foto: Instagram/@diskonsolo
Brilio.net - In the modern era with various sophisticated kitchen equipment, the mortar and pestle are still often the mainstay. This traditional tool is still often used to grind spices because it can produce a richer texture and aroma than a blender or food processor. No wonder, many people remain loyal to using the mortar and pestle to make chili sauce or mix special spices.
The main advantage of the mortar and pestle lies in the way it works by pressing and grinding the ingredients slowly. This process not only smoothes, but also helps to release the natural oils from the spices, so that the flavor of the spices becomes stronger and penetrates into the dish. This is what makes the chili sauce that is ground tastes more delicious than the one that is blended.
In addition to being used on a home scale, this mortar and pestle is also often relied on by food traders to make spices spontaneously. Lotek traders are one of them. Usually when they want to make lotek spices, traders will grind peanuts and various spices in one mortar.
This kind of activity is indeed very common and is often found in many places. But what if there are traders who grind spices in an unusual way. Yup! A video from Instagram user @diskonsolo, went viral recently. The video shows the moment a lotek trader was grinding peanut sauce for a lotek dish for his customers.
photo: Instagram/@diskonsolo
In the video, the lotek seller is grinding spices on a cart filled with boiled vegetables and fried foods. In one corner, there is a large stone mortar equipped with various spices, such as chili, onions, peanuts, and salt. Inside the mortar, several peanuts are seen being ground.
photo: Instagram/@diskonsolo
At first glance, there was nothing strange about the cart. But this did not last long. When zoomed in, it turned out that the lotek seller was grinding peanuts in a rather unique way. The way he held the pestle seemed to be the opposite of people in general.
" It turns out that all this time I've been holding the pestle and mortar incorrectly ," said Instagram user @diskonsolo as quoted by BrilioFood on Tuesday (4/2).
photo: Instagram/@diskonsolo
In terms of appearance, a pestle is usually cylindrical with a slightly rounded tip, designed to be comfortable to hold and easy to use for pounding and grinding ingredients. Made of stone, the pestle has a rough surface to crush spices more effectively. When used, the pestle is pressed and moved in a circular or sliding motion over the mortar, which is generally concave like a shallow bowl.
photo: Instagram/@diskonsolo
Generally, the round and flat part is at the bottom. However, the lotek trader actually uses the curved top side to grind the nuts. Although quite unique and unusual, this way of holding the pestle is considered to make the spices smoother, you know.
Viewed more than 1 million times, this lotek seller's video immediately attracted attention because it successfully made netizens gape. Looking at the comments column, many other Instagram users just found out and were immediately interested in trying the grinding method.
" Oh no wonder it didn't break apart" so that's how you grind it ," said Instagram @indunrohmae.
" Oh, it turns out I've been holding the pestle wrongly all this time ," said Instagram user @suharyulianti.
" Okay, now I understand, I'll start applying it later, haha ," wrote the Instagram account @lowatissusi.
" If you think about it, the pressure is actually strong that way ," commented the Instagram account @busant.art.
" It turns out that the pleasure of grinding it has to be flipped ," concluded Instagram @arinda_solehah_bandung_city.
(brl/lea)
