foto: Instagram/@nypang71
Brilio.net - If you are walking through Muntilan City, you will see rows of shops that have been around for hundreds of years. One of them is Mrs Pang's shop which is on the edge of Jalan Pemuda. For those of you who are readers of the novel Kretek Girl by Ratih Kumala, of course you are already familiar with this shop because it is discussed in the novel.
In Magelang, Mrs Pang's shop is known to be legendary. At first glance, from the outside this old shop looks ordinary. It doesn't even have a large parking area. However, this shop has always been a destination for people who are looking for traditional snacks.
In fact, as far as we can see, it is never empty of visitors. When the holiday season arrives, customers from inside and outside the city are busy surrounding every corner of Mrs Pang's shop.
The history of the Nyonya Pang shop began in 1912. This means that this shop has successfully existed for 111 years. Now Nyonya Pang was founded by the sixth generation, namely Imanuel Jeffrey Leevianto or familiarly known as Koh Jeffrey.
"For a long time, the shop has been here, it hasn't moved for hundreds of years, it used to be a home business from our ancestors," he said when met by brilio.net some time ago.
Mrs Pang's shop started as a home business . At that time, in 1912 the figure of Lauw Ing Tjo made and sold jenang dodol to support his family in Muntilan, Magelang. Lauw Ing Tjo is the second generation, while the first generation is named Lauw Ki Pang who is his mother-in-law.
"As a form of respect for his mother-in-law, Lauw Ki Pang, the jenang dodol made by Lauw Ing Tjo was finally given the name Jenang Dodol Nyonyah Pang." Jeffrey said.
photo: brilio.net/Ida Setya
Jenang dodol is also commonly referred to as jenang lot. For Magelang people, jenang lot is almost a mandatory menu for important events such as proposals and celebrations.
This delicious snack comes from rice flour, sticky rice, coconut milk and brown sugar. He also said that in the past the figure Lauw Ki Pang sold his wares on a bicycle.
"Back then there were no vehicles, so the second generation sold them using onthel bicycles. The jenang was placed in a bamboo tenong," added Jeffrey.
Not only that, several people also went around Muntilan City to sell jenang lot made by Lauw Ing Tjo. Then both share the commission. As the public became increasingly well known, Lauw Ing Tjo finally decided to open his own shop in front of his house.
Mrs Pang's shop finally opened on Jalan Pemuda no. 71, Muntilan, Magelang. Not only jenang lot, this shop also provides a variety of traditional snacks such as putri mandi, moho, miku, layer cakes, cupcakes, roasted getuk, klepon, buntil, wajik, krasikan, and many more. The Nyonya Pang shop was then started by the next generation, until it finally continues to exist in Muntilan, Magelang until now.
The ups and downs of the sixth generation maintaining Mrs Pang
photo: brilio.net/Ida Setya
Now, 111 years later, the figure of Imanuel Jeffrey Leevianto is the one who manages it. Since 2018, Koh Jeffrey started running the Nyonya Pang shop, replacing his parents, Lauw Hin Ay and Lie Hwe Liep.
He and his small family now also live in the house behind this shop. After graduating from Food Technology and doing an internship in Germany, he did not immediately return to Mrs. Pang's shop. Instead he worked at a bakery for 4 years. Only then did he choose to return to Muntilan and manage Nyonya Pang.
When we met him in his shop, he had just finished making diamonds made from sticky rice. This 31 year old man always intervenes when he is processing some traditional food.
He admits that starting a traditional food business nowadays is not easy. It takes a long struggle, especially to penetrate the youth market.
Then, from generation to generation there are always updates, whether in packaging or adding to MSME product variants. However, the most important thing is that the quality of the food ingredients has not changed.
Well, in this sixth generation era, Jeffrey is focused on maximizing online branding. Especially among young people. According to him, these traditional snacks are also important for young people, especially Gen Z, to know about, not just parents.
"Since I was little, I've been used to the aromas of these (traditional snacks), but if you can, "It's not just me as the son of a shop owner who is familiar with food like this. Gen Z now also needs to be familiar with the snacks left by their ancestors," he said.
He also started creating a social media account for Mrs Pang on Instagram , Facebook and others. Even so, he still maintains Mrs Pang's character on social media. For example, by using story telling in each post, and also calling the audience "grandson".
"Mrs Pang can be said to be a legendary shop, so I describe her character as an old man who is close to the audience. aka his grandchildren," continued Jeffrey.
And it's true, the audience response on social media was quite active. Jeffrey introduces many names of traditional foods and philosophies with his unique storytelling style. Apart from that, since Mrs Pang appeared in the novel Kretek Girl, this shop has also been in the spotlight of netizens.
photo: Instagram/@nypang71
According to KJeffrey, since the film Kretek Girl was broadcast, it has had quite an impact on Mrs Pang's existence on social media . The reason is that many viewers are looking to find out the background of the story of Kretek Girl, which is none other than City M or Muntilan City.
Ratih Kumala, as a novel writer, also interacts quite often with Mrs. Pang on social media. This is a good opportunity for Mrs Pang. Now, this shop is often visited by young people to simply create content or really want to try traditional snacks. Koh Jeffrey also welcomed this moment.
"Of course I'm happy if young people come. This means they have an interest in getting to know traditional snacks, right," he continued.
He had time expressed his concern with some Gen Z who no longer recognize traditional snacks. One day, he came across a story about tourists who were traveling to Jogja. When asked what Jogja's typical food is, the traveler actually answered ramen, even though ramen is a food from Japan.
However, it cannot be denied that there are many Gen Z who like to come to Nyonya Pang to just have a snack or hunt for content because they think A place like the Nyonya Pang shop is a hidden gem.
To get closer to Gen Z, recently, he also added a branch of the Nyonya Pang shop in Pakuwon Mall Yogyakarta. So, now Mrs Pang has two outlets, the center is in Muntilan, and the branch is in Yogyakarta.
(brl/lea)
