Pempek
empek-empek
Palembang fish-and-tapioca dumplings served with a dark sweet-sour-spicy vinegar sauce called cuko.
About this dish
Palembang fish-and-tapioca dumplings served with a dark sweet-sour-spicy vinegar sauce called cuko. The recipe here chooses one named variation from that wider tradition; household fillings, shapes and serving styles may differ.
Recipe
Palembang pempek lenjer with cuko
Pempek
- 400 g boneless white-fleshed mackerel, chilled
- 200 g tapioca starch
- 30 g all-purpose flour
- 80-120 ml ice water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Cuko
- 150 g palm sugar
- 400 ml water
- 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 green chili, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 500 ml oil for frying
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1
Cuko: 150 g palm sugar; 400 ml water; 2 tbsp tamarind pulp; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Simmer cuko sugar, water, tamarind and salt 5 minutes; strain, add garlic, chili and vinegar, then simmer 1 minute. Dissolve sugar before simmering and strain coarse tamarind solids before final aromatics.
- 2
Process fish with salt, sugar and 80 ml ice water into a smooth paste. Fold in starch and flour, adding more water only if needed for a slightly sticky, shapeable dough. Keep fish and water cold. Fold starch gently rather than kneading like bread; stop at a slightly sticky dough that holds a log.
- 3
Oil hands and form 12 logs, 3 cm thick. Poach in simmering water 15-20 minutes until cooked through; fish must reach 63°C/145°F. Use lightly oiled hands and make even logs. Lower separately, keep a quiet bubble and check a springy cooked center as well as fish temperature.
- 4
Drain and cool, then fry at 175°C/350°F until lightly golden. Slice and serve with cuko and cucumber. Drain and dry surfaces before hot oil. Fry small batches with a thermometer, then drain, slice and add the measured accompaniments.
Note
This is the unfilled lenjer style, not egg-filled kapal selam. Avoid adding excess starch while shaping; it toughens the fish cakes.