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 and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, approximately 46 km northeast of

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth mos ...

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

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super fi ...

which 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 named

Willem Daendels Herman Willem Daendels (21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818) was a Dutch revolutionary, general and politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811. Early life Born in Hattem, Netherlands, on 21 Octobe ...

during the first quarter of the 19th century. The section is famous due to 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 ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

during her old age, after she was captured during the

Aceh War The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represe ...

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

Culinary

The Sumedang town is well-known for its

fried tofu Tahu goreng (Indonesian spelling) or Tauhu goreng (Malaysian and Singaporean spelling) is a generic name for any type of fried tofu dish in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Preparation When preparing the dish, cakes of har ...

called tahu sumedang, 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. It lies adjacent to and directly north of Xiamen. Anxi is well known for a number of varieties of Oolong tea, the best-known of wh ...

Quanzhou Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a populat ...

City, Hokkian Province, China, 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 id:Kabupaten Sumedang jv:Kabupatèn Sumedang nl:Sumedang no:Sumedang ro:Sumedang su:Kabupatén Sumedang