I am fascinated with seafood markets and the most accessible one in Johor from Singapore or JB is Pontian Wholesale Fish Market.
Lorry loads of the previous night's catch start arriving at around 9am.
The fish are immediately sorted and stock taken.
The fish are sold wholesale to fishmongers and restaurants. Bids are still made the old way through whispers.
Some of the catches today at the market.
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Of course, the daily catches vary from day to day. Commonly seen seafood at Pontian Wholesale Fish Market are Ikan Parang (wolf herring), wild sea bass, mackerel (Ikan Batang), Ikan Kurau, pomfret, sharks, sea eels, grouper, stingrays, snappers, squid, prawns, crabs etc.
There are a couple of retail stalls that cater to customers who buy small quantities - they operate just like fishmongers at wet markets.
Today's retail price for white pomfret ranged from RM170 to RM200 each (one fish).
Today's retail price for large wild caught ang kar 红脚 prawns, ranged from RM100 per kilo for fresh (firm with mortis rigour) to RM50 for not so fresh (limp).
Golden Snapper 紅鰽 RM75 each. Ikan Parang RM18 each.
Crimson Snapper 红鸡 Ang Goi RM40 per kilo. Dragon tongue fish RM20 per kilo. Black pomfret RM28 per kilo.
Pontian Wholesale Fish Market
Address: Off Jalan Pontian - Kukup in the direction of Kukup
GPS: 1°28'35.1"N 103°23'31.4"E 🌐 1.476419, 103.392062
Waze: Pontian Fish Market (Pasar Awan Pontian)
Hours: Best times 9:00am to around 11:00am plus
Date visited: 25 Dec 2018
Recently, I have been receiving enquiries from readers who are interested to visit Pontian Wholesale Fish market. So, I decided to make a trip to Pontian as I have not visited the wholesale fish market for some time.
We wanted to make sure we catch all the action at the market, so we arrived 9-ish at the Pontian fish market. We parked our car and joined the locals at popular Kheng Guan Hiong kopitiam. We had two very fragrant, old style Pontian coffee, charcoal grilled kaya and butter toast, two soft boiled eggs and a pack of tissues for a grand total of RM5.00.
10:30am. The wholesalers standing by at their weighing scales, waiting for the lorry loads of fish to roll in.
Moments later, the lorry loads of fish appeared and everyone sprung into action, including us, foodies and hungry photographers :P
Well, over here the fish is brought to the wholesale market in all kinds of vehicles. Lorries, in the boot of saloon cars, and even on bicycles. In Pontian, the small fishing boats download their catch at the river just a couple of kilometres from the wholesale market. (The fish loading area will be on my next Pontian trip itinerary :P )
Every day's catch is different.
Today's "Catch of the Day" is a large stingray.
Even in the big gaggle of people and fish, it is easy to tell the fishermen, fishmongers and the wholesalers apart :) This stylish gentleman is a __________________ (fill in the blank).
Deals are still made the old way - through whispers.
Money is also still tallied up the age old way with a trusty stainless steel lined abacus - "iron abacus 铁算盘" they say is good fengsui for businessmen, of course.
Not sure what these fish are.
This eel is quite common but I don't know what is it's name.
More interesting fish.....
The small bundles destined for wet markets or restaurants. Some JB restaurant owners source for seafood directly at the wholesale market.
The prized Pontian wild sea prawns. The best prawn mee stalls use these for stock.
Pontian Wholesale Fish Market
Address: Off Jalan Pontian in the direction of Kukup
GPS: 1.475556,103.392387
Hours: 10:00am plus to around 1:00pm plusDate visited: 16 Sep 2013
Besides eating Pontian wanton mee, bak kut teh, claypot rice, seafood porridge, and enjoying coffee and toast, what else can we do in Pontian?
One of the things many visitors enjoy doing is to visit Pontian Wholesale Fish Market. Some Singaporeans even make regular trips to this fish market for their super fresh fish at reasonable prices.
Every day at between 11:00am to 2:00pm, fishermen will bring their catch of the day to the Pontian Wholesale Fish Market and sell their day's catch to wholesalers.
This is the calm before the frenzy as wholesalers wait for the fishermen's lorries to arrive.
The first lorry loads of fish will begin to arrive at about 11:00am. The fish had earlier been off loaded from fishing boats at the nearby Kukup jetty.
Once the lorries arrive, workers quickly unload the fish.
The fish are divided into smaller lots and weighed.
Retail fishmongers will bid for the fish. Visitors will find this custom curious as traditionally, bidding is done through whispers.
Everyday will bring a different catch, and some of the fishes are seldom seen. These are some of the more exotic fishes that I have spotted, and I am still trying to find out their names. Send me a comment if you know what fish these are J
The Pontian Wholesale Fish Market is a fun place for photo bugs with plenty of photo opportunities, for foodies to walk off their calories before their next makan venture, for the curious sightseer, and also for the savvy homemaker who demands the freshest fish and yet will pay only reasonable prices.
Pontian Wholesale Fish Market
Address: Off Jalan Pontian in the direction of Kukup
GPS: 1.475556,103.392387
Hours: 10:30am to 1:00pm
Date visited: 29 Apr 2012
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last pic, the guy on the right says "Moi, come down at once!"
ReplyDeleteYou might well be right :)
DeleteThe 1st pic that shows those funny looking fish without any scales or fins are what the Teochews name them as "Tai Hur". They are normally boiled with tang hoon as a soup dish. Extremely soft flesh and very fine bones. It takes practice in the proper way of eating them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike for the interesting info. Appreciate it.
Deleteu r unlikely to buy any fish there if u dont buy a lot ..they sell to their regular only
ReplyDeleteYeah, more for an interesting visit than shopping.
Deletewe bid our seafood here weekly.
ReplyDeleteThat fish has many soft bones which the Teochew love. My favourite fish soup with minced meat.
ReplyDeleteI think it's best that you refrain highlighting our Pontian Pasar to outsiders. Ever since Mediacorpse Channel 8 did a Malaysian town tour/makan show, our laidback pasar is now like a circus at times and worse still, all these outsiders have caused the prices to skyrocket.
ReplyDeleteWithout unnecessary attention, we are happy to let the tourists just bypass our beloved pasar and go straight on to Kukup where they can have all the seafood to their hearts' content.
Thank you.
Anybody knows if they are open on Monday.
ReplyDeleteSame question as above.is the fish market open on Monday?
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