In the small village of Bento, Bantul Regency, Srandakan District, Yogyakarta Sultanate, on the island of Java, Indonesia, is the old, traditional and artisanal noodle factory called Mie Lethek Garuda, which in the local Javanese language means "Garuda Noodles". Also known as ugly or dirty noodles, due to their dull brown color given to them by cassava. Compared to other types of noodles such as rice noodles, Mie Lethek is savoury and has chewi texture. 

   Yasir Feri, the current owner of Mie Lethek Garuda, belonging to the third family generation. In the 1940s, his grandfather, who was originally from Yemen, married his grandmother, who was of Chinese descent. They started their business together. At that time, in the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, most of the noodles produced were a mixture of rice and corn. Mister Feri's grandmother had the idea of using cassava to produce noodles, and she also come up with the idea of the techniques of producing noodles. 

   In the old factory with its high ceilings, were sunlight streams through wooden windows, the one-ton cylindrical stone mortar is attached to a male Zebu, which is rotated at the rhythm set by a worker. Later, the resulting dough is pressed and steamed in large traditional wood-fire ovens. An old, manual machine, operated by three workers, cuts the dough into long noodles, which are place on long bamboo trays and dried in the sun. 

   The Mie Lethek factory employs 35 local workers aged between 25 and 70 years old. Mr. Feri does not want to modernize the noodle-making process with machinery, among other reasons because half of its employees would lose their jobs and the livelihood of their families. 

Worker smokes a cigarette during a break
Sign at the entrance of the artisanal noodle factory
A worker takes the male Zebu { Bos Indicus } out of its corral
Worker pushed the Zebu to make it move
Workers are stirring the flour with wooden shovels at a time when the Zebu is stopped
Worker stirring flour with a wooden shovel
Workers and Zebu rest for a moment
Worker opens bags of cassava roots
Worker picks up cassava roots to put them into the grinder
Worker opens bags of cassava roots
Worker places cassava roots in the grinder
Workers place cassava roots in an old grinder
Workers place cassava roots in an old grinder
Worker uses an old machine to grind cassava
Workers fill a sack with cassava flour
Cassava root
Cassava root
Worker empties a sacks of cassava flour into a basin of water
Worker stirs cassava flour in a pile with water
Worker stirs cassava flour in a pile with water
Surface of the water with cassava in the trough after hours
Collecting the cassava flour with buckets in the trough after it has been washed with water several times
Freshly filled sacks of washed cassava four
Tapioca starch flour sacks
A male zebu rotates a one-ton cylindrical stone to grind the cassava flour, while two workers stir the flour with wooden shovels, and a third worker ensures that the zebu moves at the right speed
Worker adds Tapioca starch flour into the mortar to be ground and mixed with the cassava flour
A worker adds Tapioca starch flour into the mortar while two other workers mix it with wooden shovels, to later be ground and mixed with the cassava flour with the help of the zebu
A male zebu rotates a one-ton cylindrical stone to grind the flour
Close-up of a working male zebu
Worker transporting buckets of ready flour from the mortar to the place where they will transform it into blocks
Worker prepares the already ground, kneaded and mixed flour to turn it into rectangular blocks.
Worker cuts the flour previously pressed and smoothed by hand into rectangular blocks
Worker cuts the flour previously pressed and smoothed by hand into rectangular blocks
Worker cuts the flour previously pressed and smoothed by hand into rectangular block
Worker places the already cut rectangular blocks of flour on trays made of bamboo
Rectangular blocks of flour on bamboo trays ready to be placed in the oven
Worker transport bamboo trays with flour rectangle to the oven
Worker carries firewood on a wooden cart
A worker standing on a pile of firewood picks up some sticks to feed the fire in the ovens
A worker standing on a pile of firewood picks up some sticks to feed the fire in the ovens
Worker feeds the fire in the wood-burning oven for cooking noodles
Worker feeds the fire in the wood-burning oven for cooking noodles
Worker looks at something over the oven
Worker closes the door of the noodle cooking oven
Rectangle blocks of flour that have just been baked, but still in the oven, have acquired a dark brown color
Workers transport freshly cooked rectangle blocks of flour on their bamboo tray to the mortar
Workers transport freshly cooked rectangle blocks of flour on their bamboo tray to the mortar
Workers place the freshly cooked rectangle blocks of flour into the mortar
Workers place the freshly cooked rectangle blocks of flour into the mortar
Workers adds Tapioca starch flour flour into the mortar to be ground and mixed with the cassava flour
Workers adds Tapioca starch flour flour into the mortar to be ground and mixed with the cassava flour
A male zebu rotates a one-ton cylindrical stone to grind the flour, while two workers stir the flour with wooden shovels, and a third worker ensure that the zebu moves at the right speed
A male zebu rotates a one-ton cylindrical stone to grind the flour, while a worker stir the flour with wooden shovels, and other worker ensures that the zebu moves at the right speed
Flour for noodles almost ready in the mortar
Workers feed flour into the holes of a simple hand-held machine to make it into long noodles
Worker feed flour into the hole of a simple hand-held machine to make it into long noodles
Workers feed flour into the holes of a simple hand-held machine to make it long noodles
Two workers feed the flour into the holes of a simple hand-held machine to make it into long noodles, while a third worker cuts the long noodles by hand and places them on a bamboo tray
Worker cuts the long noodles by hand and places them on a bamboo tray
Worker cuts the long noodles by hand and places them on a bamboo tray
Worker cuts the long noodles by hand and places them on a bamboo tray
Worker cuts the long noodles by hand and places them on a bamboo tray
Worker spreads the long noodles well on the bamboo trays before putting them in the oven
Workers spreads the long noodles well on the bamboo trays before putting them in the oven
Long noodles on bamboo trays ready to be put in the oven
Worker opens the oven doors
Worker opens the oven dorrs
Worker puts the bamboo tray with the long noodles into the oven for cooking
Worker puts the bamboo tray with the long noodles into the oven for cooking
Worker puts the bamboo tray with the long noodles into the oven for cooking
Worker puts the bamboo tray with the long noodles into the oven for cooking
Worker puts the bamboo tray with the long noodles into the oven for cooking
Typical teamwork scene at Mie Lethek Noodles Factory
A women cooking for factory workers
Women cooking for factory workers during a cigarette break
A worker carries long bamboo trays will be used to place the noodles in their final size and put them to dry outside in the sun
A worker carries long bamboo trays will be used to place the noodles in their final and put them to dry outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Once cooled, a worker soaks the long noodles, just as they came out of the oven, to flatten them and adapt them to the final size
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Worker adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
Workers adjust the noodles to the final size on bamboo trays for later drying outside in the sun
View of the noodles drying yard and the exterior of different buildings at the Mie Lethek factory
Two workers place a bamboo tray with the noodles on bamboo supports for drying
Two workers unload a bamboo tray with noodles froma wooden wheelbarrow for drying
Noodles on bamboo trays drying in the sun
Noodles on bamboo trays drying in the sun
Workers unload a bamboo tray with noodles from a wooden wheelbarrow for drying
Workers place a bamboo tray with the noodles on bamboo supports for drying
Workers place a bamboo tray with the noodles on bamboo support for drying
Workers place a bamboo tray with the noodles on bamboo supports for drying
Chicken pecks at noodles that are drying in the sun
Worker cleans noodles remains that will be used as pet food from leaves and other debris
Worker cleans noodles remains that will be used as pet food from leaves and other debris
Packaged noodles, noodle scraps, and weighing scale
Mortar, with its cylindrical stone and wooden structure to tie the zebu, and wooden wheelbarrow used to trasnport the bamboo trays with the noodles
Worker repairs bamboo tray used for drying noodles
Workers repairs bamboo tray used for drying noodles
Worker repairs bamboo tray used for drying noodles
Workers removing dried noodles from bamboo trays for final packaging in plastic bags
Workers pack noodles in plastic bags
Worker pack noodles in plastic bags
Workers pack noodles in plastic bags
Noodles packed in plastic bags
Noodles packed in plastic bags
Worker weighs bags of noodles
Worker weighs bags of noodles
Worker closes the plastic bags with the noodles
Worker closes the plastic bags with the noodles
Packages of noodles in a van ready for distribution
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