Banjarbaru (7 August 2024) - Once in a while, try herbal salted eggs. The taste is guaranteed delicious and savory. Unlike ordinary salted eggs, the herbal ones have a distinctive aroma that emits from various woods and leaves unique to Kalimantan that are added while being cooked. Thanks to this recipe for making herbal salted eggs become low-fat, last up to 9 days without being stored in the refrigerator, and of course, more delicious.

Unfortunately, these herbal salted eggs have not been widely marketed in many areas yet, only around Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan. This is understandable as this business just started in 2021 amid the spread of COVID-19. “We’re ready to sell these eggs, because people who had tried them find the eggs addictive,” said Mugniansyah (53), who lives with visual impairment, accompanied by his wife, Nurhayani (48), who also has the same condition.

Initially, Mugniansyah worked as a massage therapist in his home, at a residence for persons with visual impairment, located on Trikora Street, Subdistrict Guntung Manggis, Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan. However, as the pandemic began to spread, people were afraid to physically interact with other people because of concern for potential infection. During that period, the government implemented Community Activities Restrictions Enforcement (PSBB). This condition had negatively affected Mugniansyah’s income from massage; he even could not earn money for months.

Then, Mugniansyah joined a training to make herbal salted eggs in Banjarbaru. After finishing the training, he and his wife began to delve into the herbal salted eggs business. That said, his business could not be fully optimized due to a lack of support, plain packaging, and a weak marketing strategy.

Learning Mugniansyah’s condition, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), through the Budi Luhur Center in Banjarbaru, facilitated the development of the potential business of Mugniansyah and his wife by providing Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI). The given assistance consisted of tools and ingredients for making salted eggs, such as a gas stove, pot, bricks, salt, and duck eggs. On marketing, Budi Luhur Center provided support to produce labels and brands and handed over talking phones, useful for online marketing. “This aligns with Minister Risma’s mission, that the MoSA is a ministry that specially handles persons with disabilities,” said Cecep Sutriariman, head of Budi Luhur Center, while explaining Minister Risma’s primary focus is to increase their income; therefore, they can achieve financial independence and lift out of poverty.

With the help of his wife, Mugniansyah, who has been blind since age 3, he can process 6 shelves or 180 duck eggs into herbal salted eggs and sell IDR5,000 per egg. From selling those eggs, he can gain a net profit of up to IDR 1.5 million per month. The process of making salted eggs requires 10 days. Raw ingredients like eggs are directly delivered from duck breeders in Martapura and Loktabat. During the initial process, Mugniansyah and his wife typically clean and polish the eggs, opening their pores to facilitate the absorption of salt and herbal recipes during the salting stage. The herbal recipe is made from a mixture of selected leaves and wood that has been boiled, resulting in red boiled water.

After that, the coating stage is started, where the eggs are covered with a mixture of salt, herbal recipe, and smooth pounded brick, then are left to rest for 10 days. Next, the eggs are cleaned and steamed before being sold as herbal salted eggs. “While being steamed, herbal salted eggs will release fat because of the herbal recipe,” explained Mugniansyah.

Minister Risma, through her staff at the Ministry of Social Affairs, consistently supports people with disabilities to lift themselves out of poverty by increasing their financial capabilities and income through entrepreneurship. Additionally, multiple innovations have been made, providing more options for people with visual impairments besides becoming massage therapists. Mugniansyah and his wife, for example, can increase their income through the entrepreneurship of herbal salted eggs, which are delicious and intriguing.