Try out the benefits of rice bran cake
Reporter: Dharmesta | Editor: Tri Adi
Bran is identical to a mixture of animal feed. However, it turns out that rice bran contains vitamins B, E, protein and fiber which are good for health. That’s because, many people have started to look at bran as raw material for cakes and bread. In Malang, this rice bran cake is selling well in the market.
Rice bran or bran in Javanese is only under one eye. Because bran is more often used as a mixture of animal feed. However, in the eyes of Lukman Zaini, the owner of the Aneka Rasa bread and cake business in Malang, East Java, rice bran can be transformed into a cake containing high levels of vitamins B, E, essential fatty acids, fiber, protein, oryzanol and ferulic acid.
“The high fiber content makes bran has benefits like wheat,” said Lukman. Starting a business of making rice bran cakes two years ago, Lukman conducted many experiments before his rice bran cakes were actually finished. In the experiment of making rice bran cakes, he mixed 30% bran flour with 70% other flour to create delicious bran cakes.
Lukman said, mixing rice bran with other ingredients must be done. Because, “If you use rice bran 100%, it is suitable to be porous,” said the owner of a gift shop in Malang.
Lukman-made rice bran cakes are sold at IDR 5,000 for boy’s bread and IDR 16,000 for a baking sheet. There are four flavors of bran cake offered by Lukman, namely chocolate, cheese, raisins and fruit flavors.
Lukman-made rice bran cakes are selling well. Every day, he is able to sell about 20 pans. As for the weekend, he can sell 50 pans. On average every month, the sales of rice bran cakes reach Rp. 10 million. Not only Malang residents who become buyers, but also tourists who are visiting the City of Apple.
Besides Lukman, there is also Reni who sells various bran snacks in Malang. “At first, I was just experimenting, because it felt good I continued,” said Reni. Starting to sell rice bran cakes a year ago, he offers chocolate, mocha, cheese and raisin flavors at a price of IDR 26,000 per pan.
In a day, Reni is able to sell an average of 20 pans or 600 pans of rice bran cakes per month. Apart from Malang, Reni also sells his homemade bran cakes to Jakarta, Surabaya and Kalimantan. According to him, the rice bran cake can last up to two weeks if stored in the refrigerator.
Reni added that the trend of organic food makes Indonesians feel uncomfortable with rice bran cakes. “Those who are curious will usually order and when they realize it tastes good, they will usually order again,” he said.
However, there are obstacles that are faced by Reni at this time, namely the problem of the lack of human resources who can cook rice bran into delicious and clean cakes. Regarding the raw material for bran, Reni has no problem because she already has regular suppliers.
Now, Reni is trying to set up a cake shop to sell her homemade bran cakes.