FRIED ROUND CASUAL FOOD: PEMPEK, PEMPEK TJUKO

The best rice noodles for your fish balls are, per common agreement, the thinner kind; these provide a better textural contrast.
The fish balls, naturally, should be freshly made, not those horrid things vacuum-sealed and of uncertain provenance in the freezer of your local market.


EMPEK EMPEK (PEMPEK)

A pound of fresh fish, preferably mackerel; boned and minced. One egg yolk. Four to six tablespoons cold water, one teaspoon sugar, one teaspoon salt. One or two tablespoons of good oil.

Mix well.

Then add tapioca flour. Generally speaking, one to two times as much by volume as the mackerel paste. Do NOT overwork the dough! Form into small balls twixt grape and longan size, and drop into boiling water. When they float, take them out and let them drain dry.

To use, deep fry golden. Serve with cold rice noodles and fried shrimp. Add chopped cucumber and some cilantro. Kwak some fresh chilipaste ('sambal ulek') onto the plate, add a dash or two of ketjap manis ('sweet soy sauce') and dark vinegar (鎮江香醋 'jan gong heung chou'; aromatic ChinKiang vinegar), squeeze some lime juice over.

Pempek can also be made larger, and pan-fried after boiling, served with lots of ground chili sauce and a little thick coconut cream. Or vermicelli, chilies, and sliced hard boiled egg, in a tangy tamarind-curry gravy.
Even accompanied by thick wedges of cooked potato.
Along with the inevitable kwak of sambal.
Everything goes with sambal.

The addition of good black vinegar and something to sweeten it up a little (ketjap manis or plain sugar) is traditional, because it works.

Optional but never-the-less strongly suggested toppings: ground-up dry shrimp, crumbled peanuts, fried shallots.

Don't forget the squeeze of fresh lime juice.

If you can find them, use key limes.

They're like kalamansi.

Fragrant.



NOTE: the term 'tjuko' is a Sumatran name for a condimental sauce made with chili paste, vinegar, garlic, and sugar. Boil one cup of palm sugar in one cup water. Throw in some whole skinned garlic cloves, let's say half a dozen or more, and an equal number of large dried shrimp (the most beautiful kind). Add one cup of vinegar (any kind will work), and four to eight tablespoons of sambal ulek. Stir to combine, let it cool.
If it is too strong for your taste, feel free to dilute; it should not overpower the food too much.

Kuwah tjuko: Often the noodles are served in a dilution of this mixture, or a spicy broth of similar construction made with tamarind and tomato in lieu of vinegar.

Empek-empek, in all possible variations, is associated with Palembang, where aside from pempek-tjuko it is most frequently eaten in a coconut curry soup with egg noodles and dry shrimp powder.
Plus sour, sweet, and sambal.



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