Back when it was founded, this company was called Kong Giap which means brilliant work. Therefore, this soy sauce is officially the “Cap Sapi” soy sauce produced by Karya Gemilang.” said Mr. Herman.

Inside this factory there is a room where soy sauce is packaged, there is a factory with four faucets underneath which shows two workers diligently pouring soy sauce from the factory into bottles. In addition, there are several stainless tubs to filter the soy sauce liquid before it enters the refinery. In addition, there is also a cooking room which contains four giant frying pans with a diameter of

two meters. Each wok is operated by one worker who stirs the liquid palm sugar and mixes it with soy sauce to produce sweet soy sauce. Each pan can cook 400 kg of palm sugar to be mixed with a drum of soy sauce.

It turns out that in the factory there is also a room for making soy sauce. Inside the room there are fermented soybean tubs the size of two ping pong tables with a depth of about 80 cm.

Mrs. Marin said, “This is how the process of making soy sauce is. First, the soybeans are washed clean, then boiled, then given a starter so that the soybeans can be moldy and dried in the sun. Soybeans are allowed to release the fungus. Well the good mushroom is green. From there, the soybeans are put into a stainless tub and mixed with a salt solution. Then let stand at least 3 months so that the soybeans become tauco, then filtered to take the juice and become soy sauce. While some of the soy sauce is cooked with palm sugar into sweet soy sauce. So actually there is no waste from making soy sauce because everything can be used.”

The soybean fermentation room is like a green house with a transparent roof and walls so that sunlight can easily enter, and the temperature is maintained between 40°C-45°C.

Next, this factory also has other rooms, green rooms, which function as stock storage for the ingredients for making soy sauce, starting from clean bottles, palm sugar, soybeans. In one of the rooms there is a storage room for soy sauce that is ready to be distributed. “We only use the best quality ingredients to make soy sauce. Palm sugar is delivered directly from Sukabumi. Palm sugar must be chosen first, so you don’t take sugar that is brown or has been crushed. So it must be intact and good. We also use fine salt instead of krosok salt directly from the salt pond, so it is cleaner and standardized. Just like soybeans, we use soybeans, which are still imported, we use soybeans from Canada. So far, soybeans from Canada are of the best quality. Local soybeans have fluctuating quality, sometimes they are mixed with corn, sometimes they are dirty with a lot of sand,” said Mrs. Marin.

In fact, in the manufacture of soy sauce, there is a lot of wisdom, starting from an almost circular cycle, so that all soy products and byproducts can be utilized. Many details must be considered to ensure the best quality sweet soy sauce is available on the consumer’s dining table.

(Hardian Eko Nurseto, Prasanti Widyasih Sarli, dan Prananda Luffiansyah Malasan )

The process of making -

Hardian, Prasanti, Prananda