Out of sympathy, an indigenous businessman from Jamblang, Abdul Latief, asked his wife Tan Piauw Lun (Nyonya Pulung), to provide alms in the form of rice and side dishes. The rice was wrapped in teak leaves and given to factory workers. Nyonya Pulung chose teak leaves to wrap rice because according to her it has a rough texture and did not get torn easily.
The demand soon took off. It became popular. Abdul Latif’s family initially gave the rice for free. But the workers felt they had to pay for the food. To compensate, the workers agreed to gather the small amount of money they had and pay Nyonya Pulung.
This was the origin story of Nyonya Pulung’s Jamblang rice eatery. At that time, there were only seven kinds of side dishes, namely jerky laos, fried kebuk (cow lung), fried chili sauce, fried tempeh, fried tofu, tofu vegetables, and cucut fish.
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Warung Jamblang Nyonya Pulung still exists today. It has inspired others to also set up Jamblang rice stalls which can be easily found in Cirebon. Nyonya Pulung’s business has been passed down to the next generation which changed the name to “Nasi Jamblang Tulen” (The Original Jamblang Rice). (un)
