Pempek

About This Recipe

Pempek is the pride of Palembang, the river city of South Sumatra, where fish from the Musi River — traditionally belida, now usually Spanish mackerel (tenggiri) — is kneaded with tapioca flour into a smooth dough, shaped, boiled until it floats, then fried to a golden shell around a bouncy, springy interior. What completes the dish is cuko, the jet-dark dipping sauce of palm sugar, tamarind, chilies, and garlic that hits sour, sweet, and hot all at once; Palembang people judge a pempek stall by its cuko first. The most celebrated shape, pempek kapal selam ('submarine'), hides a whole egg inside. Local lore ties the dish to Palembang's centuries-old Chinese fishball traditions married to Sumatran ingredients.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 400 gfish fillet, finely minced
• 200 gtapioca flour
• 100 grice flour
• 2eggs
• 1 tspsalt
• 1/2 tspwhite pepper
• 6 cupswater for boiling
• 1/4 cuptamarind paste
• 2 tbspchili paste
• 3 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1 tbspbrown sugar
• 2 cupswater for sauce
• 2 tbspfried garlic
• oil for frying

Instructions

1. 1

   Make dough

   Stir the minced fish with the eggs, salt, and white pepper until sticky, then fold in the tapioca and rice flours with a light hand, mixing only until the dough comes together into a smooth, slightly tacky mass. Keep everything cold and stop the moment it's uniform.

   Overworking the dough develops the tapioca into rubber — fold, don't knead, and the pempek will stay tender-bouncy.

2. 2

   Boil

   With oiled hands, shape the dough into 10cm cylinders (lenjer) or balls and slide them into a large pot of gently boiling water with a spoonful of oil added. Boil 15–20 minutes; they sink first, then float when cooked — give them 2 extra minutes after floating, then drain on a rack.

   Oil your hands and the water lightly so the dough doesn't stick to your palms or to each other in the pot.

3. 3

   Fry

   Once the boiled pempek have cooled and dried slightly — even 15 minutes makes a difference — fry them at 170°C until the skin is golden, lightly blistered, and crisp, about 3–4 minutes, turning once. Drain well. Frying straight from the boil makes the oil spit.

4. 4

   Make sauce (cuko)

   Simmer the tamarind, chili paste, minced garlic, brown sugar, and water together for at least 5 minutes, until the sugar dissolves fully and the sauce turns glossy and dark. It should taste assertively sour, sweet, and hot in that order — adjust each element before serving.

5. 5

   Serve

   Slice the fried pempek into bite-sized rounds, arrange on plates, and pour the warm cuko generously over or serve it in bowls for dunking. Top with fried garlic, and add the traditional accompaniments of chopped cucumber and a sprinkle of dried shrimp powder (ebi) if you have them.

Variations

• •

  Pempek kapal selam: wrap the dough around a whole raw egg before boiling — the famous 'submarine'.

• •

  Pempek lenjer: long cylinders, sliced after frying, the everyday classic.

• •

  Pempek adaan: mix in sliced scallions and fry directly without boiling for a richer, rougher ball.

• •

  Add minced shrimp to the fish for a sweeter, more aromatic dough.

Storage

Boiled (unfried) pempek keep 3 days refrigerated brushed with oil, or freeze for 2 months — fry straight from the fridge. Cuko keeps a week refrigerated and many say it improves after a day.

Frequently Asked Questions