How Indonesian-Chinese dishes like bakmi ayam and laksa bogor in the ‘flavour laboratory of Jakarta’ survived Covid-19

Budianto has been helping his family sell bowls of bakmi ayam (chicken noodles) in Jakarta, the capital of Southeast Asia’s largest economy, since he was a little boy.His father started selling the noodles on a cart in 1969, later renting a garage in which he set up Bakmi Ayam Acang, or Acang’s chicken noodles. Budianto then took over the business when his father retired in 2014.It’s been a profitable business for the Chinese-Indonesian family, thanks in part to the loyal customers from a…