Pempek Palembang

Ingredients

• 500 g skinless wahoo or mackerel fillet
• 250 ml iced water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, for the dough
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for the dough
• 300 g tapioca flour
• 4 eggs, for filling
• 200 g palm sugar
• 500 ml water, for the cuko
• 6 garlic cloves, for the cuko
• 10 bird's eye chillies
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp salt, for the cuko
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 litre vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 1 cucumber
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp powder (ebi), to serve

Before you cook

• Chill the fish fillet in the freezer for 20 minutes so it minces cleanly.
• Mince the chilled fish in a food processor in short pulses until it is a fine, sticky paste.
• Grate the three garlic cloves for the dough on a microplane.
• Dice the cucumber into small cubes.

Steps

1. Put the palm sugar and the 500 ml of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
2. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved into a dark syrup.
3. Pound the six garlic cloves, the bird's eye chillies and the tablespoon of dried shrimp into a coarse paste in a mortar.
4. Scrape the paste into the syrup along with the tamarind paste and the teaspoon of salt.
5. Simmer the cuko for 10 minutes, then stir in the vinegar and set it aside to cool.
6. Tip the minced fish into a large bowl with the grated garlic, salt, sugar and the tablespoon of oil.
7. Pour in the iced water a little at a time, stirring hard in one direction for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is glossy and tacky.
8. Fold in the tapioca flour in three additions, using a light hand and stopping the moment the dough comes together.
9. Oil your hands and roll one third of the dough into fat cylinders about 3 cm thick and 15 cm long.
10. Shape the remaining dough into four thick-walled cups, each with a deep hollow and a rim you can pinch shut.
11. Crack an egg into each cup, then pinch the rim closed over the top to seal it completely.
12. Bring a wide pan of salted water to a rolling boil and lower in the pempek in batches.
13. Boil each batch for 15 to 20 minutes, until they float high and feel firm all the way through.
14. Lift the pempek out with a slotted spoon and leave them to cool and dry on a rack for 15 minutes.
15. Heat the frying oil to 170C in a deep pan.
16. Fry the pempek in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, until the surface is golden and blistered.
17. Drain them on kitchen paper, then cut them into thick bite-sized pieces.
18. Pile the pieces into bowls, ladle over plenty of cuko, and scatter with cucumber and dried shrimp powder.