Jakarta, IO – Pempek, a traditional food from Palembang, South Sumatra, is in the top five most delicious processed seafood in the world with a score of 4.7 as per Taste Atlas – a culinary site that reviews traditional dishes, local ingredients and authentic restaurants from around the world, reported Kompas, Wednesday (15/3).
Made of fish and sago, fried to a golden hue and served with sweet-and-sour sauce called cuko, Pempek managed to beat event sushi (at the fifth place). It comes in different shapes – from pempek lenjer (cylindrical), pempek kapal selam (submarine), pempek adaan (ball) to pempek keriting (curly).
Read: Indonesian-style banana fritter the best deep-fried dessert according to Taste Atlas
It also has an interesting origin story. It is said that once upon a time there was an old Palembang resident who was bored of eating fried or grilled fish. He then ground the fish meat and mix it with tapioca flour and sell it to the curious locals. Due to its chewy texture and savory taste, it did not take long for it to become of the most delicious comfort foods from Indonesia, and now globally. (un)