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Tukang Lewat: Food on the Go, Indonesian style
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan (18-Apr-2003) | Readers Say

It's midnight and your stomach's growling. You're hungry and there's not a bite to eat in the house. You're too lazy to go out and drive to a warung (food stall) to eat. Suddenly, you hear a familiar tok-tok-tok sound in the distance, like the sound of someone hitting a piece of hollow wood with a stick. Your heart and stomach joyfully leap in relief as you instinctively salivate to the familiar sound: the tukang lewat has come to save you from your hunger pang!

During my visits to Indonesia, I discovered that no matter what time of the day you spend at home, you could never go hungry as long as tukang lewats come around and you have a few thousand rupiahs to spare in your pocket. It is very common for Indonesians to buy ready-to-eat meals from their local tukang lewat.

The tukang lewat (which literally translates to "workman by-passing" or "tukang lalu" in Bahasa Malaysia) is usually a man who pushes a 2-wheel gerobak or cart around the neighborhood and sells food of his specialty. The gerobak is usually equipped with cooking utensils such as a simple stove and kuali (wok), and a myriad supply of raw ingredients needed for the tukang lewat's cooking. The tukang lewat can be selling bakso (in which case he is referred to as the tukang bakso) - a local meatball soup dish; or if you're in the mood for fried rice, the tukang nasgor (nasi goreng) will cook a plate of delicious fried rice for you on the spot. Or, if you really would just like to have sate (skewered meat), just hang around home and wait for the tukang sate to come around, mouth-watering aroma of freshly barbequed sate kambing wafting from his gerobak and all.

"The cheaper the price is, the better the food will taste!" - Riga Saleh on tukang lewat food
Depending on the neighborhood you're in, each tukang lewat will establish his own distinguished call. It only takes a trained ear to know that the long wooden-sounding tok-tok-tok is the sign of a tukang bakso coming, or the melodic ting-ting-ting tapping of a spoon on a ceramic bowl signals that a tukang gado-gado is in the vicinity. Once you've figured out your favorite tukang lewat's special call, you would run out of the house armed with money when you heard it, and stop him to order a bite to eat. This was one exercise which I quickly learned to master when I was in Indonesia!

Savoring tukang lewat food is a favorite pastime shared by many Indonesians, young and old, rich and poor. Even in the most posh areas of Jakarta, one can find tukang lewats making their rounds, seducing potential customers with aromatic smells of their food.

Food purchased from a tukang lewat is commonly known as makanan jajan; the word jajan meaning 'spend' implies a price that is affordable by even school children. It is not a wonder why most Indonesian children often come home from school with no appetite to eat home cooked meals, as most kids like eating tasty jajan food after school hours.

Riga, a Jakartan friend of mine, made an interesting observation of the many years she's had tukang lewat food. She says:

Curiously, the cheaper the price is, the better the food will taste! I've had many different kinds of bakwan, only to conclude that the less I pay for it, the tastier it will be! Believe it or not, even the smell of the kerosene used on the tukang lewat's stove can influence how good the food will turn out!

Malaysia does not have tukang lewat such as the ones I've encountered in Indonesia, which is a shame really, considering how much Malaysians love to eat at odd hours. We have to make do with our regular outings to the mamak stalls where local favorites such as roti canai and tauhu bakar often become our choices for tummy-fillers, not forgetting our teh tarik to wash it all down.

But one thing for sure, I can't wait to have my next round of cheap bakwan Malang (only Rp.3000 and absolutely scrumptious) from my favorite tukang lewat in South Jakarta. So cheap and satisfyingly yummy too!


Photo: Fairy

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WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT Tukang Lewat: Food on the Go, Indonesian style:
#22. uwah! lucky you!
where I live there are no tukang lewat

none! how depressing
Posted by nomad on 9-May-2005, 09:54 MYT

#21. eih rasanya pernah kot pergi that restaurant waktu summer 2000.. memang dekat dengan campus kan? hari tu try makan this indo dumpling sedappp
Posted by tasia on 1-May-2003, 21:24 MYT

#20. my neighbor (his wife is from indonesia)makes some kick-ass bakso! sadly she only makes it whenever there's kenduri or during hari raya.
Posted by dJ phuturecybersonique - Website   on 1-May-2003, 20:23 MYT

#19. Yum, bakso
Posted by Sigit - Website   on 30-Apr-2003, 16:27 MYT

#18. tasia: Mana2 Indonesian restaurant kat US pun ada, I'm sure. Try lah cari. Kalau nak tau kat Columbus, Ohio ada - Java Grill nama dia. Murah gile tempat tuh and food's alright. Tanya Lutfi. But a bit far lah kan from your place hehe.
Posted by Fairy on 29-Apr-2003, 17:04 MYT

#17. Fairy: oo ok.. hmm i guess bakso ni ada kat Indo je la kan..
Tasya: take care ya.. hopefully things will be better soon


Posted by tasia on 29-Apr-2003, 15:06 MYT

#16. tasia: bakso is a simple but popular indonesian meatball soup dish. from my experience, the cheaper, the better. the bakso they sell at the jkt airport sucks, if you go don't even try (I forgot the franchise name), meatball dia macam bola karet (getah).

tasya: hey there what's happening. haven't heard from you for a while. Happy Birthday btw! (i got the icq reminder).

and everyone down in Singapore. doing ok? i know things are a bit mad with the whole SARS thing.

aiie: alamak, i missed the episode again! I think the misteri nusantara featuring Ratu Laut Selatan last night is a rerun (maybe lah), because I know an episode with her story in it was aired in January, a week after I came back from Jogja (but miss jugak hehe - my colleague lah yang cerita). alaaaa..
Posted by Fairy on 29-Apr-2003, 09:47 MYT

#15. bakso tu apa?
Posted by tasia on 28-Apr-2003, 08:44 MYT

#14. Ah yes the bakso bola tennis. Always heard about it, belum pernah dicoba hehe. Ajigile.. bakso segede bola tenis bo.

I've been hearing good response abt ADA Band's new material, so am looking forward to hearing it.

CIA udah ah jangan ngirim gue email dengan kata2 yang basa basi manis...! Pokoknya kirim aja, ya? Ditunggu lho.

Redz, apa you merepek with all the philosophical jargon. Whatever is that supposed to mean anyway, can't eat fish, eat prawn oso can. Aiya. So that means you interested in the cassette, yes? No? Maybe? Waiting for me to rip it into MP3s?
Posted by Fairy on 27-Apr-2003, 21:24 MYT

#13. the bakso place jamal was refering to is actually `BLOK S`. Iya bukan mal? Disitu emang paling terkenal dengan siomay dan bakso tennisnya, dinamain bakso tennis memang karna baksonya seukuran real life TENNIS BALL. hehe .. oiya, disitu es durennya juga enak banget

Kalo fairy udah mampir2 ke BLOK-S, jangan lupa sekalian mampir ke PASARAYA BLOK-M. You know, the hiclass Indonesian culture megastore. Ive told you a million times about this place lah kan? sampe lo pusing sendiri .. hehe

Cokelat ROCKS!! .. fai udah dengerin lagu barunya ADA band blom? (sahabatku kekasihku) .. keren tuh.

email email email .. gue blom lupa kok fai! cmn lagi nyari kata2 yang best untuk ditulis didalamnya
Posted by CIA on 27-Apr-2003, 21:15 MYT

#12. Erm... it is true nowadays that u cant actually find "tukang lewat" in abundance in Malaysia, we are only stuck with the typical ice cream man/woman. But once upon a time there was an abundance of those.
Food ranges from ur typical bbq fishball (though i can only find this one in kelantan), "Ikan Singgam",(nak resepi tanya ler ) and the recently converted "Nasi Kandar" (hence the name kandar, as in being carried around on a pole). There are other food types but me and my mismanaged memory. I think I'd better stop before I babble too much.
Posted by karlbum - Website   on 26-Apr-2003, 14:26 MYT

#11. Hi Jamal, I have not had the honor to try out food di daerah blok M though I think I passed the area once with a few friends. You bet that's on my list of things to do when I'm back in Indonesia. BTW, we most unfortunately tidak ada jual bakso/bakwan here in Malaysia (unless someone else can tell me otherwise). Pity. Gue seneng makan bakwan, bisa dua mangkuk easy hehe.

Karlbum, I get what you mean by the concept of the word "Jajaan" instead of "jajan".
Posted by Fairy on 26-Apr-2003, 07:08 MYT

#10. wonders if u ever thought of manipulating the word 'jajan' .... try putting an 'a' there... "jajaan".... so it would be "makanan jajaan" which in that case would carry a different meaning but implies on the same thing? am i making sense
Posted by karlbum - Website   on 25-Apr-2003, 23:44 MYT

#9. yup...memang dengin music melulu kadang membosenin.
Mengenai 'tukang lewat' favorit gua ya penjual bakso...hmm, apalagi pas hujan-hujan. Tapi pengalaman menunjukkan bakso yang dijual di kios/rumah makan lebih lezat dibanding yang lewat di depan rumah. Dan jelas agak lebih mahal sedikit.
fairy pernah nggak sempat coba bakso di sekitar blok m (lupa daerah persisnya, pokoknya deket lapangan bola). Populer banget lo walaupun rumah makannya hanya tenda begitu.
O ya di malaysia ada bakso? bakwan?

Posted by jamal on 25-Apr-2003, 16:03 MYT

#8. hehe emang sih tukang teh tarik ngga sepopuler tukang2 lainnya. Tapi waktu igue lagi maen di rumah temen gue di daerah kalibata, ada tukang teh tarik lewat! it was a new experience for me too lah .. so there, eat your heart out chopstix plaza indonesia

eniweis mba fairy, kenapa nih minat terhadap musik Indo lagi aga mellow? bosen sama tipe musiknya yang begitu2 sajakah? atau belom ketemu grup musik atau penyanyi baru yang sreg di hati? hehe .. kalo menurut gue sekarang justru lagi banyak2nya loh fai band2 dan penyanyi2 baru yang unik2 dan bagus2.apapun deh, mudah2an kemellowan ini sifatnya temporary! have faith ya!! hehe
Posted by CIA on 24-Apr-2003, 22:08 MYT

#7. tasia, the word "lewat" here is not the same "lewat" we are accustomed with in BM (lambat); instead the word "lewat" in tukang lewat means "lalu", so literally "tukang lalu" lah. I did some editing in my article (3rd paragraph) to clarify this.

and yeah, I did some reorganizing in my articles, so now they're categorized if you look under Story Archive. I added links to my academic research papers from my uni days too, if anyone cares to use them as resources for their future project.

CIA, masa sih di Indo orang minum teh tarik? I hear it's not that popular there, in fact hard to get (kata anak2 sih). Unless you go eat at Chopstick di Plaza Indonesia.
Posted by Fairy on 24-Apr-2003, 17:20 MYT

#6. what's the meaning of tukang lewat? the person who came in late ke?
Posted by tasia on 24-Apr-2003, 15:38 MYT

#5. The luscious miss fairy? Alamak.

BTW CIA, you owe me a very overdue email. Kapan lah?

As for 'membela2' Taman Sari (as you say it), I thought the experience was very fun considering the situation we had put ourselves with climbing the darn building. I love relics and thought the place was awesome. Plus the day I actually went to the official Kraton, it was closed due to some official visit from some VIP. The guard at the gate however was willing to let us in, but for extra money (read: "duit kopi"). Malasnya. We instead shifted our attention to the musium kuda hehe.

I do have one other story of my Jogja trip (if we're lucky, we'll see two more) which I have not yet written, I know my chronolgy is a bit messed up but better late than never.
I have a gajillion things I'd like to write about Indonesia at the moment (ideas suddenly sparked), and I'm churning them out as fast as I can.

And CIA, thanks a million for your input on the different kinds of tukang lewat there are in Indonesia. Perhaps I should write another article with the same the theme to include all the types that you have mentioned. Or maybe give you the honors instead.

Umberto, thanks for coming. Any friend of Jeroen's is a friend of mine. Welcome!
Posted by Fairy on 24-Apr-2003, 14:08 MYT

#4. my Indonesian-article-d etector berbunyi kencang seiring dengan turunnya artikel baru dari the luscious miss fairy. Saatnya menjalankan rutinitas memberikan komentar2 sudut pandang dari anak Indo sendiri! hehe

actually I thought there were still some more articles regarding jogja, hehe .. ternyata tidak. Just wondering fairy, kenapa juga bela2in ke water castle yang kosong and miss out the real keraton `castle`, they have official tour guides and stuff .. hehe

anywayss .. abang tukang jajanan!! makanan wajib selama di Indonesia! the article is very well put fai.

Kalo menurut gue, tukang lewat di Jakarta itu terbagi atas 5 bagian.

1. Tukang lewat makanan besar (meal): bakso, mie ayam, soto ayam, soto kudus, ketoprak, lontong sayur, nasi goreng, sate ayam, sate padang, siomay, kwetiauw, nasi uduk, gado-gado, kerak telor, Bubur ayam (pagi only) dll dll dll masih banyak lagi

2. Tukang lewat jajanan (snack):
Gorengan (tahu, bakwan, pisang, ubi, tempe dll), Pisang Molen, Rujak, Rujak bebek, Tahu Gejrot, Burger, Hotdog, Kue Cubit, Kue2an, Telor mangkok, Martabak Manis, Martabak Telor dll dll

3. Tukang lewat minuman
Es teler, Es campur, Cincau, Cendol, Bajigur, Teh Tarik, Es Goyang, Es Puter, dll dll

4. Tukang lewat service (jasa)
Tukang sol sepatu (fix shoes and stuff), Tukang pijat, Buntil, Tukang loak, Topeng Monyet, dll dll dll

5. Tukang lewat barang2 lain
tukang mainan, tukang sayur, tukang perabotan rumah tangga, Tukang majalah, dll dll dll

I know I missed heaps of other types of tukang2an. I`ll add some more lah kalo tiba tiba teringat lagi .. hehe mmuahhh

Posted by CIA on 23-Apr-2003, 21:57 MYT

#3. ahaks how i wish that "lagi murah lagi sedap" to really work here..

aiie: rasanya edane tu, rock-metal is it? ehe am not very familiar with genres.. but do listen to their song "kau fikir kaulah segalanya" ganas betul..
Posted by tasia on 22-Apr-2003, 14:08 MYT

#2. lagi murah lagi sedap! aiseh.. kalau slalu camtu kan bess..
Posted by lutfi on 21-Apr-2003, 07:03 MYT

#1. bang beli bakwan bang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by sakitjiwa on 20-Apr-2003, 01:30 MYT

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