TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Karya Bahari seafood restaurant in Pantai Timur fish market offers a unique dish that you would not find it anywhere else. "Pindang Gunung is a new dish, which is fish soup with Sundanese spices," said a waiter at the restaurant.
Pindang Gunung (pindang is a local term for a braise fish) is mainly red snapper dish, which is selected because of its thick, chewy meat and less fishy smell. After selecting a fish weighing 500 grams, the cook processed it with particular spices.
The secrets behind the unique dish are honje (also known as torch ginger or Indonesian tall ginger) and ambarella leaves. The spices create a fresh sour taste in the soup. The aroma is very rich of galangal, lemongrass, and sweet basil. If you like it hot, you can ask the cook to add cayenne pepper.
When the pindang gunung was served on the table, I smelled an appetizing aroma of the soup. The combined sour and hot taste made every spoon of the red snapper irresistible.
Pindang gunung is particularly good when it is served immediately. The ambarella leaves and the sweet basils are soft and give a strong refreshing sour taste.
The dish has been popular since Pangandaran became a new autonomous area in 2013. Tourists have been encouraged to taste the new dish by advertising banners.
Pindang Gunung is actually an ancient Sundanese recipe, which was famous in Eastern Priangan area long time ago. "Since the name of the dish is pindang, I thought it was a braise fish, which it was not really interesting. But then I found out that it's a kind of a fish soup with Sundanese spices," said Haerudin, a domestic tourist from Jakarta.
To find a restaurant serving pindang gunung, you need to go to a fish market in Pantai Timur Pangandaran near the Pangandaran water police station. Now you know where to go for the next weekend.
PRIMA MULIA | ENI S
