At the Letung jetty on the Anambas' Jemaja Island, you will see many ladies braving the blazing sun, selling kerupuk (keropok), grilled fish and rice. These are all made at home for sale to travellers.
The Blue Sea Jet fast catamaran ply between Batam and Letung thrice weekly. The journey between Batam and Letung takes 6 - 7 hours depending on the sea state.
The fish kerupuk are made at homes like these. We visited one of these homes during our visit to Kampung Letung, Jemaja Island in the Anambas Islands for the annual Padang Melang Festival in 2018. Kempung Letung is a typical water village perched on stilts on Letung's western shoreline.
The kerupuk is made from fresh Tuna fish (Ikan Tongkol in Bahasa Indonesia). Fish and seafood are plentiful in the Anambas Islands in the vast South China Sea.
The meat is stripped from the Tuna fish, grounded into paste, mixed with salt, sugar, seasoning and sago flour which serves as a binder.
The ladies hand rolled the Tuna fish paste - rolling them into balls or cut into short stubby sticks.
The Tuna paste sticks were then fried in hot oil till they are lightly browned.
There are two kinds of Tuna kerupuk, the darker one is made from the Tuna's dark meat. Something I've never seen before.
I always enjoyed kerupuk since childhood. The kerupuk here is light, quite stiff and crispy. They taste gently savoury with subtle underlying taste of fish sweetness. The dark variety have a deeper taste of fish with a slight bitterness.
The ladies take their Tuna fish kerupuk to the jetty to sell whenever there is a boat coming.
Each small pack of kerupuk costs Rp20,000 (SGD2). They are popular with travellers as Letung fish kerupuk are tastier yet cheaper than those in Batam.
Where: Kampung Letung, Palau Jemaja, Anambas Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia
GPS: 2°59'40.1"N 105°43'28.5"E | 2.994469, 105.724575
Date visited: 26 - 29 Jul 2018 (Padang Melang Festival 2018)
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Man this looks like a fun trip and I'm sure those kerupuk is excellent.
ReplyDeletethe fish kerupuk looks sumptuous
ReplyDeleteI think I will buy 5 packs at least if I go there xoxo