Pempek

Pempek, mpek-mpek and also known as colloquially as empek-empek is a savoury Indonesian fishcake delicacy, made of fish and tapioca, from Palembang, South Sumatera, Indonesia. Pempek is served with rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko (lit. vinegar sauce), or just "cuko". Sometimes local people also eat the dish with yellow noodles and diced up cucumber to balance out the vinegar's sourness. Pempek is the best-known of Palembang's dishes. Its origin is undoubtedly Palembang. However, the history behind the creation of this savoury dish is unclear. Traditional folklore connects it with Chinese influences. Some suggests that pempek probably originated from ancient kelesan, a steamed dish made of the mixture of sago dough with fish flesh, dated as early as Srivijayan era circa 7th century CE. Sago flour might be extracted from the trunk of sago palm or aren palm. 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 (魚漿, yújiāng) based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce.