Pempek in Palembang

When I told people on campus that I was going to Sumatra they would ask "Where?"  When I said "Palembang" they would then ask if I could bring back some "pempek" and "kerupuk".  I've seen several types of "kerupuk"(various spellings) here in Bali and often have a few as a snack whilst waiting for a meal.  They come in various shapes and sizes, and are usually fish flavoured.  Some are rather like the familiar "prawn cracker".

Most passengers on the return flight must have received similar requests as hardly a passenger boarded without a box (or two) of pempek and a bag of kerupuk.  Pempek was to be a new experience for me.




Disc shaped kerupuk on a shop shelf

Apart from the variety, there were no real surprises with kerupuk.  But pempek was something new altogether.  The tourist guides list "pempek" as one of the main attractions.  So what is "pempek"? 

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pempek) comes this explanation:

"Pempek, mpek-mpek or empek-empek is a savoury fishcake delicacy from Palembang,Indonesia, made of fish and tapioca. Pempek is served with yellow noodles and a dark, rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko (lit. vinegar sauce).

Pempek is the best-known of Palembang's dishes Its origin is undoubtly Palembang, however the history behind the creation of this savoury dish is unclear. According to local tradition, around the 16th century there was an old Chinese immigrant who lived near the Musi river. He noticed an abundance of fish caught by the local fishermen. In the Sumatran tropical climate, before the invention of refrigeration technology, most of these unsold leftover fish decayed and were wasted. The indigenous people, however had limited knowledge and techniques for processing fish. During that period, most of the indigenous people simply grilled, fried or boiled their fish instead of adding other ingredients to make new dishes. The old Chinese man mixed in some tapioca and other spices, which he then sold around the village on his cart. The people referred to this old man as 'pek-apek, where apek is a Chinese slang word to call an old man. The food is known today as empek-empek or pempek.

Another theory suggests that pempek was a Palembang adaptation of Southern Chinese ngo hiang or kekkian (fish slice) as a surimi based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce."

The Wiki article has explanations the details of the dough, the sauces and other components.  In summary, it is one of the traditional foods of Indonesia and is an iconic food of Palembang.  It is a fishcake of varying size and shape made from a dough mixture of ground fish, tapioca, egg, noodle and dried shrimp powder, fried then eaten either hot or cold with a spicy sauce of palm sugar, vinegar, tamarind and chilli.  They come is a variety of shapes, sizes and flavours.  They are made in small factories and home kitchens, and the characteristic smell of shrimp paste is unmistakeable in many parts of the city.

The taxi driver we had used all week said he lived near one of the best makers of pempek, so we went in search of a good pempek on Saturday before setting off for the airport.

We parked at the compound of this small Chinese temple and walked down crowded streets, through the market to the pempek maker.

Pempek and kerupuk - handmade in many small workshops

The "fresh fish" lane in the market

Chillies by the thousands - red, green, whatever.



Our pempek artisan



Sampling before purchase - the "submarines" really were delicious.

Out in the lanes people travelled about in the pedi-cabs, often carrying large goods.



The large woven baskets are used for drying the products out in the sun and traffic.

Along the lane we passed trays and baskets of kerupuk of many styles drying outside in the sun.



Above: another small manufacturer
Below: inside the "factory"

A baby in a crate swings asleep as mum works

The seller packs our pempek and secures our many boxes for transport. 



Packing the pempek - we don't want the oils and the sauce to spoil our baggage.

 

Just as Italian pasta comes in many shapes and sizes, so too do pempek.  According to the Wiki article cited above, the main types are:

• Pempek kapal selam: (Indonesian: submarine pempek), which is made from a chicken egg wrapped within the pempek dough and then deep-fried. The shape is similar to Chinese dumplings but larger in size. According to food science and technology scientist, the pempek kapal selam, with egg addition, is rich in protein, fat, vitamin a, mineral, and carbohydrate content, is the most nutritious variety. The name derived from the shape of pempek that resembles submersible midget submarine.
• Pempek telur kecil: (Indonesian: small egg pempek), filled with egg similar to pempek kapal selam, but smaller in size.
• Pempek lenjer: long cylindrical pempek, its shape is similar to sausages.
• Pempek keriting: (Indonesian: curly pempek), the dough is made into small noodle ball. This similar process also applied to produce white krupuk.
• Pempek pistel: the shape and size is similar to pempek telur kecil, but filled with minced youngpapaya instead.
• Pempek kulit: (Indonesian: skin pempek), fish-skin pempek, the dough is mixed with minced fish skin, as the result it has stronger fishy aroma and darker color.
• Pempek adaan: ball shaped pempek.
• Pempek tahu: tofu sliced and filled with pempek dough.
• Pempek model: tofu wrapped inside pempek dough. Similar to pempek kapal selam, but egg is replaced with tofu.

I tried several of these types of pempek, both in Palembang, and on my return to Bali.  I didn't enjoy the "pempek kulit" (fish skin pempek) but the "submarine" pempek kapal selam was very good indeed.

This is the final blog about Palembang, the pempek city.

Paul in Bali

September 2013

Palembang Debating Championship (Part 4 - rest, discover and play)

On the Thursday of the Championship the teams which had made it through to the semi-finals began their debates.  Mmbers of teams which did not qualify boarded buses for a half day "city sights" tour.

  

The first difficulty was getting out of the University grounds.  The roads were generally rather narrow, having been built more with motorcycles in mind than larger vehicles.  At a tight corner the convoy of busses was stopped by 2 cars "illegally parked" (as are so many in a country where signs are so often ignored).  The driver of the first coach loudly and continuously sounded the horn until a driver emerged from a nearby building, entered the car and drove off.  The bus edged forward but couldn't squeeze past the red car thoughtlessly parked over a metre from the road edge and right on the corner.  Eventually we summoned enough "young muscle" and bounced the offending car to the side of the road leaving just enough room for the busses to squeeze past.



Shifting the badly parked red car to allow the busses to pass through

Once out of the University campus we travelled towards the river, past buildings completed in a variety of architectural styles - and many which defied any sort of description.  The kind of buildings which were thrown together rather than being designed.

 

The modernist dome of a mosque peeps around the street front buildings.  Got to
get used to power lines.  They are almost at eye level in the bus and are hard to avoid.

A rather grand building displaying a mix of styles, and a rare dome with lantern atop



There's no missing this one in its "high visibility" paint job.



Office of the Mayor - called the "water tower"
 because of the header tanks on the roof.



Pedal power - a cheap way of getting about in Pelambang

At the waterfront not far from the Ampera Bridge we parked in the grounds of the Museum Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II.  He's also early 19th century local sultan after whom the airport is named.  He led a significant struggle against the Dutch colonialists and achieved several significant victories in the 1820s before being overwhelmed by superior forces.  As we were late leaving the University (partly due to the red car) we missed the chance to go into the museum which houses displays exhibits depicting the city's history from the early days of the Buddhist Srivijaya empire (which flourished from about 850 to 1025 AD) through to present days.

 

Students pass beneath the museum's archway in traditional style



The museum building - a good example of
Palembang "Limasan" architectural style



The pedicab rank in front of the museum

One pylon of the Ampera Bridge

Small hire boats wait beneath the bridge's carriageway

Beside the bridge work was proceeding rapidly on a new "market" building, and we picked our way past excavations and scaffolds and boarded a couple of passenger boats for a cruise along the River Musi.

 

The incomplete "Pasar" (market) building
 seen from the stern of the cruise boat.

The river was busy.  Small ferries motored from shore to shore.  Some commercial traffic moved up and down the river.  Large and small vessels were moored along the extensive docks and piers.  

The existing market building on the waterfront

The Ampera Bridge - it looked prettier by night.




A variety of river craft.

The blue vessel is named "Noah" and the big one is the "Ark"



A small car freighter moored not far from Ampera Bridge.

Part of the commercial port for larger ships.  The oil refinery
and urea production plant is further down the river.



A small coastal trader pulled up on river bank for maintenance.

Down stream from Palembang, and past the main industrial zone and dock is Kemaro Island.  On the island is a small recreational area and a Chinese Temple and supporting buildings. 

 



Section of the Chinese temple precinct on Kemaro Island



 

The main pagoda

 

"Let sleeping dogs lie" - a dog asleep on the top step
protected by the pair of dragons guarding the steps

 

Yes, I was there.  A student insisted on taking my photo for me.

Traditional red Chinese lanterns add a bright touch to the building

After a quick walk around the compound (no access to buildings) we returned to our boat and returned upstream to our starting point.

 

A passing local boat

At the pier we left the boat, boarded our busses again and made our way back to campus.


Billboard advertising the forthcoming Solidarity Games in Palembang



Palembang has many small waterways and although it is
a "sister city" of Venice, it lacks the Italian city's charm.



Was this building was painted by the same team
which produced the yellow building seen earlier?
Marred by the ever present abundant power lines.





It had been a hot outing, but at least we had the chance to see something of Palembang away from the campus and the road to and from our hotel.

 

On the last day of the Championship we slipped out for a little water recreation at the Palembang Water Park.  After a fairly tiring week this was quite a pleasant activity.  There were the usual slides and some pools to offer a range of vigorous or sedate activities.

 

Some of the contingent from Bali, with student hosts.



Now, which is my foot?



Group photo time

By popular request we have a "jump sequence".     Some were
able to jump much higher and stay airborne longer than others!

 

Still up in the air



Some have landed already

Some have landed, others are just coming down.

 

Well that was fun, what will we do next?

The return trip to the University took us past the central and largest mosque "Masjid Agung Palembang".  WE parked and I was able to get a few photos from the gateway. I was able to enter a few steps into the outer courtyard to get a better view, but just a few steps were allowed, no more.

 

This grand mosque at the roundabout on the approach to the Ampera Bridge has been renovated and enlarged several times in its lifetime.  Parts of it still retain the distinctive old Sriwijayan style architecture.  "Agung" denotes a big or grand thing.  The highest mountain in Bali is Mt Agung and "Agung" is often part of the name of upper class males.



Masjid Agung Palembang

The inscribed gateway to the compound

 

 

The windows beside the main entrance were attractively patterned.

They say "2's company, 3's a crowd".  There's more than 3 in our crowded angkot

 

 

Paul in Bali

Sept 2013