Pempek palembang: traditional food of palembang

Pempek palembang

When we talked about palembang, maybe some people will remember one think, that's pempek palembang. Pempek palembang is traditional food of palembang.

Pempek palembang was made by milled fish mix with flour. The process of making pempek palembang not really difficult, we just mix flour and milled fish, and then boil it until boiled pempek was floating in the water. If pempek has floated that mean pempek has ready to serve.


Not all of pempek must be boiled, there are some type that cooked by burned it.


History of pempek was came from chinnese people who live at palembang, because many area of palembang was the waters, we are easy to find fish.


Because amount of fish overflow, made chinnese people who live at palembang search idea to make a food that made by fish, so they mix flour and milled fish and then boiled it. The name of pempek was came from "apek-apek" (call for old chinese people in indonesia).


There are many types of pempek, they are:

1. Pempek lenjer

Pempek lenjer

Pempek lenjer is call for long pempek. Lenjer is palembang language that means long. This is the simple and most commonly found in palembang.

2. Pempek kapal selam

Pempek kapal selam

Do you know kapal selam, kapal selam is bahasa indonesia of submarine. This pempek called kapal selam because the shape looklike submarine.

There is an egg in the pempek kapal selam. People of palembang called this pempek "pempek telok besak" too.

3. Pempek adaan

Pempek adaan

Pempek adaan or round pempek is the type of pempek that the shape round. The taste of this pempek similar to fish meatball.

4. Pempek pastel

Pempek pistel

Pempek pastel shape similar with pempek kapal selam, the different is if pempek kapal selam stuffing with egg, pempek pastel stuffing with papaya or rebon shrimp.

5. Pempek kulit

Pempek kulit

Pempek kulit is pempek that made by flour and fish skin. Not easy to meet pempek kulit, because not all of pempek shop in palembang sell pempek kulit. Pempek kulit is the most expensive pempek than the other one. Pempek kulit color is dominant black.

6. Pempek lenggang

If pempek that i told above made by boiled, pempek lenggang made by grilled. The color of this pempek different with another pempek too, commonly pempek color is gray, lenggang color is yellow and made by egg and flour.

7. Pempek panggang

Pempek panggang

Pempek panggang or grilled pempek is a pempek that grilled similar to lenggang, but the ingredients same with  commonly pempek, the different just about the process of cooking. If another pempek is boiled before frying, grilled pempek just got grilled without boiled and fried before.

8. Pempek keriting

Pempek keriting

Pempek keriting or in english curly pempek is a pempek that the ingredients same with commonly pempek, but the different just about the shape. The shape is similar to noodles

If you eat pempek don't forget to use tha sauce of pempek, palembang people call pempek sauce "cuko". The cuko is made by chilli, water, and sugar. The color of cuko is black and the taste is quite spicy.

I think that's all that, although pempek is traditional food from palembang pempek has became national food of indonesia, i think seldom people of indonesia that do not know pempek. So if you come to palembang, don't forget to try this traditional food, i believe you wanna try again if you has eaten pempek, wkwkwk...

Thank you

Visit: ampera bridge, the icon of palembang

Berbagi :