Pempek
Encyclopedia
Pempek, mpek-mpek or empek-empek is a savoury fishcake
delicacy from Palembang
, Indonesia
, made of fish and tapioca
. Pempek is served with yellow noodle
s and a dark, rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko (lit. vinegar
sauce).
immigrant who lived near the Musi river
. He noticed an abundance of fish caught by the local fishermen. In the Sumatra
n tropical climate, before the invention of refrigeration
technology, most of these unsold leftover fish decayed and were wasted. The indigenous people, however had limited knowledge and techniques for processing fish. During that period, most of the indigenous people simply grilled, fried or boiled their fish instead of adding other ingredients to make new dishes. The old Chinese man mixed in some tapioca
and other spices, which he then sold around the village on his cart. The people referred to this old man as 'pek-apek, where apek is a Chinese slang word to call an old man. The food is known today as empek-empek or pempek.
Another theory suggests that pempek was a Palembang adaptation of Southern Chinese
ngo hiang
or kekkian (fish slice
) as a surimi
(魚漿, yújiāng) based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce.
is made from a mixture of boneless ground fish meat, most commonly tenggiri (wahoo
), with water, salt and tapioca. Ikan gabus (snakehead
) is also commonly made as pempek. Numerous pempek sellers and producers in Palembang use a cheap combination of fish, which has a strong scent. According to tradition, the best tasting pempek are made of belida or belido (Chitala lopis
), but due to its rarity and superior taste, pempek made from this fish are usually more expensive. Pempek in Bangka
Island are made from mackerel
(ikan kembung) and its sauce is red chilli based, while in Jakarta or other cities they could be made from gourami
fish. The latest variant is pempek udang, pempek made of minced shrimp
originated from Sungsang area in Banyuasin near the Musi river estuary, it is noticeable with its pinkish color.
The dough is boiled in hot water or steamed until hardened as partly cooked dumplings, and stored to be fried later just before serving.
, chili pepper
, garlic
, vinegar
, and salt
to boiling water. The color of this sauce is dark brown. This sweet, sour and spicy sauce is essential for flavouring the pempek, since the pempek dough is very mildly savoury. The sauce of Bangka
pempek is chili based, made from the mixture of ground red chili and vinegar and its color is bright red. Traditionally all pempek sauces are served hot and spicy, the ground chilies are mixed in the sauce. However since some people desire unspicy sauce, or cannot eat hot and spicy sauce, the ground chillis were often separated as sambal
s. In some pempek restaurants, the bottled kuah cuko sauce is left on customers' tables and they are welcome to pour on the amount of sauce they desire. There are two kind of sauces available, spicy hot and plain.
until light pale brown right before serving. They are cutted in bite-size, served with yellow noodles or rice vermicelli
, showered in kuah cuko, and sprinkled with chopped cucumber
and ebi (ground dried shrimp
) powder. The additional fish krupuk crackers might be offered.
the shapes have their own distinctive names, although all are made from the same dough. There are many varieties of pempek, pempek variants are:
Most of those pempek in various forms are deep fried in cooking oil
until light pale brown, and served with yellow noodles or rice vermicelli
and kuah cuko, sprinkled with chopped cucumber
and ebi (ground dried shrimp
) powder.
The pempek fishcake can be used as a base ingredient of other dishes. The unfried cylindrical pempek lenjer is often cut and added as a mixture to the following dishes:
Pempek is easy to find in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities, from the food-courts in malls and shopping centers to traveling pempek vendors on cart. The cheaper pempek version sold by traveling vendors on cart generally use less fish and more tapioca, resulting a more flavorless taste. Pempek is also a popular dish in South Sumatra's neighboring province capital city Bandar Lampung
. Some pempek establishments, such as Pempek Pak Raden and Pempek Bunga Mas are opening branches all over major foodcourts. In Jakarta
, the notable pempek outlets are Pempek Megaria in Metropole cinema complex, Central Jakarta. It is among the oldest pempek establishment in the city. Other pempek outlets are those in Pasar Minggu
market, South Jakarta. In Yogyakarta one of leading pempek establishment in the city is Pempek Ny. Kamto located near Malioboro street.
Outside Indonesia, pempek establishments can be found in Singapore
, Malaysia and Australia
. As Palembang is near Singapore and Malaysia, to ensure the authenticity, some pempek establishments import boiled unfried frozen pempek dumplings in vacuum packages straight from Palembang. These ready to cook pempek dumplings are also popularly sold in Palembang as souvenirs for visitors from other Indonesian cities.
Fishcake
A fishcake is a food item similar to a croquette, consisting of a filleted fish and potato patty sometimes coated in breadcrumbs or batter, and fried. Fishcakes are often served in British fish and chip shops....
delicacy from Palembang
Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, made of fish and tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
. Pempek is served with yellow noodle
Noodle
The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
s and a dark, rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko (lit. vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
sauce).
Origin
Pempek is the best-known of Palembang's dishes. Its origin is undoubtly Palembang, however the history behind the creation of this savoury dish is unclear. According to local tradition, around the 16th century there was an old ChineseChinese Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians, also called the Indonesian Chinese, are an overseas Chinese group whose ancestors emigrated from China to Indonesia, formerly a colony of the Netherlands known as the Dutch East Indies...
immigrant who lived near the Musi river
Musi River (Indonesia)
The Musi River is located in southern Sumatra, Indonesia.It is about 750 kilometers long, and drains most of South Sumatra province. After flowing through Palembang, the provincial capital, it joins with the several other rivers, including the Banyuasin River, to form a delta near the city of...
. He noticed an abundance of fish caught by the local fishermen. In the Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
n tropical climate, before the invention of refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
technology, most of these unsold leftover fish decayed and were wasted. The indigenous people, however had limited knowledge and techniques for processing fish. During that period, most of the indigenous people simply grilled, fried or boiled their fish instead of adding other ingredients to make new dishes. The old Chinese man mixed in some tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
and other spices, which he then sold around the village on his cart. The people referred to this old man as 'pek-apek, where apek is a Chinese slang word to call an old man. The food is known today as empek-empek or pempek.
Another theory suggests that pempek was a Palembang adaptation of Southern Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
ngo hiang
Ngo hiang
Ngo Hiang or Heh Gerng is a unique Hokkien and Teochew dish served in many of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore's hawker centres, in addition to its place of origin in eastern China....
or kekkian (fish slice
Fish slice
Fish cake or fish slice is a commonly cooked food in southern China and overseas Chinese communities. The fillet is made of fish that has been finely pulverized. It is made of the same surimi used to make fish balls.-Usage:...
) as a surimi
Surimi
Surimi is a Japanese loan word referring to a fish-based food product that has been pulverized to a thick paste and has the property of a dense and rubbery food item when cooked...
(魚漿, yújiāng) based food. But instead of being served in soup or plainly fried, pempek is notable for its spicy palm sugar-vinegar based sauce.
Ingredients
Dough
Pempek doughDough
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
is made from a mixture of boneless ground fish meat, most commonly tenggiri (wahoo
Wahoo
The wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh make it a prize game fish...
), with water, salt and tapioca. Ikan gabus (snakehead
Channa striata
The snakehead murrel, Channa striata, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, striped snakehead, haloan, aruan, haruan and dalag...
) is also commonly made as pempek. Numerous pempek sellers and producers in Palembang use a cheap combination of fish, which has a strong scent. According to tradition, the best tasting pempek are made of belida or belido (Chitala lopis
Chitala lopis
Chitala lopis or the Giant Featherback is a fish of the genus Chitala found in Southeast Asia....
), but due to its rarity and superior taste, pempek made from this fish are usually more expensive. Pempek in Bangka
Bangka
Bangka can refer to:* Bangka Island, an island of Indonesia* Bangka Regency, Indonesia* Bangka Strait, a strait of Indonesia* Bangka language, spoken in Indonesia* Tagalog: bangka, an outrigger canoe* Wanhua District, Taipei City...
Island are made from mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
(ikan kembung) and its sauce is red chilli based, while in Jakarta or other cities they could be made from gourami
Gourami
Gouramis are a family, Osphronemidae, of freshwater perciform fishes. The fish are native to Asia, from Pakistan and India to the Malay Archipelago and north-easterly towards Korea. The name "gourami" is also used for fish of the families Helostomatidae and Anabantidae. "Gouramis" is an example of...
fish. The latest variant is pempek udang, pempek made of minced shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
originated from Sungsang area in Banyuasin near the Musi river estuary, it is noticeable with its pinkish color.
The dough is boiled in hot water or steamed until hardened as partly cooked dumplings, and stored to be fried later just before serving.
Sauce
Kuah cuko is produced by adding palm sugarPalm sugar
Palm sugar was originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm, the date palm or sugar date palm . Now it is also made from the sap of the sago, arenga pinnata and coconut palms, and may be sold as "arenga sugar" or "coconut sugar".-Description:It is quickly gaining popularity in the...
, chili pepper
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
, and salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
to boiling water. The color of this sauce is dark brown. This sweet, sour and spicy sauce is essential for flavouring the pempek, since the pempek dough is very mildly savoury. The sauce of Bangka
Bangka
Bangka can refer to:* Bangka Island, an island of Indonesia* Bangka Regency, Indonesia* Bangka Strait, a strait of Indonesia* Bangka language, spoken in Indonesia* Tagalog: bangka, an outrigger canoe* Wanhua District, Taipei City...
pempek is chili based, made from the mixture of ground red chili and vinegar and its color is bright red. Traditionally all pempek sauces are served hot and spicy, the ground chilies are mixed in the sauce. However since some people desire unspicy sauce, or cannot eat hot and spicy sauce, the ground chillis were often separated as sambal
Sambal
Sambal is a chili based sauce which is normally used as a condiment. Sambals are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Javanese influence. It is typically made from a variety of chili peppers and is...
s. In some pempek restaurants, the bottled kuah cuko sauce is left on customers' tables and they are welcome to pour on the amount of sauce they desire. There are two kind of sauces available, spicy hot and plain.
Serving
The boiled or steamed pempek dumplings are deep fried in cooking oilCooking oil
Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature ....
until light pale brown right before serving. They are cutted in bite-size, served with yellow noodles or rice vermicelli
Rice vermicelli
Rice vermicelli are thin noodles made from rice and are a form of rice noodles. They are sometimes referred to as rice noodles or rice sticks, but they should not be confused with cellophane noodles, which is another type of vermicelli....
, showered in kuah cuko, and sprinkled with chopped cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
and ebi (ground dried shrimp
Dried shrimp
Dried shrimp are shrimp that have been sun dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size. They are used in many Asian cuisines, imparting a unique umami taste. A handful of shrimp is generally used for dishes...
) powder. The additional fish krupuk crackers might be offered.
Variants
This fishcake dough can be made into various shapes and forms with additional ingredients. Just like pastaPasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
the shapes have their own distinctive names, although all are made from the same dough. There are many varieties of pempek, pempek variants are:
- Pempek kapal selam: (IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: "submarine pempek"), which is made from a chicken egg wrapped within the pempek dough and then deep-fried. The shape is similar to Chinese dumplings but larger in size. According to food science and technology scientist, the pempek kapal selam, with egg addition, is rich in proteinProteinProteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
, fatFatFats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
, vitamin aVitamin AVitamin A is a vitamin that is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of a specific metabolite, the light-absorbing molecule retinal, that is necessary for both low-light and color vision...
, mineralMineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
, and carbohydrateCarbohydrateA carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
content, is the most nutritious variety. The name derived from the shape of pempek that resembles submersibleSubmersibleA submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
midget submarineMidget submarineA midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
. - Pempek telur kecil: (IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: "small egg pempek"), filled with egg similar to pempek kapal selam, but smaller in size. - Pempek lenjer: long cylindrical pempek, its shape is similar to sausages.
- Pempek keriting: (IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: "curly pempek"), the dough is made into small noodle ball. This similar process also applied to produce white krupuk. - Pempek pistel: the shape and size is similar to pempek telur kecil, but filled with minced young papayaPapayaThe papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
instead. - Pempek kulit: (IndonesianIndonesian languageIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: "skin pempek"), fish-skin pempek, the dough is mixed with minced fish skin, as the result it has stronger fishy aroma and darker color. - Pempek adaan: ball shaped pempek.
- Pempek tahu: tofuTofuis a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...
sliced and filled with pempek dough. - Pempek model: tofuTofuis a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...
wrapped inside pempek dough. Similar to pempek kapal selam, but egg is replaced with tofu.
Most of those pempek in various forms are deep fried in cooking oil
Cooking oil
Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature ....
until light pale brown, and served with yellow noodles or rice vermicelli
Rice vermicelli
Rice vermicelli are thin noodles made from rice and are a form of rice noodles. They are sometimes referred to as rice noodles or rice sticks, but they should not be confused with cellophane noodles, which is another type of vermicelli....
and kuah cuko, sprinkled with chopped cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
and ebi (ground dried shrimp
Dried shrimp
Dried shrimp are shrimp that have been sun dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size. They are used in many Asian cuisines, imparting a unique umami taste. A handful of shrimp is generally used for dishes...
) powder.
The pempek fishcake can be used as a base ingredient of other dishes. The unfried cylindrical pempek lenjer is often cut and added as a mixture to the following dishes:
- Celimpungan: small pempek balls cooked in spicy coconut milkCoconut milkCoconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
, served with chilli and sprinkled with bawang goreng (fried shallots). - Laksan: often referred to as Palembang style pempek in laksaLaksaLaksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia.- Origin :The origin of the name "laksa" is unclear...
soup, sliced pempek fishcake served in coconut milkCoconut milkCoconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
based soup. - Lenggang: omeletteOmeletteIn cuisine, an omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat , or some combination of the above...
with mixture of sliced pempek fishcake, also served in kuah cuko. - TekwanTekwanTekwan is a fish soup typical of Palembang, Indonesia. The fish cakes are made from the dough of fish and tapioca similar to pempek. The fish cake is cut in small sizes and presented in shrimp broth with a distinctive flavor, served with rice vermicelli, mushrooms, sliced jicama, and sprinkled with...
: chopped pempek fishcake soup with jicama, mushroom and fishballs.
Outlets
As a local specialty, pempek can be commonly found on every street in Palembang with a concentration of outlets in downtown Palembang. Pempek can also be found in other regions, especially in major cities in Indonesia. However, the taste of pempek in other regions are usually different to pempek from Palembang. The main ingredients such as fish and flour are scarce and/or difficult to find in other regions, causing the the difference in taste.Pempek is easy to find in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities, from the food-courts in malls and shopping centers to traveling pempek vendors on cart. The cheaper pempek version sold by traveling vendors on cart generally use less fish and more tapioca, resulting a more flavorless taste. Pempek is also a popular dish in South Sumatra's neighboring province capital city Bandar Lampung
Bandar Lampung
- External links :*...
. Some pempek establishments, such as Pempek Pak Raden and Pempek Bunga Mas are opening branches all over major foodcourts. In Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, the notable pempek outlets are Pempek Megaria in Metropole cinema complex, Central Jakarta. It is among the oldest pempek establishment in the city. Other pempek outlets are those in Pasar Minggu
Pasar Minggu
right|thumb|Pasar Minggus fruit marketPasar Minggu is a subdistrict of South Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is known for its traditional sunday market, famous for the fruit market. Historically, Pasar Minggu is a fruit cultivation area developed by the Dutch government during the colonial...
market, South Jakarta. In Yogyakarta one of leading pempek establishment in the city is Pempek Ny. Kamto located near Malioboro street.
Outside Indonesia, pempek establishments can be found in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaysia and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. As Palembang is near Singapore and Malaysia, to ensure the authenticity, some pempek establishments import boiled unfried frozen pempek dumplings in vacuum packages straight from Palembang. These ready to cook pempek dumplings are also popularly sold in Palembang as souvenirs for visitors from other Indonesian cities.