HIS name was Khoe Tjong Hok. After going through a grievous divorce from his wife, he departed his home in Semarang, Central Java, leaving behind his wealthy father and an infant son. On foot, he embarked on a journey northeast.

It was said that he walked past Ungaran then traveled across Tuntang River. From there, his travel course bears resemblance to the one traveled by French poet Arthur Rimbaud when he was sent to his military camp in Salatiga.

Just like Rimbaud, Khoe Tjong Hok stopped at Salatiga. In that colonial city, he was greeted by an old temple where he decided to stay the night. Yet, unlike Rimbaud whose visit spanned less than two weeks, or the other travelers who stayed for no more than three days, the man never returned home.

The temple became a place for Khoe Tjong Hok to settle and serve as its long-time caretaker. He later married a Javanese woman whom he loved and had five children with her. Aside from starting a new family, he also invented the triangular prism-shaped snack known to this day as one of Salatiga specialties: enting-enting gepuk.

The House of the Earth God

The red crimson gate is guarded by two long-tailed mighty dragons. Hanging at the top center of the gate is a black sign with golden letters which read "T.T.I.D. Hok Tek Bio" along with another line of Chinese characters.

Like most temples, Hok Tek Bio is very distinctive for its red color domination that contrasts the other buildings situated at Jalan Sukowati, Salatiga. Entering the front yard, two giant hiolos shaped like a Chinese calabash that were used as jars to burn hio or prayer paper will easily capture anyone’s attention.

The main building of Hok Tek Bio temple is a 4x4 meter square room with ceilings built from mahogany-colored large woods that seem to have lasted for ages. It is where Hok Tek Tjing Sien, The Earth God, reigns as the owner of the place. Its magnificent altar is flanked by the God of Honesty and the God of Protection.

Mounted on the wall east side of the Earth God's room, a marble inscription with ancient Chinese characters symbolizing the restoration taking place in 1872 can be found with the names of the donors inscribed on it. However, the exact time of when the temple was built remains unknown to date. What is clear is that Hok Tek Bio has been serving as the epicentrum of the Chinese community in Salatiga much longer than people can recall.

Half of the people comprising Salatiga’s Chinese community came from the outskirts. They inhabited the Soloscheweg (Jalan Solo), which is famously known now as Jalan Jenderal Sudirman.

"Some came from Kopeng, some were from Bringin and Suruh," explained Sony Ho, a trustee of Yayasan Tri Darma Hok Tek Bio, referring to several districts in Semarang Regency.

Sony recounted how Hok Tek Bio temple became a place of sojourn for Chinese traders and travelers from the neighboring towns. These travelers were mostly hikers or traders that brought a cart along with them.

Sony's story corresponds with what was mentioned by the newspaper De Locomotief about toapekong (a worshiped god statue) in Hok Tek Bio temple that vanished in 1939.

"It is suspected to be stolen, since the temple was home for a lot of people coming outside of Salatiga, who came here looking for good fortunes by isolating in a room for a few days. It was said that the latest visitor was a Chinese from Pekalongan," wrote De Locomotief on 26 September 1939.

The stealing was quite foreseeable since the House of the Earth God was always open to anyone in need for a shelter. More than a decade before the disappearance of the toapekong, a Chinese man arrived there after his long journey from Semarang. He was received by the Earth God and spent the remainder of his life there.

The Caretaker

Khoe Tjong Hok was born in Fukien (Fujian), a province in the southern coast of mainland China, in 1882. He and his family migrated to Semarang with a big ship in the early 1920s. His father, Khoe Beng Na, was a well-known and wealthy physician. When he passed away in 1935, Khoe Beng Na's coffin was made into the shape of a ship, a reminiscence to one momentous part of his life.

Khoe Tjong Hok was accompanied by his wife Oei Tan Nio to Semarang. The couple was blessed with a daughter named Khoe Djoen Nio who was born in Semarang in 1926. Despite that, this family of physicians apparently didn't stay together for long.

"I don't know the exact year, but they divorced because they constantly argued," said Hartono, Khoe Tjong Hok's grandchild.

After the divorce, Khoe Tjong Hok left his family, following the south route that brought him to Salatiga, a colonial city on the east mountainside of Mount Merbabu. He then resided at the old temple of the Earth God, Hok Tek Bio, serving as a caretaker.

The city of Salatiga seemingly gave Khoe Tjong Hok a perennial comfort. It was also where he met a Javanese woman named Suminah. They both fell in love, got married, and lived together while taking care of the temple. Their first child Khoe Poo Liong soon came to the world in 1928.

As a caretaker, Khoe Tjong Hok considered his job as a devotion, thus expecting none in return. He was thankful enough for having a home to shelter and food ration to feed his family. However, the need to provide for his little family motivated him to start selling peanuts at the temple’s front gate. From that small venture, he was inspired to create a new type of snack with more value to offer.

Khoe Tjong Hok eventually came with the idea to add sugar to the plain peanuts, not just as a coat that resembles regular candied nuts, but as an important ingredient that turns the peanuts into a confection with an innovative triangular prism shape that is now famous as enting-enting gepuk. It was 1929.

Peanuts and Sugar

The process of making enting-enting gepuk is no easy task. Khoe Tjong Hok had to find a large-sized river stone, shaping it into a square slab and sharpening it, transforming it into a practical base like a mortar to pound the peanuts. The pounding bat was then made out of sapodilla wood carved into a cylinder onto which a handle was then added. The strong and flexible sapodilla wood was perfect to pound the peanuts as it was known for its sturdiness.

Winiarti, Khoe Tjong Hok's granddaughter who continues her family's legacy in producing enting-enting gepuk, explains the lengthy process of making the beloved Salatiga's confection.

First, the peanuts are roasted, not fried, in an iron barrel until turning yellow in color, after which they are left to cool. The completely cooled off peanuts are then grounded to shed the remaining skin while the top part of the peanut is separated.

Next, the prepared peanuts are cooked with thick sugar liquid previously heated into a thick consistency similar to gulali (heated sugar candy). Then, the mixed peanuts and sugar are transferred into the stone mortar and pounded with the sapodilla wood. The peanuts, now crumbs, will remain intact with the help of the sticky sugar.

After being pounded into fine consistency, the peanuts and sugar are flattened with a glass bottle and shaped into a thin sheet that will later be used as the outer layer. The filling, finely pounded peanuts, was put inside the layer with which it will be stretched altogether. The next step is to shape the peanuts and sugar mix into a long triangle using two long flat wooden sticks, slice it into small triangular prisms, and finally wrap each piece with a thin paper.

"In the beginning, they used dried bamboo leaves to wrap it," said Winiarti.

Hartono stated that before enting-enting gepuk came into existence, a similar snack was also sold in China. However, the native Chinese snack was only made of pounded plain peanuts and sugar which are molded into a round shape.

"In China, the peanuts and sugar mix was rolled up and cut into a round shape," explained Hartono.

At first, Khoe Tjong Hok made enting-enting gepuk in small batches, and only sold it during Chinese celebration days such as New Year and Cap Go Meh. Surprisingly, the crunchy enting-enting gepuk was loved by many, and the overflowing requests came beyond the holidays.

Khoe Tjong Hok's family was also growing along with the business. He and Suminah had five children: Khoe Poo Liong, Khoe Djioe Nio, Khoe Tang Nio, Khoe Poo Soen, and Khoe Poo Hauw.

Lanny Kurniawati, Khoe Djioe Nio's daughter, claimed that the popularity of enting-enting gepuk rose in almost no time, and the reputation wasn't exclusive to the Chinese community.

"After some time, enting-enting gepuk grew its own customer base that helped develop its identity. People who visited Salatiga would buy enting-enting gepuk and bring it home. You could only find it at the right side of the temple's entrance gate," said Lanny.

Seeing his snack creation getting more recognition, Khoe Tjong Hok decided to expand his business by selling it in front of the cinema not far from the temple. With a tampah (big round bamboo plate) and a basket filled with enting-enting gepuk, his children peddled the sweet snack to the moviegoers.

"The buyers were mostly the colonists. My mom (Khoe Tang Nio) carried the basket to sell enting-enting gepuk," said Hartono.

<div class="flex-content-podcast"><figure class="img-left"><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62258bcf971cfa1d5f53bb7c_Intersection%209.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Enting-enting gepuk. (Fernando Randy/Historia.ID)</figcaption></figure><div class="img-right"><div class="podcast-container"><img alt="person" class="entered loaded" data-ll-status="loaded" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62258bd5ab1e8668554bc70d_Intersection%2010.jpg"><div class="audio-podcast"><audio controls controlsList="nodownload"><source src="https://d220hvstrn183r.cloudfront.net/premium/kacang-gula-dan-laki-laki-dari-fukien/Winiarti%20podcast.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">Your browser does not support the audio element.</audio></div></div><div class="caption"><span><b>Winarti.</b><br>Khoe Tjong Hok’s granddaughter. (Personal document).</span></div></div></div>

Sederhana Shop

When Japan occupied Indonesia in 1942, Khoe Tjong Hok's family was forced to flee to Boyolali, halting their enting-enting gepuk business. The family was trying to make ends meet by selling batik cloth fabric they brought from Salatiga. The dark cloud of sorrow didn’t leave the family soon enough, as Suminah passed away a day before the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence.

Khoe Tjong Hok eventually brought his family back to Salatiga in the 1950s. The ruins of the war were still evident. The Chinese houses and shopping complex in Soloscheweg victims to fire could only be traced by the distinctive saddle-shaped walls called ngang shan unique to Chinese houses.

<div class="strect-width-img"><figure><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62258bdcb2da990b03fbfaea_Intersection%2011.jpg" alt="img"></div> <figcaption>Chinese houses and shopping complex in Soloscheweg (now Jalan Jenderal Sudirman) destroyed in 1947. (Nationaal Archief)</figcaption></figure></div>

Khoe Tjong Hok, once again, embarked on the task to revive and grow his enting-enting gepuk business. The marketing effort was redoubled. The promotion was boosted. In 1963, an advertisement of the famed enting-enting gepuk appeared in Mingguan Djaja magazine: "Send Rp630,- and you will receive a package of 100 pieces of delicious enting-enting gepuk." The advertisement was placed in the national magazine by Toko Idjo from Jalan Kotapradja Salatiga.

Khoe Tjong Hok's enting-enting gepuk business was thriving, until another grief loomed over Hok Tek Bio temple. On 2 March 1971, Khoe Tjong Hok, the man from Fukien who invented enting-enting gepuk, died at the age of 89.

After learning that Khoe Tjong Hok's body wasn't allowed to be put inside the temple for viewing, Khoe Djioe Nio, his second child, decided to purchase a small house across the temple. Khoe Tjong Hok's body was placed in this house for around five days before being buried.

Subsequent to Khoe Tjong Hok's death, it was only Khoe Djioe Nio among his children who continued the business. Initially bought as a funeral home, the building was turned into a production house where Khoe Djioe Nio picked up the sapodilla wood once again to pound the peanuts and sugar. In addition to a production house, it was also reconstructed into a shop called Sederhana Shop (Toko Sederhana).

As enting-enting gepuk was already well-known, it was rather easy for Sederhana Shop to attract customers. Some of them were tourists coming to buy enting-enting gepuk as souvenirs or to be resold.

"Noticing the immense enthusiasm from the customers, my mother asked me and her other siblings to co-produce enting-enting gepuk," said Lanny.

In 1973, Khoe Poo Liong, Khoe Tjong Hok's first child, produced enting-enting gepuk from his house in Kalinyamat, just a few hundred meters from the temple.

<div class="flex-content-podcast"><figure class="img-left"><div><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62258bf00c73e03e156a712c_Intersection%2012.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Storefront of Sederhana Shop. (Setyaji Risky Utomo)</figcaption></figure><div class="img-right"><div class="podcast-container"><img alt="person" class="entered loaded" data-ll-status="loaded" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/62258be5dcbb80e5a8639503_Intersection%2013.jpg"><div class="audio-podcast"><audio controls controlsList="nodownload"><source src="https://d220hvstrn183r.cloudfront.net/premium/kacang-gula-dan-laki-laki-dari-fukien/Lany%20K%20podcast.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">Your browser does not support the audio element.</audio></div></div><div class="caption"><span><b>Lanny K.</b><br>Khoe Tjong Hok’s granddaughter. (Personal document).</span></div></div></div>

Klenteng & 2 Hoolo

At that time, there was only one kind of enting-enting gepuk on the market. As it became incredibly popular, the other versions of enting-enting gepuk made by other families started to emerge. Khoe Poo Liong and Khoe Djioe Nio knew they had to use a specific brand to differentiate the enting-enting gepuk inherited by their father Khoe Tjong Hok with the rest.

Khoe Poo Liong finally decided to use the brand Klenteng (temple) to symbolize the place enting-enting gepuk originated, while Khoe Djioe Nio chose the name 2 Hoolo as her brand name because the two hiolos (styled as "hoolo") in front of the temple would be easy to remember. Enting-enting gepuk under 2 Hoolo brand by Khoe Djioe Nio was co-produced by her siblings Khoe Tang Nio in Kalibodri, Khoe Poo Soen in Kalinyamat, and Khoe Poo Hauw in Jalan Senjoyo, all one meter away from the temple.

"They were basically two different brands with similar filling and taste," said Lanny.

However, a lot of customers were confused because there were two brands that claimed as the original enting-enting gepuk made from Khoe Tjong Hok's recipe. To avoid more trouble, the five siblings finally decided on one brand. They combined the names Klenteng and 2 Hoolo into a brand: Klenteng & 2 Hoolo, the legendary brand preferred by tourists who are looking to buy enting-enting gepuk.

Unfortunately, in 1977, Khoe Djioe Nio with her Sederhana Shop had to deal with production difficulties. Situated among the crowded shopping complex, the shop was refrained from the production permit. Apparently, the pounding sound from the sapodilla wood also disturbed the neighbors around the temple. The untimely obstacle forced Sederhana Shop to completely halt their production and only exclusively sell enting-enting gepuk produced by Khoe Djioe Nio's siblings.

"From Kalinyamat, they brought the product with a cart, while some carried it with a shawl. There were three people from Kalibodri who walked on foot. Each person could carry three besek (bamboo containers)," said Lanny.

Despite the adversity, enting-enting gepuk business was flourishing. Hartono still remembers precisely, in 1978 when he was 10 years old, he had to help his mother, Khoe Tang Nio, Khoe Tjong Hok's third child, in making enting-enting gepuk, despite having employees to do all the work.

"We still used cutters to cut and shape it into a square. The seal was still manually done. We still used manual stamps," said Hartono.

To accommodate the growing customers and increasing orders of enting-enting gepuk in Sederhana Shop, Khoe Djioe Nio and her siblings divided the distribution. The decision was that each production house would manage their own customers, although Sederhana Shop would still get its products supplied by the other production houses.

One Family

Khoe on the left hiolo and xiōngdì jiěmèi on the right hiolo. Khoe signifies the family name, while xiōngdì jiěmèi means siblings. Khoe Tjong Hok’s children wrote those names with Chinese characters on the paper wrap of their enting-enting gepuk brand as a symbol of unity of Khoe Tjong Hok's family.

Even though all five siblings from the second generation continued their father's enting-enting gepuk business, not all of Khoe Tjong Hok's descendants still carried on his legacy, as there are only three families from the third generation that still produce enting-enting gepuk until today.

Khoe Poo Liong, Khoe Tjong Hok's first child, passed away in 1990. His production business was inherited to his adopted son, Khoe Yu Che, who changed his name to Yusuf Hidayatullah upon converting to Islam. Yusuf passed away in 2019, inheriting an enting-enting gepuk factory with a mosque shaped like a temple beside it to his wife, Juwariah.

Khoe Djioe Nio, the second child, who had stopped producing enting-enting gepuk since 1977, passed away in 2009. She passed down Sederhana Shop to Lanny Kurniawati. Khoe Tang Nio, the third child, died in 2010. The production of enting-enting gepuk was resumed by her third child, Hartono, in 1990. Meanwhile, none of Khoe Poo Soen's children continued the business and chose another job instead, until Poo Soen's passing in 2010. On the other hand, Khoe Poo Hauw's business is still run by his wife Oh Fang Ing and their daughter Winiarti to date. Khoe Poo Hauw passed away in 2007.

The spirit of Xiōngdì jiěmèi remains close to the third generation of Khoe Tjong Hok's family. They all use one brand. Every descendant of Khoe Tjong Hok is allowed to use Klenteng & 2 Hoolo brand. Each has their own customer base with an unwritten rule to always maintain fair competition among them.

"There is only one brand, Klenteng & 2 Hoolo. We never, as in the Javanese sayings, ngrusuhi (bother each other)," said Hartono.

<div class="infografis-content text-center"><script src="//my.visme.co/visme-embed.js"></script><div class="visme_d" data-title="KHOE TJONG HOK INGGRIS" data-url="vd7nnjv3-khoe-tjong-hok-inggris" data-w="720" data-h="1374" data-domain="my"></div></div>

Crumbs of Blessings

The expanding market of enting-enting gepuk opens the door of opportunity for the others to produce the sweet confection under their own brands. Most of them were former employees of the Klenteng & 2 Hoolo brand.

"Since 1975, there was already an employee of my uncle, Khoe Poo Liong, who resigned and opened his own shop and factory. His children (continue the business), until now," explained Hartono.

Hartono mentioned, there are almost a hundred different brands of enting-enting gepuk in Salatiga, with brand names such as Gedung, Naga Bintang, Rumah, Noga, Arya Mas, Kuda Berlian, Dua Pohon Kelapa, Pohon Cemara, Koi, and Taj Mahal. However, some of them only produce enting-enting gepuk ahead of Idul Fitri celebrations.

The inevitable reproduction of enting-enting gepuk under new brands used to bother Hartono. Although the Klenteng & 2 Hoolo brand is relatively popular, customers still find it difficult to set it apart with the other available brands, which is largely caused by the resemblance of their brand images to Klenteng & 2 Hoolo's.

In 1990, when he had just started running the business passed down by his mother, Hartono tried to change their packaging to contrast the other brands. However, the change was eventually adopted by those brands.

"Once, I changed the plastic wrap's color into green, and they all changed into green afterwards. I changed to red, they also changed it to red. The wrap was changed to yellow and they all changed to yellow. I guess if I change the illustration to a rainbow, they'll also do the same," said Hartono.

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Aside from colors, the illustrations printed on the wrap of other brands' enting-enting gepuk are also similar to the illustration of Klenteng & 2 Hoolo. A brand called Rumah (house), for instance, has an illustration similar to a temple. Meanwhile, Gedung Batu (stone building) attaches an illustration of a building resembling a temple with two pagodas on each side. Even brands whose names have nothing in relation to building would have a temple as the illustration on its packaging.

"Burung (bird) brand has a bird sitting on a temple. They all have their own way to make it as similar as possible," joked Hartono.

On the other hand, some brands such as Pohon Cemara and Dua Pohon Kelapa only replicate the distinctive yellow color, with a red illustration on top of it.

"But it's alright, we all just want to earn a living. As long as they use their own brand," said Hartono. All of Khoe Tjong Hok’s descendants under Klenteng & 2 Hoolo brand understand that enting-enting gepuk has become a source of income for many people in Salatiga.

"My mother used to say that we will never lose our blessing, so we should never hinder anyone's blessings too. If they want to imitate us because they want to earn money for living, it's not a problem," said Lanny.

The Red Thread of History

The shape is a triangular prism. Once bitten, the prism will crumble into fine bits of sugar and peanuts. The taste is sweet yet a little savory. As a dry snack, enting-enting gepuk is claimed to be able to last through six months. However, storing pounded peanuts and sugar wrapped solely with paper for a long time is not really a good idea.

Enting-enting gepuk, in fact, can't last long. If it is exposed to the cold air, the peanut will turn soggy, but if it comes into contact with heat, the sugar will melt.

Lanny compares the small snack of Salatiga to the fragility of a baby. It comes as no surprise since enting-enting gepuk is still produced with the same method used for almost a century. The tools also remain unchanged: a stone mortar made out of river stone with sapodilla wood as its pounding bat, with zero use of modern machinery and preservatives commonly used nowadays, in order to preserve the genuine taste passed down by Khoe Tjong Hok. Once, they tried to make enting-enting gepuk with a blender to grind the peanuts, but it lost its shape because of the excess oil the mixture produced.

Winiarti admitted, just like many other things in this world, enting-enting gepuk's taste has actually gone through several changes, largely because of the declining quality of sugar. According to her, the best quality sugar is the crystal sugar that is yellow in color, which now is quite rare to find.

"The best kind of sugar is the cane sugar that is old, but most sugar nowadays is harvested even before they are ready. That's why the original version of enting-enting gepuk is so much tastier than today's enting-enting gepuk," said Winiarti.

Despite that, Winiarti, Hartono, and Lanny hope that enting-enting gepuk will go through the test of time and continue to be produced, and that the pounding sound of sapodilla wood while mixing the peanuts and sugar will always be heard every morning from their production houses.

Besides being the backbone of many other families' economy, enting-enting gepuk is also the red thread that connects their own family's history, an invaluable legacy from their ancestor who walked on foot from Semarang to Salatiga almost a century ago. His name was Khoe Tjong Hok.*