Meer Dan Babi Pangang (2025)

In Meer Dan Babi Pangang, Chinese-Dutch documentary filmmaker Julie Ng explores the success and looming decline of the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant through Golden House, her father’s restaurant in Rozenburg. What begins as a search for the origins of the dish babi pangang evolves into a personal and emotional journey into her cultural and culinary identity as a Chinese Dutch woman. Why do Chinese-Indonesian restaurants serve dishes that Chinese families themselves do not eat at home? What does this reveal about adaptation, representation, and the ways cultures relate to one another? And how did it come to be that many Dutch people primarily associate “the Chinese” with babi pangang — a dish born from the blending of three cultures: Chinese, Indonesian, and Dutch. The dish has Indonesian roots and name, was adapted by Chinese restaurateurs, and tailored entirely to the tastes of their Dutch customers. Meer Dan Babi Pangang is an ode to the first generation of Chinese Dutch immigrants who, through hard work, built an indispensable part of the Dutch streetscape. At the same time, it invites us to look beyond the takeaway menu.