Pempek in Palembang

Pempek is Palembang's dish and the city eats it constantly - a paste of freshwater fish, usually ikan belida or tenggiri, worked with sago flour into shapes that each have a name and a form: kapal selam, the submarine, a large one with a whole egg sealed inside and then fried; lenjer, a long cylinder sliced up; adaan, fried balls; kulit, made with the skin; pistel with papaya filling. It is boiled first and fried to order, cut up and flooded with cuko - a dark sauce of palm sugar, tamarind, garlic and a serious quantity of bird's eye chilli, sour and sweet and hot at once, which is what actually defines the dish and which visitors underestimate. Noodles and cucumber go on top. It is eaten at breakfast as readily as at night.

What you actually see

• Named shapes - kapal selam with its sealed egg, lenjer, adaan, kulit and the rest.
• Cuko sauce - the dark palm sugar, tamarind and chilli liquid the cakes sit in.
• Fried to order - boiled in advance, fried when you ask, cut up on the plate.
• An all-day food - eaten at breakfast as much as in the evening.

When to go

All year, at any hour. A meal.

Honest expectations

The cuko is genuinely hot and sour and catches people out - ask for it on the side if unsure. Cheaper versions use more sago and less fish and are noticeably rubbery.

Nearby

The Musi waterfront, Ampera bridge and Kuto Besak are the centre of the city.