Food Craft - Fit For A Queen
The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel|Issue 23

The love and dedication Aliya Widjaya has for her handcrafted lemper make every bite that much more delicious.

Xie Hui Qun
Food Craft - Fit For A Queen

Aliya Widjaya never thought she would be running her own business. The founder of Ratu Lemper came to Singapore from Jakarta, Indonesia, when she was just 12 years old. After her studies here, she went on to do her business degree in the US before returning to Singapore to work. In 2008, she left her job to care for her firstborn.

On a random day in 2015, Widjaya had a sudden craving for lemper – an Indonesian snack made of steamed glutinous rice filled with chicken and other ingredients, rolled up in a banana leaf, then steamed or grilled. She decided to try her hand at recreating the familiar flavours from her childhood.

“I was missing home terribly. Lemper was comfort food for me, but I had never made lemper before,” shares the 33-year-old. “I can’t remember how the first batch tasted, but I remember tweaking the recipe many times before I was happy with it.

This story is from the Issue 23 edition of The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel.

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This story is from the Issue 23 edition of The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel.

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