Rare taste of Indonesian cuisine

By James Card

Few restaurants in Wisconsin serve authentic Indonesian cuisine.

Waupaca is now on that short list.

Jenny Ure opened Saucy’s Waupaca this winter and the menu is a mix of Indonesian and Mexican cuisine.

The restaurant is inside the Waupaca BP convenience store at 1070 W Fulton St. This space was formally home to the Mexican restaurant Johnny Salsa.

Ure is half Dutch and half Indonesian and she learned how to cook from both parents while growing up in Texas.

“If I’m not eating Indonesian food, Mexican food is my favorite food,” said Ure.

Whereas everyone knows that Mexican food can be hot and spicy, Ure describes Indonesian cuisine as more flavorful, a medley of different tastes.

“Coming from Asian families you’re always cooking,” said Ure.

She wasn’t joking. Her Indonesian grandmother had 21 children (two boys, the rest girls) and with that many mouths to feed, cooking was an ongoing activity in the household.

“I don’t measure anything. I was taught by smell. You smell your food, I was taught that by my grandmother. My dad—you smell your brisket. You smell that flavor and know how much smoke is in there,” said Ure who is a former teacher of deaf and special needs students.

Worried that her sons might not figure out how to cook because she doesn’t use recipes, she taught them how to cook with their instincts and senses and now her two sons love to be in the kitchen.

“My father and I grew up cooking,” she said. He manufactured barbecue pits and she helped him. They also cooked and sold barbecue. Her charro beans are her father’s recipe. Eventually she wants to add barbecued brisket to the menu.

About the name Saucy’s: “It comes from my sauces,” said Ure. “My fajita sauce is becoming a popular one and so is the peanut sauce that goes with the sautéed chicken.”

All of her sauces, marinades and salsas are homemade, along with everything else that comes from her kitchen.

Indonesian menu

The Indonesian menu consists of semur ayam (baked sweet chicken legs served with sauce on white rice), nasi goring fried rice (fried eggs with cucumber, tomato and green onion), soto ayam ramen (chicken or beef with rice noodles and hard-boiled eggs), bapao (s steamed bun with a sweet meat filling) and satay chicken (a chicken kabob served single or with rice and peanut sauce).

On the Mexican side of the menu there are the standard classics: street tacos, fajitas, a monster burrito, nachos, asada fries, charro beans, a green chili stew and birria tacos.

She also has a breakfast menu (with items like huevos rancheros and chorizo with eggs) and also a kid’s menu. Also on the menu are side dishes and extra add-ons.

To give some competition to the Friday night fish fry scene, Ure is working on creating an Indonesian fish taco.

“It would be a healthier choice, too, not fried,” she said.

Ure also steps away from her menu for special events. For St. Patrick’s Day she hosted a children’s party and served green eggs and ham.

They are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday For dining in, there are three booths and a barstool counter.

Take-out is a big part of their orders and customers can order online for pick-up or delivery at https://saucyswaupaca.com or by calling 715-942-2007.