'Pempek', an appetizing regional specialty<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
A visit to Bandarlampung, the capital of Lampung on the
\nsouthern tip of Sumatra, would not be complete without savoring
\npempek, a regional specialty.<\/p>\n
Like Palembang, the South Sumatra capital, Bandarlampung is
\nidentified as a \"pempek city\", with the food sold almost
\neverywhere, even hawked as cheap snacks.<\/p>\n
For the standard taste and varieties, it is necessary to go to
\na pempek restaurant to get the kind of quality pempek found in
\nPalembang. Anyone who has tasted Lampung's pempek fishcakes with
\na sauce of vinegar and condiments will surely ask for more.<\/p>\n
You can find pempek restaurants on nearly every main street in
\nBandarlampung, like Jl. Kartini, Jl. Raden Intan, Jl. Diponegoro
\nand Jl. Ahmad Yani. The most popular pempek center in the city is
\non Jl. Mayor Salim Batubara, Telukbetung, where dozens of
\neateries offer this typical dish.<\/p>\n
Some of the favorite pempek places include 99, 70, 75 and 68.
\nThe figures indicate the house numbers of the restaurants. This
\nmeans that \"75\", for instance, is located on Jl. Mayor Salim
\nBatubara 75.<\/p>\n
Various types of pempek are available at these eateries,
\nincluding pempek lenjer (long cuts), kapal selam (with boiled
\neggs), pempek tahu (with soybean cakes), pempek adaan (fish
\nballs) and pempek papaya (with grated papaya). All come in both
\nlarge and small portions.<\/p>\n
Pempek is made from boneless tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), sago
\nflour, salt and seasonings, which are mixed in some water and
\nstirred thoroughly, before being shaped as desired or filled with
\nboiled eggs and finally steamed. As Spanish mackerel is becoming
\nscarce and expensive, pempek restaurants in Bandarlampung
\ngenerally use belida (knife fish) instead, yet the dish remains
\ndelicious.<\/p>\n
At restaurants, pempek is served along with a small plate of
\nsauce, which is a blend of vinegar, garlic, palm sugar, tamarind
\nand soybean sauce. The pempek is then dunked in the sauce before
\neating.<\/p>\n
If you are taking the pempek home, don't worry about it
\nturning stale because it has a shelf life of at least a week,
\nespecially if refrigerated. Sellers usually also coat it with
\nflour to extend its life and pack it in sealed cardboard
\ncontainers with concentrated vinegar solution.<\/p>\n
At home, however, do not forget to fry the pempek before
\nserving and dilute the vinegar with water.<\/p>\n
In addition, pempek sellers also prepare other variations in
\nsoup form such as tekwan, model, laksam and celimpungan.
\nIn sour-flavored soup, tekwan contains fish balls with shrimp
\nbroth, transparent noodles, mushrooms and bengkuang (juicy
\ntuber).<\/p>\n
Model, in a soup similar to tekwan, combines pempek with
\nsoybean cakes. Laksam takes the form of long pempek with coconut
\nmilk soup. Celimpungan consists of fish balls and yellowish soup.
\nAll the pempek variations are normally served for immediate
\nconsumption.<\/p>\n
Most of the pempek businesses are family-run. Those with the
\ncapital can set up fashionable restaurants, while others open
\ntheir eateries in the yards of their houses, like on Jl. Major
\nSalim Batubara.<\/p>\n
Lampung's largest pempek restaurant is Pak Raden on
\nJl. Pangeran Diponegoro, about 200 meters from Jl. Major Salim
\nBatubara.<\/p>\n
Pak Raden has 19 branches in Jakarta, Palembang, Bandung,
\nBekasi, Jambi and Lampung. Its management registered itself as
\nthe maker of the world's longest pempek at the inauguration of
\nPalembang's Jakabaring sports stadium several months ago.<\/p>\n
Its pempek lenjer, over 500 meters long, was included in the
\nIndonesian Museum of Records as the longest in the world.<\/p>\n
Fadil Hakim, the owner of Pak Raden in Bandarlampung, said the
\ndaily turnover at his restaurant was about Rp 3 million to Rp 4
\nmillion. He said he was simply promoting the business of his
\nfather, Adil Hakim, a fisherman from Ulu, Palembang.<\/p>\n
\"I used to hawk pempek with my brothers from one village to
\nanother,\" recalled Fadil, whose restaurant now occupies a
\nmultistoried building on Jl. Diponegoro. The 19 branches of Pak
\nRaden, more stylish than rival eateries in the city, each have 15
\nto 20 employees.<\/p>\n
The Adil Hakim family gives priority to good service and
\ncleanliness. \"It's simple. Our guests will feel at home if the
\nplace is clean. Pempek has the same taste just about everywhere,
\nbut we want to create the impression of hygienic food,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Renata Ariningtyas, an activist based in Jakarta, said
\nLampung's pempek was very appetizing and delicious.<\/p>\n
\"It is reasonably priced and it is really suitable for
\nfamilies eating at home,\" said Renata, who always goes to such
\nrestaurants when visiting Lampung.<\/p>\n
Pempek is very practical as a souvenir. For only Rp 50,000 you
\ncan get a box of dozens of different pieces to be enjoyed by the
\nwhole family. One piece of pempek costs about Rp 1,000 to Rp
\n1,500.<\/p>\n
Ibu Aten was among the first to sell this specialty on Jl.
\nMajor Salim Batubara in the 1970s. She began her business selling
\npempek door-to-door and only in the early 1990s did she convert
\nher house into a restaurant, now employing seven workers and
\noperating with a daily turnover of Rp 2 million to Rp 3 million.<\/p>\n
With students, employees, housewives and tourists as her
\ncustomers, Ibu Aten is the owner of Pempek 75.<\/p>\n
\"Though belida is now commonly used, I have continued to use
\ntenggiri as our basic ingredient because it's far more
\ndelicious,\" she said.<\/p>",
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