By Daniel.          

Have you heard about ‘Reshik’ noodle? This name is not yet commonly heard. Indeed, the popular name is actually 'lethek' noodle. ‘Lethek’ means dirty or dull, because the appearance of the noodles is not white or bright yellow. The term ‘Reshik’ with the meaning of clean, is a way to promote and to rebrand cassava-based noodles so that consumers are curious and 'literate' about locally made and low-gluten food.

The processing of ‘Reshik’ noodles is an activity of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta in a series of Food Diversity: Local Food Initiative programs to convince young people and students that local food has prospective and healthy business opportunities. This exposure activity to process ‘Reshik’ noodles was held at the resto and factories of ‘Reshik’ noodle with ‘Dokar’ brand in Poncosari, Srandakan, Bantul, Yogyakarta Special Region (12/16/2023). Students must get to know the potency of local food in Indonesia because the Ministry of Agriculture notices that Indonesia is rich of potency with 77 sources of carbohydrates, from corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, cassava, sago, sorghum and other types. Even students are expected to have the skills how to process them into ready to process and even ready to eat products.

This exposure or study visit opens students' insights how to process cassava into healthy noodles because it is low in gluten and students practice to cook boiled and fried noodles. The students met the owner of  ‘Reshik’ noodle with ‘Dokar’ brand, Fx. Subeno. He said that the achievement to this point was a long process in his life, from wandering with various jobs to finally working to produce noodles. Initially he only supplied flour for noodle and cracker factories, but since 2014 he started a noodle-making business under the name ‘Talang Berkah Jaya’ under the label of ‘Reshik’ noodle with ‘Dokar’ brand.

He explained the stages of making ‘Reshik’ noodles, from the very beginning stage by soaking cassava flour to get clean flour, then adding clean tapioca flour with a composition of 40:60. Then this mixture is ground for two hours using a special design machine until the dough is well mixed. Then with a certain thickness the dough is steamed until cooked and ground again until it is completely chewy. The next stage is to mold the dough into long granules, steam and drain for one night. From the indoor stage, the next process is to dry the noodles under the sun until they are completely dry. The final stage is packaging based on weight. The production process of two tons of ‘Reshik’ noodles takes about three to five days depending on the intensity of sun exposure.

From the observation of noodle production, the participants were invited to practice cooking with FX Subeno. He guided each participant to cook boiled and fried noodles covering preparing utensils and ingredients, measuring seasonings, and cooking steps and length of cooking. It turned out that not all participants achieved good cooking results, some were overcooked and some were not evenly mixed, but it did not reduce the enthusiasm of the participants for them to learn and enjoy their cooks. FX Subeno also explained the prospect of ‘Reshik’ noodle becoming a culinary business with local, healthy ingredients and unique flavors.

This exposure experience is opening an alternative job for students, especially by utilizing the potential of local food in their respective regions, related to cassava cultivation, utilizing post-harvest, and even processing cassava-based ingredients into ready-to-eat products. It's time for young people to work! ***

By Lidia Dwijayanti Meike Ullo.          

I am Lidia Dwijayanti Meike Ullo, a student from Ndonbey village, Warmare, Manokwari, West Papua who is studying in the Indonesian Digital Technology University of Yogyakarta, Informatics study program. This article is the result of a long thought to have the courage to express my experiences in writing after I attended the Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta training on Social Entrepreneurship. As a young person I was encouraged to initiate a business venture to solve social problems.

Young people are the generation that can bring change, but it is in contradiction what actually happened in my village. Young people prefer to get married at an early age even though they are not yet working. At the end, they were forced to drop out of school because they got married. On the other hand, young people who returned from college in other cities did not make a difference, even though my region has various resources to open job opportunities. The reality is most people who work as farmers, entrepreneurs, or office workers, are mostly elder people. Even they are married, their parents still pay their living cost.

The young people in the Warmare district are skilled in handicrafts and agriculture, but they find that it is difficult to develop their talents because they do not know how to start. From this situation I am challenged to find a way out of this problem by taking steps, first, communicating directly, discussing and analyzing the potencies that exist with them. Next, in the field of crafts, they can make ‘noken’ or traditional Papuan bags, bamboo combs, traditional crowns, home ornaments, various accessories for necklaces, glasses, earrings, headbands, and other products.

From these findings, I have an idea to guide and assist them to collect the potencies to be processed into crafts that will be sold at reasonable prices. With a variety of creativity and local wisdom, the products have their uniqueness and advantages. I started to market them in various ways, such as through social media, markets, tourist attractions, friendship networks, and exhibitions. I work with local youth, institutions, people who care, business agents, and the government to support this activity so that the process of selling handicrafts becomes easier. In this way, the products are increasingly known by many people and there are more and more enthusiasts, as proved by the handicraft products being sold to Yogyakarta, Bekasi, Cirebon, and several other cities.

Through this process, when there are potential buyers, I offer it to the young people in Ndonbey who are ready to make it. Finished products will be entrusted to a friend who is going to Java, for example, Yogyakarta, and the products will be sent from Yogyakarta to the customer to reduce shipping costs. The increase number of buyers generates more income because the marketing target is not only for adults, but can be accepted by all groups from children, teenagers, youth, and public.

I do this not for personal gain but for the common good, especially to get young people out of unemployment in my village. In this way, I can create job opportunities, fill their spare time and produce worth-selling products. It is expected that with this small action, gradually the social problems in Ndonbey can be resolved and young people can be independent with their abilities. ***