William W. Wongso
Kulat Pelawan, Fungi Inspired
Its complex smoky aroma drew me in and my culinary intrigue was alerted by its long fibery stem, which looked like the famous French chanterelle, but in a dark brown reddish color. The dirt of the soil it had grown in was still apparent — I later learned the earth had been left purposefully by the collector, so that the mushroom would be heavier and more expensive.
This special mushroom grows only during the rainy season, so that when the spore is released by the fungus and blossoms under a pelawan tree it has a burgundy red color when still fresh, making it even rarer.
The price range of this unique mushroom varies between Rp 400,000 ($37.20) and
Rp 600,000 a kilogram, depending on the size, making it affordable only to the wealthy.
In a blind tasting session, a French chef in Jakarta thought that it was an expensive imported dried mushroom from France.
The best quality kulat pelawan should have a long stem that is intact all the way up to the soft cap.
Bangka-Belitung natives use this mushroom for a special dish called lempah kulat pelawan — which in my opinion is similar to mushroom curry — using kampung chicken trimmings from the wing or feet for the stock base, making this dish among the best curries I have ever tasted.
Bangka-Belitung cooking has many cultural influences, mainly from the Malay and Chinese, which contribute to the richness of the province’s culinary traditions.To illustrate the cultural diversity in Bangka-Belitung, there is a local saying: “Dark does not mean Malay and fair does not mean Chinese.”
Most of this unique style of cooking is still unknown, even to many Indonesians, because most women in Bangka-Belitung only cook traditional dishes at home, making the cuisine hard to find anywhere else on the archipelago.
After a recent visit to the area to shoot a cooking program, we noticed that there were only a few popular dishes offered at the warungs (small restaurants and food stalls), like otak-otak , mie Bangka, kerupuk getas and mpek-mpek , which are all light meals made from seafood. And only at Pasar Kaget, the morning market, can you savor an abundant variety of Peranakan (Malay-Chinese) dishes to eat there or take home. As well as the kulat pelawan mushroom, high-quality sea cucumber and abalone are among the natural produce exported from Bangka.
Indonesian culinary tradition is among the world’s most diverse, with 17,000 islands spread throughout the archipelago, each with varying cultures, beliefs and religions. Many are still unknown among native Indonesians and foreigners.
Many international food experts ask what Indonesian food is, and the most reasonable answer is that there is no such thing as Indonesian food, only regional cooking in Indonesia.
I believe there should be a national effort to support each region and the complexities of regional cooking, as well as to preserve different eating habits for generations to come.
During an event in October, initiated by Asia House and Preserved Indonesia, and a 10-day Indonesian food festival at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, I created a dish inspired by lempah kulat pelawan
Using mixed dried French mushrooms like chanterelle, cep and morel with traditional Indonesian spices, I served pan-seared sea bass with yellow turmeric rice, garnished with stir-fried vegetables and served with sambal umame , a traditional Bangka sauce.
As my friend Sacha, a chef, said at the time: “Selamat icip-icip,” or “Happy eating.”
