Sumedang (former spelling: Soemedang) is a town in Western Java,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, approximately 46 km northeast of

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

. It is the capital of Sumedang Regency. The town is just south of the volcanic Mount Tampomas, which is 1,684 m (5,525 ft) high and is usually climbed from Cimalaka District, 7 km from Sumedang. Sumedang's museum, Prabu Geusan Ulun, houses a collection of traditional Sundanese weaponry, as well as some

crown jewels Crown jewels are the objects of metalwork and jewellery in the regalia of a current or former monarchy. They are often used for the coronation of a monarch and a few other ceremonial occasions. A monarch may often be shown wearing them in portra ...

and other finery. It is on Geusan Ulun Road. The town is famous for '' Sumedang tofu'', a local variety of deep-fried

tofu or bean curd is a food prepared by Coagulation (milk), coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', and ''extra (or super) firm''. It originated in Chin ...

that was first made by a Chinese immigrant, Ong Kino. In the district surrounding the town lies Cadas Pangeran, a section of the trans-Java postal road constructed on the order of Dutch governor Willem Daendels during the first quarter of the 19th century. The section is famous due to the difficulty during the construction, which required blasting of a mountainside. Hence "cadas" which means mountain rock in Sundanese. The section was finished due to cooperation between the governor, regent Kusumadinata known as "pangeran kornel", and the people of Sumedang, although with considerable ill-feeling on the part of the regent and the people due to forced labor practice. A statue commemorating this event is erected on the section. The town housed the exiled Indonesian national heroine (female hero) named Cut Nyak Dhien from

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

during her old age, after she was captured during the

Aceh War The Aceh War (), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. Her tomb is near the town.

Culinary

The Sumedang town is well-known for its fried tofu called

tahu sumedang Tahu sumedang or Tahu bunkeng (Sumedangite tofu, bunkeng tofu) is a Sundanese cuisine, Sundanese deep-fried tofu from Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia. Characteristic Tahu sumedang characteristics are its content half empty or completely empty. It ...

, which its original name was "tahu bunkeng". Tahu Bunkeng is one of the oldest

stores in the city of Sumedang. The authentic "Bunkeng" tofu was first made by a Chinese immigrant by the name of Ong Kino, who came from

Anxi County () is a county of the prefecture-level city of Quanzhou, in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China with 1,003,599 inhabitants ( 2020 census). It lies adjacent to and directly north of Xiamen city. Anxi is well known for a number ...

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

City, Hokkian Province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in the early 20th century. "Tahu Bunkeng" outlet is located in Sumedang's city centre on Jalan 11 April No. 53, Tegalkalong. There are several branches in the city on Jalan M. Abdurahman No. 50, Jalan M. Abdurahnam No. 155, and Jalan Prabu Gajah Agung.

References

sumedangkabsumedang.org
{{Authority control Populated places in West Java ace:Kabupaten Sumedang fr:Kabupaten de Sumedang jv:Kabupatèn Sumedang nl:Sumedang no:Sumedang ro:Sumedang su:Kabupatén Sumedang Cimanuk basin