Two students from the Department of Hotel Management of the Humanities Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) garnered a new accomplishment through their chicken curry. Recently, these two students won first place at a national cooking contest place hosted by a Tourism School in Yogyakarta, on Saturday, February 8th, 2025.

Those two students were freshmen, comprised of Joshua Cung and Muhammad Ivan Syahputra. The cooking competition employed the theme of ‘Taste of Java.’ On that occasion, participants were allowed to cook any Javanese cuisine, with bird meat being the main ingredient. 

Joshua explained that they chose Indonesian chicken curry with rice and sambal as their cuisine. They particularly chose chicken curry, as it was simple and familiar among Indonesian folks, particularly those of Javanese origins.

“We think that every one of Javanese origins has ever tried this cuisine at least once, especially during particular religious celebrations. The difference between our chicken curry and generic one is mainly the look,” he emphasized.

The look of the cuisine includes the food layout, portions, and unique plating. Despite using modern plating, they managed to keep the original taste intact. 

“We have also conducted a survey beforehand to compare several recipes of chicken curry. It was done to ensure that we can come up with the best recipe possible,” Joshua added.

Furthermore, Ivan explained that there were three cooking techniques they employed during the cooking contest, including boiling, steaming, and sauteed. Boiling was employed to make the broth and curry, while the sauteed technique was used to make the spice.

“Meanwhile, the steaming technique is employed by utilizing the bone part, which looks like drum sticks, then, we added minced meat and steamed it all together. After that, we pan-seared the meat to create a natural coloring, allowing it to look better,” he uttered.

With the correct cooking technique and teamwork, they managed to minimize mistakes and make a phenomenal cuisine. The first place was truly a prideful spectacle showcased by the cooking prowess of Udinus students.

“Hopefully, we can improve upon this in the future by learning new things and insight. We would also like to not only stop here but also win other cooking contests,” Ivan concluded. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Dok. Pribadi)